Al Azhar, a civilisation and a minaret |
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Collection title
Collection ERTU
First broadcast date
1998
Abstract
The mosque of Al-Azhar in Cairo was built in 970. It is one of the oldest mosques in the city. It is also the headquarters of the Al-Azhar University which is an authority in the Islamic world.
It has been called Al-Azhar as a reference to Fatima Zahra, the daughter of the prophet Mahomet.
Broadcaster
ERTU - Channel 2
Audiovisual form
Documentary
Primary theme
Architecture
Secondary themes
- Historical heritages / Arab and muslim worlds
Credits / Cast
- Mahmoud Sami Khalil - Director
Map locations
- Egypt - Lower Egypt - Cairo
Context
Al Azhar, a civilisation and a minaret
Nora Demarchi
Al-Azhar was built in 970 according to the Christian calendar (358 according to the Muslim calendar) as the central mosque and study centre for a town recently founded by the new Fatimid rulers. Three and a half years after its construction, the mosque began to play an important role in both spreading and teaching Islamic knowledge. Many Egyptian rulers and Ottoman sultans gave it the means to expand, for it was not only a mosque and university, but also provided food and lodging for pilgrims from North and West Africa. Scholarships were given to students not only from Egypt but also other countries. The regular support given by wealthy and influential personalities enabled Al-Azhar to bring eminent scholars into its teaching corpus, and their reputation then boosted the intake of students.
Al-Azhar's traditional organization and the subjects taught there remained unchanged for 900 years. Until the second half of the nineteenth century the most important subjects were Law, Sharia (the code of ethics which are the foundation of Islamic law), Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), interpretations of sacred texts, the history of Muslim countries and Koranic Arabic.
Sitting against a pillar of the courtyard of the mosque, a teacher would talk to his students about a script they had to learn by heart. This was how knowledge was passed on. It was not done to take notes during the lectures, though memorizing all these texts taxed the intellectual faculties of students. Even today, a subject is not considered mastered until and unless it is learned by heart.
This form of teaching had and has the advantage of keeping traditions intact, but is scarcely likely to stimulate intellectual creativity or critical faculties. During Europe's colonial expansion the confrontation with a different civilization brought out the limitations of this very academic form of teaching. That is why from 1872 there were attempts to reform Islamic teaching. These reforms led to new subjects being brought into the syllabus, including history, pedagogy, modern philosophy, sociology, mathematics, medicine and natural sciences.
Today Al-Azhar is one of the leading universities for the study of Islam. Although it has been divided off into many campuses across the country, including a separate faculty for women, the university continues to offer free housing and education for Muslim students from any part of the world.
Bibliography : brief and to the point
Schoeler, G. 2002 : Écrire et transmettre dans les debout de l’islam, Paris, PUF.
Heine, P. « Azhar » dans : AA. VV. 1995 : Dictionnaire de l’islam : histoire, idées, grandes figures, Brepolis.
Henricus, C. and Versteeg, M. 1993 : Arabic Grammar and Qur’anic Exegesis in Early Islam, Brill, Leiden.
Dodge, B.D. 1961 : Al-Azhar : A Millenium of Muslim Learning, Washington.