The University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco, was originally founded as a mosque in 859 AD. According to Guinness World Records, it is the oldest higher learning institution in the world.

A courtyard in front of a mosque adjacent to the al-Qarawiyyin Library, pre-restoration. Khonsali via Wikimedia Commons. When the library at Morocco’s al-Qarawiyyin University was first built in ...

In AD859, al-Fihri decided that a place of higher learning was much needed in the city and founded the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University, naming it after her hometown.

Abu Dhabi, Nov 23rd, 2011 (WAM) -- A delegation from the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre in Abu Dhabi has participated in a workshop at Al-Qarawiyyin University, Fez in Morocco. The visit came as ...