The historical reconstruction and the multifactorial analysis demonstrate how the Arab educational systems have been instrumental in reproducing specific values and social relationships. Traditional education historically conveyed religious identity and a sense of belonging within multi-ethnic empires. Nowadays, many people regret its equity concerning economic and ethnic differences, since it offered everyone the same education and identification with the Islamic civilization without erasing specific identities. In contemporary times, some local authorities have established independent education systems, such as those in Tunisia and Egypt, which compete with traditional education, Christian missionaries, and modern Ottoman technical high education, shaping the current model of national supra-confessional education systems.