The University of Al Quaraouiyine

(dates back to the 9th century)

The University of Al Quaraouiyine is a university located in Fes, Morocco. It is the oldest existing, continually operating and the first degree awarding educational institution in the world according to UNESCO and Guinness World Records and is sometimes referred to as the oldest university. The Al Quaraouiyine mosque-religious school / college was founded by Fatima al-Fihri in 859 with an associated school, or madrasa, which subsequently became one of the leading spiritual and educational centers of the historic Muslim world. It was incorporated into Morocco's modern state university system in 1963. The claim of the university being the oldest in the world are subject to discussions as other institutions, such as the Zaytouna mosque-school founded in 703 in Tunis, predated the founding of Al Quaraouiyine. Al Quaraouiyine itself is named after the Qairaouan Mosque in Tunisia, the oldest mosque in the Maghreb and the cradle of the Muslim Maliki rite.

Education at Al Quaraouiyine University concentrates on the Islamic religious and legal sciences with a heavy emphasis on, and particular strengths inClassical Arabic grammar/linguistics and Maliki law, although a few lessons on other non-Islamic subjects such as French, English and IT are also offered to students. Teaching is delivered in the traditional method, in which students are seated in a semi-circle (halqa) around a sheikh, who prompts them to read sections of a particular text, asks them questions on particular points of grammar, law, or interpretation, and explains difficult points. Students from all over Morocco and Islamic West Africa attend the Qarawiyyin, although a few might come from as far afield as Muslim Central Asia. Even Spanish Muslim converts frequently attend the institution, largely attracted by the fact that the sheikhs of the Qarawiyyin, and Islamic scholarship in Morocco in general, are heirs to the rich religious and scholarly heritage of Muslim al-Andalus.

Most students at the Qarawiyyin range from between the ages of 13 and 30, and study towards high school-level diplomas and university-level bachelor's degrees, although Muslim males with a sufficiently high level of Arabic are also able to attend lecture circles on an informal basis, given the traditional category of visitors "in search of [religious and legal] knowledge" (zuwwaar li'l-talab fii 'ilm). In addition to being Muslim and male, prospective students of the Qarawiyyin are required to have memorized the Qur'an in full as well as several other shorter medieval Islamic texts on grammar and Maliki law, and in general to have a very good command of Classical Arabic...

After the death of the family’s father, Mohamed Ben Abdullah Al Fihri, who was a successful merchant, his only two daughters Meriam and fatima inherited his gigantic fortune. According to Dr. Abdelhadi Tazi, in his doctoral proposal, Fatima, known as Ummou Al Banin, meaning mothers of sons, dedicated her wealth with the approval of the Idrissi king Yahya I to build the mosque for her community. Being a pious woman, Fatima made an oath to keep fasting until the construction of the mosque was completed and made her first prayer in the mosque as an act of gratitude, and thankfulness to the Almighty.

Dating back to 859, the University is no doubt older than Egypt’s Azhar University (970) and its European counterparts: the University of Oxford, which is regarded as the oldest university in the English-speaking world (roughly founded in 1096), and University of Bologna (founded approximately in 1088). The historic university of Fez is actually recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest degree-granting university in the world. Moreover, UNESCO considers Al-Karaouine to have been a university since its founding.

Originally founded as a mosque, with an associated mosque school (madrasa) for the purpose of providing a place for the community to practice their religious rituals in comfort, the place of worship soon developed other functions. It became a place of religious instruction and Quran memorization, Arabic grammar, mathematics, music, chemistry, islamic legislation, Sufism, medicines, astronomy, as well to study political debate and lessons focusing mainly on the natural sciences. The mosque later on set-up the rest of its urban infrastructure. It was surrounded by places of lodging, businesses, “Hamams” – steam rooms, schools, etc. many of which still function properly today.

After the construction of the mosque, the scholars of Fez were able to make it a better place for education and scientific research that attracted many students from different parts of the world. Thanks to the successive dynasties that governed the city of Fez, Al Karaouin mosque was expanded until it became the largest in Africa, with a capacity of 22,000 worshipers, and turned into a scientific center advancing the prestigious educational centers in Cordoba and Baghdad.

Culture and Knowledge

In the Middle Ages, the University of Al Karaouin played a significant role in the mediation of culture and knowledge between Muslims and Europeans. In the fourteenth century, 8000 students from the Maghreb and Egypt were trained in Fez. The university also played an important role in spreading the teachings of Maliki School, one of four Sunni Islamic sects, which has adopted the doctrine of Imam Malik ibn Anas, in all the regions of North Africa.

The university was under the patronage of the Governor of Morocco and only the sultan could appoint teachers. However, the students were allowed to choose their teachers and curricula. Many famous scientists from the Islamic world namely Ibn Khaldun (founder of sociology) and some European scientists have studied at this university. In the West, the most famous alumnus is probably Pope Sylvester II, who made known in Europe Arab numbers, culture and sciences including mathematics and astronomy.

During the colonial period, serious political decision-making, like allegiance, colonial resistance and war and peace, was made in the form of a petition signed by Al Karaouine scholars. The university took on a position of resistance and defiance to the colonizers. That was why the French occupiers to Morocco then called Al Karaouin the “dark house.” More than that, the endowments of Al Karaouin were considered a reserve for supporting Morocco in the face of any economic crisis emergency.

Among the most fascinating traditions of the university was the “caliph of one hour.” At the eve of spring, Al Karaouin would organize a party like a carnival where students chose among themselves a governor for a week, from Friday to Friday. The elected student had the privilege to meet with the real king for an hour and had the right to discuss political and religious affairs as well as communicate his own thoughts openly with the king with no fear of oppression.

Since its foundation, Al Karaouin has served as one of the leading spiritual and educational centers of the Muslim world. Its financial independence has been a strong advantage, for it that has helped the university keep the same high quality services in spite of weary times and harsh events that had shaken the stability of Morocco...

Al Quaraouiyine was founded with an associated school, or madrasa, in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri, the daughter of a wealthy merchant named Mohammed Al-Fihri. The Al-Fihri family had migrated from Kairouan (hence the name of the mosque), Tunisia to Fes in the early 9th century, joining a community of other migrants from Kairouan who had settled in a western district of the city. Fatima and her sister Mariam, both of whom were well educated, inherited a large amount of money from their father. Fatima vowed to spend her entire inheritance on the construction of a mosque suitable for her community.

In some sources, the medieval madrasa is described as a "university" in one Rough Guide book even as vying with Al-Azhar in Cairo "for the title of world's oldest university".

Some scholars, noting certain parallels between such madrasas and European medieval universities, have proposed that the latter may have been influenced by the madrasas of Islamic Spain and the Emirate of Sicily. Other scholars have questioned this, citing the lack of evidence for an actual transmission from the Islamic world to Christian Europe and highlighting the differences in the structure, methodologies, procedures, curricula and legal status of the "Islamic college" (madrasa) versus the European university.

Al Quaraouiyine gained the patronage of politically powerful sultans. It compiled a large selection of manuscripts that were kept at a library founded by the Marinid Sultan Abu Inan Faris in 1349. Among the most precious manuscripts currently housed in the library are volumes from the famous Al-Muwatta of Malik written on gazelle parchment, the Sirat Ibn Ishaq, a copy of the Qur'an given by Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur in 1602, and the original copy of Ibn Khaldun's book Al-'Ibar. Among the subjects taught, alongside the Qur'an and Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), are grammar, rhetoric, logic, medicine, mathematics, astronomy.

The twelfth century cartographer Mohammed al-Idrisi, whose maps aided European exploration in the Renaissance is said to have lived in Fes for some time, suggesting that he may have worked or studied at Al Quaraouiyine. The madrasa has produced numerous scholars who have strongly influenced the intellectual and academic history of the Muslim world. Among these are Ibn Rushayd al-Sabti (d. 1321), Mohammed Ibn al-Hajj al-Abdari al-Fasi (d. 1336), Abu Imran al-Fasi (d. 1015), a leading theorist of the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence, Leo Africanus, a renowned traveler and writer. Pioneer scholars such as Al-Idrissi (d.1166 AD), Ibn al-Arabi (1165-1240 AD), Ibn Khaldun (1332-1395 AD), Ibn al-Khatib, Al-Bitruji (Alpetragius),Ibn Hirzihim, and Al-Wazzan were all connected with the madrasa either as students or lecturers. Among Christian scholars visiting Al Quaraouiyine were the Belgian Nicolas Cleynaerts and the Dutchman Golius and Pope Sylvester II

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• Edited by: FL Media Pro