AN ARAB WOMAN Collage - Limited Edition of 10

Little is known about the personal life of Fatima bint Muhammad al-Fihriya al-Qurashiyya shortened form Fatima al-Fihriya, but according to records from 14th century historian Ibn AbiZar, Fatima was born in 800 AD in present day Tunisia. From humble beginnings, Fatima’s father became a wealthy merchant after emigrating to Fez, a cosmopolitan metropolis, along with a wave of many other Arabic people. Her family prized education, even for women, and Fatima and her only sibling, Maryam, were well educated and devoutly religious. Shortly after Fatima married both her husband and father died and she inherited half of her father’s fortune. Fatima and her sister were versed in Islamic law and devout worshipers eager to share their knowledge and faith. With her inheritance, al-Fihriya decided that a place of higher learning was much needed and founded the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University, naming it after her hometown. For 18 years, Fatima oversaw construction and development of the building – 30 meters long with a courtyard, prayer hall, library and schoolrooms and in doing so, this Muslim woman is credited with founding the oldest existing, continually operating and first degree-awarding university in the world in 859 AD. It preceded the founding of Europe’s oldest institutions in the following centuries, including the University of Bologna (founded 1088) and the University of Oxford (founded around 1096). Her idea for an educational hub that provided opportunities for advanced learning spread throughout the world in the Middle Ages and gave rise to universities as we know it today.