University of Al Karaouine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The University of Al Karaouine (Arabic: جامعة القرويين‎) (other transliterations of the name include Kairouyine, Qaraouyine, Quarawin, Al-Qarawiyin, Kairaouine, Karaouine and El Qaraouiyn) is a university located in Fes, Morocco. Founded in 859, the university is one of the leading spiritual and educational centers of the Muslim world and the oldest continously operating institution of higher learning in the world. It is considered the "oldest existing educational institution in the world" by Guinness Book of World Records.^[1]

The university has produced numerous scholars who have strongly influenced the intellectual and academic history of the Muslim world. Among these are Abu Abullah Al-Sati, Abu Al-Abbas al-Zwawi, Ibn Rashid Al-Sabti (d.721 AH/1321 CE), Ibn Al-Haj Al-Fasi (d.737 AH/1336 CE) and Abu Madhab Al-Fasi, a leading theorist of the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence.

Al Karaouine University played a leading role in cultural and academic relations between the Islamic world and Europe in the middle ages. The greatest non-Muslim alumnus of the university was the Jewish philosopher and theologian Maimonides (1135-1204), who studied under Abdul Arab Ibn Muwashah. The 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 Karaouine. Pope Silvester II, who is credited with introducing the use of Arabic numerals and the concept of zero to Europe, studied at the university.

Contents 1 History 2 The mosque 3 See also 4 External links 5 References and notes

[edit] History

The University of Al Karaouine was founded in 859 by Fatima Al-Fihri, the daughter of a wealthy merchant named Mohammed Al-Fihri. The Al-Fihri family had migrated from Kairouan, 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. This remarkable story is a typical example shedding some light on the role and contribution of women in Muslim civilisation. Such a role is the subject of widely held misconceptions about Islam.

The university 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 university library are volumes from the famous Mut'ah of Malik written on gazelle parchment, the Sirat Ibn Ishaq, a copy of the Qur'an given to the university by Sultan Ahmed Al-Mansur Al-Dhahabi in 1602, and the original copy of Ibn Khaldun's book Al-'Ibar.

In addition to a place for worship, the mosque soon developed into a place for religious instruction and political discussion, gradually extending its education to a broad range of subjects, particularly the natural sciences. In 1957, King Mohammed V introduced math, physics, chemistry and foreign languages.^[2] Among the subjects taught, alongside the Qur'an and Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), are grammar, rhetoric, logic, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, history, geography and music.

[edit] The mosque

Successive dynasties expanded the Al Karaouine mosque until it became the largest in North Africa, with a capacity of more than 20,000 worshipers. Compared with the great mosques of Isfahan or Istanbul, the design is austere. The columns and arches are plain white; the floors are covered in reed mats, not lush carpets. Yet the seemingly endless forest of arches creates a sense of infinite majesty and intimate privacy, while the simplicity of the design compliments the finely decorated niches, pulpit and outer courtyard, with its superb tiles, plasterwork, woodcarvings and paintings.

The present form of the mosque is the result of a long historical evolution over the course of more than 1,000 years. Originally the mosque was about 30 meters long with a courtyard and four transverse aisles. The first expansion was undertaken in 956, by the Zenata tribe. Historic sources indicate that the Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba, Abd-ar-Rahman III, sent a large sum of money to cover the costs. The prayer hall was extended and the minaret was relocated, taking on a square form that served as a model for countless North African minarets. At this time it became a tradition that other mosques of Fes would make the call to prayer only after they heard Al Karaouine.

Further expansions were carried out under the patronage of Almoravid rulers. In 1135, the Emir Ali Ibn Yusuf ordered the extension of the mosque from 18 to 21 aisles, expanding the structure to more than 3,000 square meters. Some accounts suggest that Ali Ibn Yusuf hired two Andalusian architects to carry out this work who also built the central aisle of the Great Mosque of Tlemcen, Algeria, in 1136. The mosque acquired its Córdoban appearance at this time, featuring horseshoe arches and ijmiz frames decorated with beautiful geometrical and floral Andalusian art, bordered with Kufic calligraphy.

In the 16th century, the Saadis restored the mosque, adding two patios to the northern and southern ends of the courtyard.

[edit] See also

• List of oldest universities in continuous operation
• Al-Azhar University
• Islamic architecture
• List of universities in Morocco

[edit] External links

Voice of America Article: [1]

[edit] References and notes