The World’s Oldest University: Al-Qarawiyyin’s Remarkable Heritage

Found in Fez, Morocco, the University of Al-Qarawiyyin is the oldest continuously operating university in the world. This establishment that Fatima al-Fihri, an eminent Tunisian woman who lived from 859 AD, founded in memory of the fathoming of old historical pasts of education and knowledge achievement in Africa states for itself a testimony of the deepest historical roots into African education and learning accomplishment. Fatima al-Fihri used her great inheritance to found a big mosque that had a school (madrasa) attached to it, which became the foundation for what was then going to become one of the greatest spaces of knowledge in the world.

The mosque can accommodate 22,000 worshippers, making it one of the largest in Africa, while the university continues to flourish to this very day. Al-Qarawiyyin over the ages has had the kind of patronage offered by wealthy benefactors, merits of which helped guarantee the longevity and expansion of the establishment. These benefactors funded the amassing of an impressive collection of manuscripts that found a permanent home in a library constructed by Sultan Abu Inan Faris in 1349. This library, still in use today, houses some of the world's most ancient and precious texts.

Al-Qarawiyyin was not limited to Islamic sciences; it soon became famous for teaching liberal arts, such as grammar, rhetoric, mathematics, astronomy, science medicine, and law. By its exceedingly reputed academic performance, it grabbed the attention of collegians, men, and women, from across all Islamic cultures and beyond. Included in its students were Gerbert of Aurillac; eventually he became known as Pope Sylvester II in the late 10th century, and the renowned Jewish scholar and polymath Maimonides during the 12th century. They serve as examples of the university's still-living legacy as a torch bearer of knowledge, inclusivity, and intellectual exchange.

Rare for the time, the university offered an inclusive tradition of exposure and religious tolerance.

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