Fatima al-Fihri: The Founder of The World's First University
How a Muslim woman transformed education
Universities are at the centre of education around the world.
From biological sciences to software engineering; the institution serves as the arena for the latest research in multiple fields.
When you think about universities that have a long history, which ones come to mind?
The obvious ones are probably Oxford (1096CE) and Cambridge (1209CE). These schools hold great history and have significant figures associated with them.
But, what about a University that was formed even earlier than them?
One that perhaps isn’t given the same level of acknowledgment here in the West.
One founded by a Muslim woman in North Africa.
This young woman went by the name of Fatima al-Fihri.
Fatima was born in 841CE in Kairouan, Tunisia. Not much is known about her childhood apart from the fact that her father was a successful merchant who encouraged the learning and practicing of Islam.
This background would significantly influence her life’s mission.
In search of better opportunities, Al-Fihri’s family left Tunisia and moved to Fes, Morocco.
Fes, at the time, was a busy city that had an influx of migrants. These were mainly Arabs who were expelled from Córdoba (in modern Spain) after a rebellion took place around 818CE.
In the city, there were people of diverse cultural backgrounds, but there was one commonality that tied many of them together: They were Muslims.
The Problem
With an even larger Muslim population, mosques were becoming overcrowded, making it difficult for people to carry out some of their religious duties; this included learning about the principles of the religion and how to practice it properly.
It was also around this time that Fatima’s wealthy father passed away, leaving her and her sister with much to inherit.
Fatima and her sister, Mariam, noticed that there weren’t enough resources for people to study the religion and that they needed to accommodate the community’s growing need for access to knowledge of Islam.
This would lead to them using their inheritance to build large mosques.
The Construction of 2 Major Mosques
Between 859CE-860CE, Mariam constructed Al Andalusiyyin, and Fatima founded a mosque of her own called Al Qarawiyyin (named after her birthplace).
Whilst Al Andalusiyyin was strictly a place of worship and Islamic education, Fatima believed that Al Qarawiyyin could also serve other purposes.
She saw that the mosque could have a place of higher education attached to it, where people would congregate and learn about different disciplines. This allowed for the study of other subjects to flourish including maths, astronomy, and geography.
What influenced the decision for Al Qarawiyyin to focus on other disciplines alongside religion?
The Islamic Golden Age was an era that encouraged learning about how the world functions through research and experimentation. So, for many people, educating themselves about the facts of life also served a religious purpose.
With better education, people could improve the world around them and carry out their religious practices more effectively.
Fatima’s upbringing in valuing education, combined with the general movement of using reason alongside religion, likely influenced the decision to build a university.
Influence and Legacy
Al Qarawiyyin, according to UNESCO, was the first educational institute to grant degrees, which is a testament to the trailblazing nature of Al-Fihri and those who supported the project.
The University still operates to this day with a library that contains over 4000 manuscripts, including work from Ibn Khaldun (a renowned social scientist).
What We Can Learn
Both Fatima and Mariam were children of a successful, wealthy merchant who left money to inherit. But it was what they chose to do with their inheritance that was significant. They could see and experience that there weren’t enough mosques for the growing population in Fes. Instead of only using their wealth for their own desires, they chose to invest in the community and serve a greater purpose.
Fatima didn’t stop at building a mosque, which was already a great achievement in itself. She saw an opportunity to establish a model for higher education and expand to the study of maths and science. Fatima al-Fihri envisioned a holistic approach to education within the institution, leaving a legacy that impacted both the Islamic and non-Islamic worlds.