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Never forget that the oldest & continually operating university in the world was founded in Morocco by a young Muslim woman named Fatima al-Fihri. She used her inheritance to build a Mosque, & in doing so, establish the very concept of higher education as we know it today. https://twitter.com/MoorishMovement/status/1326212787375382528
Fatima al-Fihri’s legacy is burned onto the shadows like an afterimage of the sun, but so much of her life is lost in the annals of history. We know Fatima was born in Tunisia in 800 AD to a wealthy merchant family that believed in science and valued education.
Sometime in the early 9th century, Fatima al-Fihri moved w her family to the Moroccan city of Fez, a vibrant cosmopolitan city of the time. After her father's death, she inherited a large fortune which she then invested in founding a Mosque for the benefit of her local community.
Fatima al-Fihri was, by all accounts, a visionary. She wanted to create a place to house & nourish the world's brightest minds. And that's exactly what happened. Al-Qarawiyyin University called to scholars & intellects the world over, like signal beacons burning on a vast sky.
The University's graduates included several towering scholars, most notably: philosopher & polymath Ibn Rushd, historian Ibn Khaldun, Jewish philosopher Maimonides, & Gerbert of Aurillac who became Pope Sylvester II & was the 1st to introduce Arabic numerals to the rest of Europe
Though founded by a woman, female students did not begin studying at Al-Qarawiyyin until the 1940s. Fatima Al-Kabbaj, who later became the sole female member of the Moroccan Supreme Council of Religious Knowledge, was one of the few first women to attend the University.
Al-Qarawiyyin admits both men & women today, & after the colonial era—during which the French colonizers tried to use the University to solidify their rule—Al-Qarawiyyin moved to the new Ministry of Education. Its renovation was pioneered by female architect Aziza Chaouni.
The University of Al-Qarawiyyin houses the world’s oldest library. The library is home to over 4000 manuscripts, including the original Muqadimmah", a famous 14th-century text by historian Ibn Khaldun, & most treasured: a 9th-century Quran, still in its original binding.
