"The vast complex of the Mustansiriya in Baghdad, inaugurated in 1233 by the caliph al-Mustansir,128 stands out both ideologically and architecturally. The first recorded madrasa built for all four Islamic schools of jurisprudence, it reflected the idea of the caliphate as the sponsor of an ecumenical Sunnism, a strong feature of the new guidance that the later Abbasids attempted to provide.

Built along the Tigris, the Mustansiriya is a huge rectangle with a large central court. It had three iwans opening on the court, one of which served as an oratory. Between iwans and oratory lay long halls at right angles to the court, and various other halls and rooms extended to the north and south, probably equally divided between the four official schools of Islamic law, according to Sunni practice."