Al-Azhar - Mosque and University
al-Azhar Mosque is a grand structure that reflects many centuries of styles. Located in Al Hussein Square, the al-Azhar Mosque was built by Jawhar al-Sequili in two years during the reign of the Fatimid Caliph al-Muiz. Soon after its completion in 971 a school of theology ( madrassa ) was connected with it which allowed ten thousands of students to study there. The former Shia school, was later (and until today) transformed into a Sunni school. (Shia and Sunni are the major sub-groups in Islam.) The university built around the mosque is the most important of Sunni Muslim schools until today. al-Azhar is considered the oldest operating university in the world. Today the university classes are performed in adjacent buildings and the mosque is reserved for prayer.
The 15th century Barber's Gate is the main entrance. Today we don't need to shave our heads anymore to enter the mosque, but we have to put off our shoes and here women can get a scarf to cover their hair. The gate leads into a great courtyard, overlooked by three stately minarets. The courtyard's impressive white façade is mostly from the Fatimid period.
Though the latticework-screened residential quarters of the madrassas are rarely open to visitors, the huge prayer hall supported by alabaster pillars is open to public. It is very common to find Muslim scholars performing prayer or sitting on the floor studying books, or some simply take their nap on the warmly carpeted floor.
Academic life has remained much the same. Students study the Qur'an and Islamic law in detail, Islamic culture and the Arabic language, while gathering in a circle at the feet of a sheikh. Graduates receive a certificate which indicates that they have memorized the teacher's curriculum.
In addition to religious studies, modern schools of medicine, science and foreign languages were added in 1961. In the same year an Islamic women's faculty was established – six years after Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah, Pakistan 's first female editor and columnist also became the first woman to speak at al-Azhar University .
The university's library is considered second in range and importance only to the Egyptian National Library and Archives (Dar al Kutub) with most precious manuscripts and rare books, some as old as the 8th century. Third in line is the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
Among students of al Azhar University were famous figures like Taha Hussein, Egypt's influential writer and intellectual, whose book ‘Pre-Islamic Poetry” was banned by al Azhar but later with some modifications published under the title ‘Pre-Islamic Literature' , and Saad Zaghloul, who became Egypt's first prime minister in 1924.
published 30 November, 2007
Source: Angela