The schoolmaster's duties are light. Generally he teaches his pupils nothing more than to read the Koran and to recite the whole of it by heart.
After a pupil has committed the first chapter of the sacred book to memory, he learns the rest of the chapters in inverse order. This is done to simplify the task, as the chapters generally decrease in length towards the end of the book. Hence, he learns on the principle of taking the easiest lessons first. Instruction in writing and arithmetic he usually receives from another master.
One more duty the Arab father has to perform, and one which he deems most important, when his son has arrived at a proper age, which is considered by some to be twenty years. It is the custom of the father to select then a suitable wife for his son.
It is an old saying among the Arabs, "When a son has attained the age of twenty-five years, his father, if able, should marry him, and then take his hand and say, 'I have disciplined thee, and taught thee, and married thee; I now seek refuge with God from thy mischief in the present world and in the next.'"
The girls of an Arab family are seldom taught even reading. Although admission to the schools where the boys are under instruction is allowed, yet very few parents permit their girls to get any benefit from this privilege. They prefer, rather, to give them such literary instruction as they wish, by employing a learned woman to teach them at home.
The duties of such a teacher are to instruct her pupils in the forms of prayer, and to teach them to repeat by heart a few chapters from the Koran.
Instances are rare where the whole book is committed to memory; for parents are instructed not to give their daughters a full knowledge of the laws of the Koran.
Needlework is to some extent taught to the daughters of an Arab household, but it is not a common custom. In the poorer families the daughters frequently busy themselves with the spindle and many learn to weave.
In the families of the higher and middle classes the daughters are taught to embroider and to do other ornamental work. This is taught to them at home, or in special schools.
Formerly, singing and playing upon the lute were considered necessary accomplishments for the daughters of wealthy Arabs. Now, however, such performances are confined to professionals, or to the slaves of the royal household.