UNESCO Recognizes Morocco’s Al Quaraouiyine as World’s Oldest Operating University

Founded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri, a Tunisian who settled in Fez with her family, the Al Quaraouiyine University was initially created as a center for religious and Islamic studies. But over time it became a place of teaching in the sciences, mathematics, astronomy, medicine and philosophy. It is the first institution of higher education to award a university degree, and one of the first to promote the exchange of knowledge between Islamic, European, and Greco-Latin cultures, recalls La Razon.

Located within the Al Quaraouiyine mosque, the world’s oldest university seduces with the beauty of its Arab architecture, its decorated courtyards, its horseshoe arches and its complex geometric sculptures. It had welcomed as students personalities such as Averroes, Ibn Khaldun, the philosopher Ibn Rushd, Pope Sylvester II and the Jewish philosopher Maimonides. The center also houses a library, one of the oldest in the world, which has more than 20,000 manuscript books, including rare Quranic texts and scientific treatises from the Middle Ages.

It was in 1947 that Al Quaraouiyine was integrated into the Moroccan education system. It was officially renamed the University of Al Quaraouiyine in 1965. Although it was founded by a woman, it is only recently that the university has begun to register its first female students. Today, it is more focused on religious and Quranic studies. It is open to the public, without distinction of religion or gender. However, scientists and experts must obtain authorization before accessing it.