Monday | 7 October 2024 | Reg No- 06
বাংলা
   
Monday | 7 October 2024 | Epaper

In My View

Fatima al-Fihri: Founder of the world’s first and still-operating university

Published : Friday, 10 February, 2023 at 12:00 AM  Count : 982
Syed Badiuzzaman
It may sound unbelievable but this is a fact. This is not a fairy tale. So, if you still think that Italy�s Bologna University or England�s Oxford is the oldest, think again! Not just one, the world�s two oldest and continually operating universities are not in Europe. They are both in Africa and more specifically in the northeastern corner of the continent.

So, it is the Arab world -- not Europe -- that initiated education in a formal setting some 1164 years ago. According to Guinness World Records, �the oldest existing and continually operating educational institution in the world is the University of Karueein, founded in 859 AD in Fez, Morocco. The University of Bologna, Italy, was founded in 1088 and is the oldest one in Europe.�

UNESCO also ranks the University of Al Qarawiyyin in Morocco as �the oldest in the world on the grounds that it continues to operate until the present day,� said the African edition of University World News in a report published on October 22 in 2020. Thus as recognized by both Guinness World Records and UNESCO, the University of Al Qarawiyyin in the Moroccan city of Fez is the oldest educational institute in the world.

And before Bologna which is the oldest operating academic institute in Europe, Al-Azhar University was founded in Cairo, Egypt in 970 AD. So, the world�s both No.1 and No.2 oldest as well as continually operating universities were founded in the Arab world confirming its pioneering role in the spread of education across the globe. And it was an Arab woman named Fatima al-Fihri who founded the world�s No.1 oldest and still-operating university, a fact many people will find quite hard to believe.

Who was Fatima al-Fihri? Fatima was born around 800 AD in a well-educated family in the town of Qayrawan now known as Kairouan in what is present-day Tunisia. In the early9th century, her family migrated from Tunisia to the city of fez in Morocco which was then a bustling metropolis and a cultural and religious hub of the Arab and the Muslim world. This was the city -- which is today a regional capital of Morocco -- where her father Muhammad al-Fihri became a successful and quite wealthy businessman.

Fatima Al-Fihri married in the city of Fez. It was also this city where her father, husband and brother � all died. After the death of her father, she and her sister Mariam inherited a big fortune. Both sisters were philanthropists and thus both decided to dedicate their wealth for the benefit of the people of the area. So, in the same year of 859, Mariam built the grand Al-Andalus Mosque and her sister Fatima built North Africa�s biggest mosque Al-Qarawiyyin, named after Qayrawan -- her birthplace in Tunisia.

Within the large complex of the Al-Qarawiyyin mosque which was primarily built to accommodate a growing number of worshipers in the area, Fatima also built a university what became the world�s first degree-granting educational institute. That university is still operating today. She personally supervised the construction of both the mosque and the university which quickly earned a global reputation of becoming a leading spiritual and educational center of the entire Muslim world.

Historians, authors and newspaper columnists said that Fatima al-Fihri was not only a great philanthropist; she was also a very pious and devout Muslim. �She made a religious vow to fast daily from the first day of construction in Ramadan 245 AH/859 CE until the project was completed some two years later, whereupon she offered prayers of gratitude in the very mosque she had so tirelessly worked to build,� wrote Arab journalist Amal al-Sibai in an article published in the digital edition of Saudi Gazette newspaper on January 13, 2017.

Conveniently located within the large compounds of the mosque, the university attracted students from all over the world. Fatima al-Fihri herself studied at her own university. In addition to the Qur�an and Fiqh (the Islamic jurisprudence), a wide variety of subjects including history, geography, astronomy, chemistry, medicine, mathematics, grammar and music were taught at the university which later introduced more subjects, such as physics, natural sciences and also foreign languages. These courses were not just for Muslims; Jewish and Christian students were also welcome to study there.

The University of Al-Qarawiyyin produced many famous thinkers and scholars of the early days. Among the most prominent graduates from Al-Qarawiyyin were Pope Sylvester II, Jewish philosopher Moses ben Maimon commonly known as Maimonides, historian and philosopher Ibn Khaldun, famous author and traveler Leo Africanus, astronomer Al-Bitruji, Maliki jurist Ibn Al-Arabi, historian and theologian Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari, Moroccan Sufi scholar Ahmad Ibn Idris, writer and political leader Muhammad al-Kattani and Islamic scholar Fatima al-Kabbaj.

Fatima al-Fihri not only established the world�s oldest and continually operating university; she also founded the world�s oldest library which has preserved some valuable manuscripts of early Islam. Among the collection of about 30,000 books and manuscripts, there is a 9th century Qur�an written in Kufic script on a camel�s skin and the earliest collection of Hadiths which are the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. In the showcase of the library, there is also an Arabic version of the Gospel dating back to the 12th century. It has also preserved �Muqaddimah,� the 14th century text written by famous historian Ibn Khaldun and a copy of the Qur�an gifted to the university by Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur in 1602.A rich collection of ancient works of Islamic literature is also on display at the library.

Over the years, the library�s centuries-old building deteriorated. Although the scholars had access to valuable and rare materials, the library was closed to the public for safety reasons. In 2012, it underwent a major renovation work and currently it is open to the public. Aziza Chaouni, a Toronto-based female architect was contacted by the Moroccan Ministry of Culture and given the responsibility to restore the world�s oldest library. A native of Fez, Morocco, Chaouniled the project and successfully restored the library in her hometown within just three years and brought it back to its past glory. It became accessible to the public again in May 2016 and among many priceless treasures and exhibits, it also showcases Fatima al-Fihri�s original diploma on a wooden board.

Details about the personal life of Fatima al-Fihri are not available due to a major fire that destroyed many valuable documents of Al-Qarawiyyin library in 1323.Yet, there are many books on her generosity and extraordinary achievements on Amazon, Good reads and eBay �especially for children. But no author could sum up more eloquently than Rebecca Mortimer on Fatima al-Fihri. In a post on the website of Manchester University Press on March 8, 2018, this is what she wrote about the distinguished Muslim woman who has been described by many as the �mother of intellectuals.�: �Fatima�s foresight and commitment, alongside her selfless contribution towards championing intellectual advancement, led to the establishment of a monumental university. The remarkable legacy of her dedication and empowering endeavor is well-deserved and one that is a source of inspiration for all.�

-    The writer is a Toronto-based journalist who also writes for the Toronto Sun as a guest columnist


LATEST NEWS
MOST READ
Also read
Are we prepped to face climate change?
Big push for Bangladesh to adapt to changing climate  
The unraveling of military rule in Myanmar
How to win an argument
Recognise Pakistans 1971 atrocities as genocide
Its time we diversified our export trade
Stop ecocide to gain green economy
Conservation of our wildlife is a must
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Online: 41053014; Advertisement: 41053012.
E-mail: info©dailyobserverbd.com, news©dailyobserverbd.com, advertisement©dailyobserverbd.com, For Online Edition: mailobserverbd©gmail.com
🔝