University of al-Qarawiyyin Mosque

Country: Morocco

City: Fez

Year of construction (AH): 857

Year of construction (AD): 242

GPS: 34.064910° -4.973497°

ArchNet: https://archnet.org/sites/1730in

Gibson Classification: Parallel

For a Link to the Qibla Tool Click Here

Description:

The Mosque of al-Qarawiyyin, near the Suq al-‘Attarin, or Spice Market of Fez al-Bali, is one of the world’s oldest universities, and among the largest mosques in Africa. Founded as a private oratory in ⁸⁵⁷⁄₂₄₂ AH by Fatima al-Fahri, the daughter of a wealthy Qayrawani immigrant, in the tenth century the mosque became the congregational mosque of the quarter of al-Qarawiyyin. The mosque is surrounded by madrasas, and was a major intellectual center in the medieval Mediterranean. Its prestigious academic reputation may have transcended religious divisions, if, as a popular tradition suggests, Gerbert of Auvergne (930-1003), who would become Pope Sylvester II and who is credited with introducing the use of zero and Arabic numerals to Europe, was once a student at al-Qarawiyyin.

References:

Ettahiri, Ahmed S., Fili, Abdallah, and Jean-Pierre van Staëvel, 2012. “Nouvelles recherches archéologiques sur la période islamique du Maroc: Fès, Aghmat et Îgîlîz”, in: Philippe Sénac (ed.), Histoire et archéologie de l’occident muslaman (VIIe-XVe siècles) Al-Andalus, Maghreb, Sicile, Villa 4, Toulouse Cedex: CNRS – Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail, 157-181.

Al-Tāzī, ʿAbd al-Hādī, 1958. “Naẓariyya jadīda fī tāʾrīḫ bināʾ jāmiʿ al-Qarawīyīn”, Revista del Instituto de Estudios Islamicos en Madrid 6: 277-281 (in Arabic). https://www.institutoegipcio.es/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Vol.-VI-Revista-del-Instituto-Egipcio-de-Estudios-Islamicos-1958.pdf