Did You Know That The Oldest University In The World Is Located In Africa? See The Country Where It Is Situated & More Facts About The School

The University of Al-Qarawiyyin also written Al-Karaouine or Al Quaraouiyine, is a university located in Fez, Morocco.


It was founded by a woman named Fatima al-Fihri in 859 with an associated Madrasa, which subsequently became one of the leading spiritual and educational centers of the historic Muslim world. It was incorporated into Morocco's modern state university system in 1963 and was officially renamed "University of Al Quaraouiyine" two years later.


UNESCO and other sources such as Guinness World Records recognized the Qarawiyyin as the oldest university or oldest continually operating higher-elarning institution in the world.


Education at Al-qarawiyyin University focuses on the Islamic religious and legal sciences with a huge emphasis on, and particular strengths in, Classical Arabic grammar/linguistics and Maliki law, although lessons on other non-Islamic subjects are also offered to students.


Teaching is delivered in the traditional method, in which students are seated in a semi-circle (halqa) around a sheikh who prompts them to read certain texts, asks them questions, and explains difficult points to them. The university is attended by students from all over Morocco and Muslim West Africa, with some also coming from further abroad.


At Al-Karaouine, students have studied theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, mathematics, astrology, astronomy and languages.


The university had among its students since the Middle Age famous people from all around the Mediterranean sea such as the philosopher Averroes, the geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi and the Jewish philosopher Maimonides.