FATIMA AL-FIHRI –THE GLOBAL PIONEER IN UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

By Moin Qazi, PhD (Economics), PhD (English), Nagpur India

moinqazi123@gmail.com

 The Prophet Muhammad (SAW)  said: “If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, God will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise. The angels will lower their wings in their great pleasure with one who seeks knowledge. The inhabitants of the heavens and the Earth and (even) the fish in the deep waters will ask forgiveness for the learned man. The superiority of the learned over the devout is like that of the moon, on the night when it is full, over the rest of the stars. The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave (no monetary inheritance), they leave only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion”( Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith 1631)

Education has always been key marker of a great civilization. The emblem of a truly great society is its high educational status. The name Fatima Al-Fihri crowns the annals of history with the distinction of having established the world’s very first university. Yes, it was a Muslim woman who pioneered a model of higher learning coupled with the issuance of degrees .

Fatima  migrated with her family from Qayrawan in present-day Tunisia to the city of Fez in Morocco in the early ninth century during the rule of the Idrees II, who was both an extraordinary ruler and a devout Muslim .Fes at the time was bustling as the metropolis of the “Muslim West” (known as al-Maghrib), and held the promise of fortune and felicity. Having become one of the most influential Muslim cities, it boasted a rich combination of religion and culture, both cosmopolitan and traditional. Idrees II reestablished the city on the left bank of the River Fez. This is where Fatima was to settle and get married.

Though Fatima’s family had to undergo hardship and suffering there came a time when their forbearance was rewarded with prosperity. Her father, Mohammad bin Abdullah al Fihri, had become a hugely successful businessman.   Fatima had a hard family life with several bereavements   in her family.  Her husband, father and brother died in short succession. Fatima and her only other sibling, Mariam, received a sizable inheritance which ensured their financial independence. It was in this latter period of their lives that they distinguished themselves. Having a robust educational background, the sisters decided to use their fortune for building institutions that could both uplift and empower their community. One of the urgent needs of Fez was a mosque that could accommodate the growing population of the bustling city, after the influx of refugees from Islamic Spain .Mariam built the   grand Andalusian Mosque in 245AH/859CE, while Fatima dedicated herself to what became Qarawiyyin Mosque and University.

These first degree-granting educational institutes quickly spread throughout the Muslim world. Al-Azhar University was founded in Cairo in 970, and in the 1000s, the Seljuks established dozens of madrasas throughout the Middle East. The concept of institutes that grant certificates of completion (degrees) spread into Europe through Muslim Spain, where European students would travel to study. The Universities of Bologna in Italy and Oxford in England were founded in the 11th and 12th centuries and continued the Muslim tradition of granting degrees to students who deserved them, and using it as a judge of a person’s qualifications in a particular subject.

Fatima had grand aspirations, and early on began buying property adjacent to the initial land, thereby significantly increasing the size of the mosque. She diligently spent all that was required of time and money to see the project to completion.  She was also extremely pious and devout in worship. She made a religious vow to fast daily from the first day of construction in Ramadan 245AH/859 CE until it was completed some two years later, whereupon she offered prayers of gratitude in the very mosque she had so tirelessly built!

Al-Qarawiyyin became a major center of advanced learning in medieval times in the Mediterranean.     The initial curriculum focused on the religious sciences and later covered other disciplines such as grammar, geography, history, mathematics, medicine, chemistry and astronomy. The university attracted scholars from far and wide. Fes, being the most influential cities in the Muslim world has been renowned for centuries as the centre for religion and culture. The Al-Qarawiyyin  madrasah played a leading role in the cultural and academic relations between the Islamic world and Europe in the middle ages. The cartographer Mohammed al-Idrisi (d. 1166), 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-Qarawiyyin. The madrasah has produced numerous scholars who have strongly influenced the intellectual and academic history of the Muslim and Jewish worlds. Among these are Ibn Rushayd al-Sabti (d. 1321), Mohammed Ibn al-Hajj al-Abdari al-Fasi (d. 1336), Abu Imran al-Fasi (d. 1015), a leading theorist of the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence, Leo Africanus, a renowned traveler and writer, and Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon.

Tiled in blue and white, the courtyard of the mosque  lies in the western side  , equipped with three marble fountains. The central fountain is an original 12th century Almohad piece of furniture which was complemented by two lateral fountains fixed under two symmetrical patios that were built under the Saadid rule, by the Sultan ‘Abdallah ibn al-Shaikh (r. 1606-23). With their slender marble columns, these kiosks are the most elegant part of the mosque . The sections above the capitals were sculptured in beautiful Moorish golden “embroidery” comprising exquisite floral and geometrical forms framed within bands of calligraphy, features recalling the Alhambra famous patio of Lions, which also became typical surface decor in the Saadid dynasty in Morocco. The foundation of the mosque was to provide, in addition to a space for worship, a learning centre for the Qarawiyyin ommunity. Like any mosque, Al-Qarawiyyin soon developed into a place for religious instruction and political discussion, gradually extending its education to all subjects, particularly the natural sciences. The university is equipped with many instruments, especially those used in astronomy. The “timers room” is a chamber set up to accommodate these equipments including astrolabe, sand clocks and other instruments for the calculation of time. Above is one of the sundials fixed in a beautiful wall frame.​

Among the subjects taught, alongside the Qur’an and Fiqh, were courses on grammar, rhetoric, logic, Medicine, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry and even history, geography. This variety of topics and the high quality of its teaching drew scholars and students from all over the Muslim world. So overwhelming was the number of applicants that the university had to introduce a vigorous selection system based on a number of conditions, including a completion of learning the whole Quran from primary Madrasas and a good knowledge of Arabic and of general sciences.

The university produced great thinkers such as Abu Al-Abbas al-Zwawi, Abu Madhab Al-Fasi, a leading theorist of the Maliki School of Islamic jurisprudence and Leo Africans, a renowned traveler and writer. The university played a leading role in cultural and academic relations between the Islamic world and Europe. A renowned Jewish philosopher and theologian Maimonides (Ibn Maimun) studied under Abdul Arab Ibn Muwashah. Apart from that, Ibn al-Arabi Ibn Khaldun and Al-Bitruji (Alpetragius) were all connected with the university either as academicians or as students.

Apart from the Qur’an and Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), other subjects that were also taught were grammar, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, history, geography and music. Gradually, a broader range of subjects were introduced in the university particularly natural sciences, physics and foreign languages.

When   Muslims were expelled from Spain beginning in the 13th century, many came to Fèz and to Qarawīyīn, bringing knowledge of European and Moorish arts and sciences. By the 14th century there were said to be 8,000 students at the university. It gradually declined and by the 20th century retained only traces of its former greatness. But after Moroccan independence (1956), much was done to modernize the university: a new faculty of law was established, women were admitted for the first time, and the tuition system was reorganized. In 1963 the traditional program of studies—Islamic law, theology, and Arabic studies—were divided into three separate faculties, the latter two being relocated at Tétouan and Marrakech.

Non-Muslims were also welcome. In fact, the university’s outstanding calibre attracted Gerber of Auvergne who later became Pope Sylvester II and went on to introduce Arabic numerals and the concept of zero to medieval Europe. One of the university’s most famous students was a Jewish physician and philosopher, Maimonides. He was born in Andalusia in 1138 while it was flourishing as an intellectual and cultural hub under Muslim rule. His family moved to Fes, Morocco in 1160 where he was heavily influenced by Islamic thought. A distinguished theologian, he was the first to introduce articles of faith to Judaism; he considered it mandatory for every Jew to believe in the absolute unity of God, in His exclusive right to be worshipped, in revelation through prophets, in resurrection, divine punishment and reward.

The university went on to include the Qarawiyin library. . Founded in 1349, the Qarawiyin’ library is one of the oldest and most important in the world. Among its precious manuscripts are volumes from the famous Muwatta of Imam 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.

The University also became a haven for pluralism and played a vital role in building the Islamic world’s relations with Europe. Its list of alumni    boasts of many eminent non-Muslim names amongst its alumni as well. Leo Africanus, a renowned traveler and writer studied. The cartographer Mohammed al-Idrisi (d. 1166), 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 Qarawiyyin.

Almost 1200 years have passed since the founding of the University of Al-Qarawiyin in 859, and it continues to this day to graduate students in   various religious and physical sciences. This esteemed institution, which already had 8,000 students by the 14th century, is central to the legacy of Fatima Al-Fihri. Her story is one of timeless dedication to the Islamic tradition of learning and academic study, as well as personal devotion to pleasing Allah (SWT)   by serving as a genuine benefactor to humanity. The world is richer as a result.

Moin Qazi, PhD (Economics), PhD (English)

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