History: Fatima al-Fihri

Via  Fatima-Al-Fihriyya-Art-Nouveau
 

Twelve hundred years ago, a young, wealthy and  well educated woman named Fatima Al-Fihriyya (also known as Al-Fihri) inherited a big fortune from  her businessman father. Her interest was neither in shoes or handbags,  nor in any celebrity lifestyle.  Fatima  lived to make life for her community better and was a woman with a  vision.  Her vision did not remain a dream but was accomplished and the  results can still be seen today. In 859 CE, Fatima Al-Fihri founded the  oldest academic degree-granting university existing today, the  University of Al-Qarawiyyin in Fes, Morocco.


Fatima  Al-Fihri is an example of the empowerment and encouragement Islam gives  to women.   The Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque is one of the largest mosques in  North Africa and the oldest true university in the world. Al-Qarawiyyin  is the perfect example of how Islam combines the spiritual with  education and that Islam is not separate from life's affairs.  This is  not only an example of how education and religion merge in this small  corner of the globe, but it sheds light on the esteemed role that women  played in the Islamic community - an aspect of Islam that is often  misunderstood.

It's  unfortunate that in the Muslim world today, such inspirational women,  the likes of Fatima Al-Fihri, are rare.  Rather, they are rare in all  parts of the modern world.

Fatima al-Fihri.

Al-Qarawiyyin University, Fes, Morroco.