One sister built a mosque, the other the oldest university
Do you know where the oldest university in the world is? Your answer could be Oxford or Cambridge, or if you are interested in history, you might say Taxila or Nalanda.
Taxila and Nalanda were indeed ancient universities, but they could not withstand the onslaught of time and today only ruins remain.
So which is the oldest university in the world that is still functioning today?
Fez, a historical city
Today we take you on a journey to a historical city. The name of this city is Fez, which is the oldest and second largest city in Morocco. The greatest advantage of Fez is its university.
The city of Fez or Fez Medina was founded in the ninth century and is still inhabited today. This city had the opportunity to flourish rapidly in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This was the period when the Al-Murniyyun Empire was established in Morocco. Fez is still in good condition among all the historical cities of the Arab countries.
Today, a new way of life can be seen in the lives of people here. But the style of the city, its style, also reminds you of the past. The streets of the city of Fez are intertwined like mazes and take you from one corner to another. There are fountains in the city center and small markets are held on a daily basis.
Its architecture is unique and reminiscent of the Middle Ages.
Many of the old buildings in this city have gradually turned into ruins. However, the Moroccan government is spending a lot of money on the maintenance of the city's historical sites. It is also said that this city is the oldest car-free area in the world. Old-style unicycles, carts and carts are still used for transportation here.
If you want to see the beauty of Fez, you should travel there on foot. Verses from the Quran will be engraved on every important building. You can see beautiful designs of ceramic tiles on half of the walls there.
The beauty of the city of Fez and its historical importance automatically attract you.
The biggest center of tourist interest in this city is a building and this building is the oldest university in the world that is still functioning.
Jamia Al-Qarawiyyin
In the center of Fez, Jamia Al-Qarawiyyin is located, which is the oldest university in the world that is still in operation. According to UNESCO and the Guinness Book of World Records, it is the oldest university in the world where education and learning are still ongoing.
According to many records, it is the first university in the world where the practice of awarding certificates or degrees became common. Before this, there were educational institutions like Taxila and Nalanda in India, but over time, these institutions were destroyed and teaching and learning ceased.
While teaching and learning has been going on continuously in Jamia al-Qarawiyyin for more than 1200 years. It is the oldest center of education and learning in the Arab countries.
The building of this university can be called a new expression of the beauty of architecture. Along with this, the story of its establishment is also not devoid of interest. It is said that in the middle of the ninth century, when the work of establishing Fez as the capital of the Idriss Sultanate was in progress, a noblewoman named Fatima from the city of Qarawiyyin settled here with her father and sister Maryam. The city of Qarawiyyin is located in Tunisia today.
People from all over the world come here to study.
Fatima got married in Fez Medina, and when Fatima's father died, the two sisters decided that the society in which they had been sheltered owed them a debt and they had to pay this debt. So Fatima planned to establish the Jamia al-Qarawiyyin. A large building was built here not only for the education of the people but also for their residence.
While her sister Maryam spent her share of wealth on building a mosque called Andalusin. This mosque was so large that about 20,000 people could pray there at the same time.
Fatima established a university
The decoration of the mosque is of high quality. Maryam spent all her wealth on building the mosque, while Fatima built the university with her inheritance so that people could study here. It is said that Fatima fasted most of the time until the university was completed. Jamia al-Qarawiyyin was built in 18 years.
People come to see the beauty of the mosque from the inside and outside. The mosque and the university have doors on all four sides. The ceiling is hand-painted. In which natural colors are used. From the inside, it is not possible to guess how big the building is, but from the outside, its grandeur is clearly visible.
The ceiling of Jamia Al-Qarawiyyin is made of green tiles. It seems that greenery is spread far and wide. There are tiles of different colors on the floor, which makes it seem as if colors have been scattered on the floor.
This Moroccan city of Fez is located on the shores of the Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
After Fatima, many empires came to Morocco and all of them changed these buildings according to their own needs. For example, in the twelfth century, the Al-Mawlid dynasty ruled here. They expanded the courtyard of the mosque and painted pictures of their era on the walls.
After this, the Almohad dynasty was established, which ruled for a long time and extended its empire to southern Spain. The changes made during their reign reflect the Spanish style of architecture.
Al-Qarawiyyin University began as a seminary, but today people from all over the world come here to study. Today it is internationally recognized. In addition to religious studies, language and literature, grammar, music, law, mysticism, medical science, and geography were taught here.
Great intellectuals have been associated with this university, including Ibn Rushd, Ibn Khaldun, Muhammad al-Idrisi, Maimonides, Muhammad Taqi al-Din al-Hilali, Imam al-Banani, Ahmadullah al-Ghamari, Abdul Karim al-Khattabi, Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi or Leo Africanus, etc.
There was no provision for women's education
In 1359, the Al-Mariniyyun family worked to consolidate the university's library. During this period, medieval books were found and brought here from all over the world. There are about four thousand documents and manuscripts here that are not found anywhere else in the world.
In fact, this is the region of the Arab countries where modern civilization began. Here is a treasure trove for understanding the ancient times. The libraries of Arab countries contain the best documents for understanding Muslims and Islam, but unfortunately, due to the ignorance of some people, these precious treasures are being lost. For example, the library in Mosul, Iraq, has been completely destroyed.
Now both men and women study here
However, those who understand the value of these documents are digitizing them so that they can be preserved for future generations.
A part of this university was reopened to the public in 2016. At the same time, the Arab Bank of Kuwait has provided a large amount of assistance to the Moroccan Ministry of Culture to save this old center of Islamic civilization.
Interestingly, this university was founded by a woman but due to social reasons she was not allowed to study there.
However, this restriction is no longer in place and today men and women of different religions are coming to study at this university.
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