The Inside History

Fatima al-Fihri: Founder of world's earliest University

Fatima bint Muhammad Al-Fihriya Al-Qurashiya was an Arab Muslim woman who is credited with establishing the world's oldest continuously functioning institution, the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco in 859 CE, however this is disputed. Al-Fihri was born in the modern Tunisian town of Kairouan in the year 800 AD. Her family was a part of a hu…