Fatima al-Fihri: Founder of World’s First University, Library over 1200 years ago
Story from Ibrahim Gimba, Abuja
Born: Kairouan, Tunisia
Died: 880 AD, Fes, Morocco
Parents: Muhammad al-Fihri
Known for: Financing of the Al-Qarawiyyin mosque
Fatima bint Muhammad al-Fihriyya (Arabic: فاطمة بنت محمد الفهرية القرشية) was an Arab woman who is credited with founding the al-Qarawiyyin mosque in 859 AD in Fez, Morocco.
She is also known as “Umm al-Banayn”. Al-Fihri died around 880 AD. The Al-Qarawiyyin mosque subsequently developed into a teaching institution, which became the University of al-Qarawiyyin in 1963. Her story is told by Ibn Abi Zar’ (between 1310 and 1320) in The Garden of Pages (Rawd al-Qirtas) as founding the Qarawiyyin Mosque.
Little is known about her personal life, except for what was recorded by 14th century historian Ibn Abi-Zar’. Fatima was born around 800 AD in the town of Kairouan, in present-day Tunisia. She is of Arab Qurayshi descent, hence the nisba “al-Qurashiyya”, ‘the Qurayshi one’.
Her family was part of a large migration to Fez from Kairouan. Although her family did not start out wealthy, her father, Mohammed al-Fihri, became a successful merchant. When he died, this wealth was inherited by Fatima, and her sister Maryam. It is with this money that they went on to leave their legacy. Al-Fihri was married, but both her husband and father died shortly after the wedding.
Her father left his wealth to both Fatima and her sister, his only children. She and her sister Maryam were well-educated and studied the Islamic jurisprudence Fiqh and the Hadith, the records of Prophet Muhammed. Both went on to found mosques in Fes: Fatima founded Al-Qarawiyyin and Maryam founded the Al-Andalusiyyin Mosque. This idea was spurred on by the fact that due to all the Muslims fleeing like Fatima and her family, they were all gathering immigrants that were devout worshippers keen on learning and studying their faith. With as many immigrants as there were, there was overcrowding and not enough space, resources, or teachers to accommodate them.
According to Ibn Abi Zar’, Fatima used the money inherited from her father to build the Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque, named for the immigrants from her city. When Fatima’s community outgrew the mosque, she purchased a mosque built around 845 AD under the supervision of King Yahya ibn Muhammad and rebuilt it, doubling its size.
The construction project was supervised by Fatima herself. As Tunisian historian Hassan Hosni Abdelwahab noted in his book Famous Tunisian Women: “She committed to only using the land she had purchased. She dug deep into the land, unearthing yellow sand, plaster, and stone to use, so as not to draw suspicion from others [for using too many resources]”.
The mosque took 18 years to construct. According to Moroccan historian Abdelhadi Tazi, Al-Fihri fasted until the project’s completion. When it was finished, she went inside and prayed to God, thanking Him for His blessings. She named it after the immigrants from her hometown of Kairouan.
According to tradition, Fatima’s sister, Mariam, also founded a similar mosque in the district across the river the same year (859), with help from local Andalusian families, which became known as the Al-Andalusiyyin Mosque (Mosque of the Andalusians).
They chose to spend their inheritance on building educational institutions.
In 859, Fatima built the Al-Qayrawan Mosque, decorated in the Andalusian style with Kufic calligraphy (early style) engraved throughout. At 3,000 sq ft, it can fit 22,000 people.
She stacked it with Islamic works (Qur’an, Hadith collections, books on Fiqh, ie Islamic Jurisprudence, etc).
Her sister Miriam built the Al-Andalusiyyan Mosque nearby, with its heavy ornate doors and courtyard of walnut trees. Both employed ‘embroidery’ engraving — exquisite floral + geometrical + calligraphic features. Both mosques are examples of some of the oldest in the world.
The mosques attracted people eager to learn not just religious instructions but Arabic grammar and music as well. They talked, debated, drank Moroccan mint tea, and benefitted from generous financial gifts and grants by grateful sultans.
To house the ever-increasing influx of reading materials, Fatima then built al-Qarawiyyin Library. Now considered the world’s oldest library, it has over 4,000 rare old books and ancient manuscripts.
The most prized is a 9th century Qur’an, written in Kufic on camel skin.
With a warren of mazed rooms behind iron doors, renovations have revealed ever more treasures.
It also houses the 8th century Imam Malik collection of hadith written on gazelle sheets, AND the original copy of Ibn Khaldun’s book Kitab Al-‘Ibar (Book of Lessons), gifted in 1396.
Fatima wasn’t done. She soon built the 1st university in the world, Al-Qarawiyyin University.
It admitted students as young as from the age of thirteen. It remains the oldest continuously operating, accredited, degree-granting university in the world. The 1st degrees were carved on wood.
The University became a centre for political discussion and taught Politics, Philosophy, Law, Natural sciences, Rhetoric, Logic, Grammar, Medicine, Mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, History, Geography and Music.
Notable alumni included the great 12-13th century Jewish philosopher Ibn Maymun (Maimonides) … and the 1st sociologist and anthropologist, Ibn Khaldun (1332-1395 CE).
Muhammad al-Idrissi, a geographer and cartographer of the 1st world map (Tabula Rogeriana) in 1154, also studied at Al-Qarawiyyin.
As did the French mathematician and philosopher Gerbert of Aurillac who became Pope Sylvester II (946–1003), credited with introducing Arabic numerals and the use of zero into Europe.
Money VERY well invested over time!
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