The oldest existing and
continually operating educational institution in the world is the University of
Karueein, founded in 859 AD in Fez, Morocco.
Dating back
to 859, the University is no doubt older than Egypt’s Azhar University (970)
and its European counterparts: the University of Oxford, which is regarded as
the oldest university in the English-speaking world (roughly founded in 1096),
and University of Bologna (founded approximately in 1088). The historic
university of Fez is actually recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records
as the oldest degree-granting university in the world. Moreover, UNESCO
considers Al-Karaouine to have been a university since its founding.
Originally
founded as a mosque, with an associated mosque school (madrasa) for the purpose
of providing a place for the community to practice their religious rituals in
comfort, the place of worship soon developed other functions. It became a place
of religious instruction and Quran memorization, Arabic grammar, mathematics,
music, chemistry, islamic legislation, Sufism, medicines, astronomy, as well to
study political debate and lessons focusing mainly on the natural sciences. The
mosque later on set-up the rest of its urban infrastructure. It was surrounded
by places of lodging, businesses, “Hamams” – steam rooms, schools, etc. many of
which still function properly today.
After the
construction of the mosque, the scholars of Fez were able to make it a better
place for education and scientific research that attracted many students from
different parts of the world. Thanks to the successive dynasties that governed
the city of Fez, Al Karaouin mosque was expanded until it became the largest in
Africa, with a capacity of 22,000 worshipers, and turned into a scientific
center advancing the prestigious educational centers in Cordoba and Baghdad.
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