In the early days of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) initiated madrasa education by establishing “Darul Arqam” at the foot of Safa Mountain in Mecca in 614 AD. This was the first madrasa in the history of the world whose first teacher was the Prophet (PBUH) himself. In continuation of this, after the migration of the Prophet (PBUH), the first residential madrasa “Suffa Madrasa” was established next to the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. Where primary Islamic education was imparted. These two madrasas were the initial form of the madrasa education system.

Later, madrasa education spread widely during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods. Especially in the 11th century, with the establishment of “Nishapur” and “Nizamia Madrasa” by Nizamul Mulk in Baghdad, this system took an institutional form which became a model for the world. Where in addition to the Quran, Hadith, Fiqh, mathematics, logic, science, literature, etc. were taught. Students were provided with free accommodation, food and medical treatment. That is, both religious and secular knowledge was taught. Later, in continuation of this, high-quality madrasas were established in cities like Damascus, Cordoba, Samarkand, Herat.

In our Indian subcontinent, madrasa education started mainly in mosques during the Sultanate and Mughal periods, but later it expanded widely, where children were introduced to the Quran through reading. At that time, the madrasa of Maulana Taquddin Arabi of Mahisantosh was the oldest. In our region, Maulana Abu Tawama established a large madrasa in Sonargaon in 1278. During the Mughal period, subjects like science, mathematics, geography and astronomy were included in madrasa education. At that time, the curriculum of "Darseh Nizami" of Lucknow gained wide popularity.

The British government took various activities for the evolution and modernization of madrasa education. As the first initiative, Warren Hastings established the "Calcutta Aliya Madrasa" in 1780. Through which the institutional madrasa education program started in this subcontinent, which later expanded to Bangladesh. Later, the British government launched a project called "New Scheme" for the development of madrasa education.

After the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, the Pakistan government took various initiatives for the development of madrasa education. One of which was the "Shamsul Haque Committee". During the Pakistan period, the "East Pakistan Madrasa Education Board" was formed and after the independence of Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Madrasa Education Board (BMEB) was formed and managed by it.