A long time ago, longer ago than is comfortable, I read Murray's "A Short History of Chess".  In the chapter on Shatranj he discussed the  concept of Tabbiyat (ie. Battle Arrays the "opening theory" in the older version of chess). 
I got to wondering:
a) if any of the Tabbiyat were still useful in modern chess?
b) if there were any Tabbiyat hidden in modern opening theory?

A)
The only one that looks playable in Chess is the Mujannah (diagram 1)  which could arise from the English or maybe Bird's Opening. The other Arrays would all require some very strange and artifical moves that will likely get you wiped out in short order. Even if you do manage to set them up, they don't look very solid in modern Chess, though playable in the slower Shatranj.
                                       
                                                Diagram 1

I would though, alter this with fianchetting the bishops, or at least the KB and castling to keep the basic structure but making allowance for the different powers (not to mention strategy) of modern pieces (see example: diagram 2).
                                      
                                          Diagram 2


B)
It turns out that the answer is 'yes' (more or less), there are Opening systems White can play against very nearly any setup by Black.
1. The King's Indian Attack, which basically consists of : g3, Bg2, d3, e4 in any order.
2. The Colle System can also be set up, against most Black moves, if White wants it.
For Black
1. If you compare the Old Indian and Philidor Defences, you find that Black's position tends to be the same, while White's position varies.
2. Another two that tend to have the same structure for Black is the King's Indian Defence and the Modern Defence.

I think that an in-depth look at each of the opening pairs might find some useful ideas from one that would be useful in the other, though I'm too lazy to cope with the huge amount of work and time required.