Al-Azhar University - History

History

Al-Azhar University concerns itself with the religious syllabus, which pays special attention to the Qur'anic sciences and traditions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, on the one hand, while on the other hand the university teaches all the basic modern fields of science. In 1961, according to Al-Azhar university's legislatory law No. 103, new colleges of applied sciences, such as the faculties of Medicine and Engineering, were introduced to Al-Azhar university. These newly introduced faculties are not duplicates of their counterparts in other universities because they combine the empirical sciences with the religious sciences. Alongside the Egyptian students who are studying at Al-Azhar university, there are also many other students from various Islamic and European countries. These foreign Muslim students have exactly the same rights as the Egyptian students.

The madrasa is one of the relics of the Fatimid dynasty era of Egypt, descended from Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad and Ali son-in-law and cousin of prophet Muhammad. Fatimah, was called Al-Zahra (The luminous), and it was named in her honor. It was founded as mosque by the Fatimid commander Jawhar at the orders of the Caliph Al-Muizz as he founded the city for Cairo. It was (probably on Saturday) in Jamadi al-Awwal in the year 359 A.H. Its building was completed on the 9th of Ramadan in the year 361 A.H.(972 AD) Both Al-'Aziz Billah and Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah added to its premises. It was further repaired, renovated and extended by Al-Mustansir Billah and Al-Hafiz Li-Din-illah. Fatimid Caliphs always encouraged scholars and jurists to have their study-circles and gatherings in this mosque and thus it was turned into a university which has the claim to be considered as the oldest University still functioning.

Studies began at Al-Azhar in the month of Ramadan, 975. According to Syed Farid Alatas, the Jami'ah had faculties in Islamic law and jurisprudence, Arabic grammar, Islamic astronomy, Islamic philosophy, and logic. The Fatimids gave attention to the philosophical studies at the time when rulers in other countries declared those who were engaged in philosophical pursuits as apostates and heretics. The Greek thought found a warm reception with the Fatimids who expanded the boundaries of such studies. They paid much attention to philosophy and gave support to everyone who was known for being engaged in the study of any branch of philosophy. The Fatimid Caliph invited many scholars from nearby countries and paid much attention to college books on various branches of knowledge and in gathering the finest writing on various subjects and this in order to encourage scholars and to uphold the cause of knowledge. These books were destroyed by Salah-ud-Din Ayyubi in the same manner in which he exterminated the Fatimids and thus these Fatimid treasure were lost forever. In the 12th century, following the overthrow of the Ismaili Shia Fatimid dynasty, Sultan Saladin (the founder of the staunchly Sunni Ayyubid Dynasty) converted Al-Azhar to a Shafi'ite Sunni center of learning. Abd-el-latif delivered lectures on Islamic medicine at Al-Azhar, while the Jewish philosopher Maimonides delivered lectures on medicine and astronomy there during the time of Saladin.

In 1961, Al-Azhar was established as a university under the government of Egypt's second President Gamal Abdel Nasser when a wide range of secular faculties were added for the first time, such as business, economics, science, pharmacy, medicine, engineering and agriculture. Before that date, the Encyclopaedia of Islam classifies the Al-Azhar variously as madrasa, center of higher learning and, since the 19th century, religious university, but not as a university in the full sense, referring to the modern transition process as "from madrasa to university". An Islamic women's faculty was also added in the same year, six years after Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah had been the first woman to speak at the university..