The Oldest University In The World Is Located In Africa, Founded In 859 AD

By Surajo Musa

The University of al-Qarawiyyin, also written Al-Karaouine, is a university located in Fez, Morocco. It is the oldest existing, continually operating higher educational institution in the world according to UNESCO and Guinness World Records and is occasionally referred to as the oldest university by scholars. 


It was incorporated into Morocco's modern state university system in 1963. The mosque building itself is also a significant complex of historical Moroccan and Islamic architecture encompassing elements from many different periods of Moroccan history.

It is no wonder, with its tradition of invention and education, that Africa holds oldest university in Morocco, which is run continuously.

Al-Qarawiyyin was founded with an associated 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, according to theafricanhistory.com.


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. At that time, the city of Fes was the capital of the Idrisid Dynasty, considered to be the first Moroccan Islamic state.

The mosque, which has a capacity of 22, 000 worshippers, is still the largest in Africa, and the university is still going strong today, largely due to the generosity of some very wealthy people over the centuries.

The university attracted investment because of its tradition of high educational standards.

Gifts from wealthy donors were spent on accumulating a huge collection of manuscripts, eventually housed in a library built by Sultan Abu Inan Faris in 1349.

From an early date, the university’s expertise in secular subjects including rhetoric, grammar, mathematics, and astronomy saw it attract leading lights from beyond the Islamic world, theafricanhistory.com reported.


In a model of religious tolerance and openness that we would do well to imitate today, the eventual Pope Sylvester II studied there in the late 10th century, and the Jewish philosopher Maimonides a century later.

Wandering around Al-Karaouine today, you can admire the institution’s simple yet beautiful design, decorated with Andalusian art bordered with Kufic calligraphy. The university library is home to numbers of precious manuscripts including historic copies of the Qu’ran.

The university doubles as a functioning mosque, and non-Muslim visitors are not allowed inside the grounds. The main gates and some other entrances are open and may be looked into, but not entered.

 

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