Xinhuanet
Source: Xinhua
Morocco has recently reopened a number of centuries-old religious schools after rehabilitation with the aim to enrich the tangible and intangible heritage of the North African kingdom.
Most of these schools, or Madrasas, were founded in the 13th century to teach Islamic studies, Arabic literature, logic and mathematics in a number of Moroccan old cities, particularly Fez, Marrakesh and Sale.
Funded by charitable endowments, Madrasas offered students from different parts of Morocco and neighbouring countries free tuition and dormitories.
For centuries, these Madrasas had been the kingdom’s prestigious educational institutions, but with the establishment of modern universities, they have gradually lost their place and many of them were closed.
In recent years, Morocco has launched several programs to reopen a number of these educational institutions, especially in the city of Fez, Morocco’s spiritual capital.
On Tuesday, three Madrasas in Fez, the Mohammedia, the Seffarine and the Bouaanania, were reopened after a year of restoration.
The three schools will be used to accommodate students of al-Qarawiyyin University, which is considered by UNESCO the oldest continuously operating degree-granting university in the world.
As part of the Madrasas rehabilitation program in Fez, three other schools, the Mesbahiya, the Sbaiyyine and the Sahrij Madrasa, are scheduled to be restored. They will provide dormitories to al-Qarawiyyin students. In addition, the Sahrij Madrasa will also be reserved for students enrolled in the Moroccan Calligraphy Department of Al Qarawiyyin.
The rehabilitation of Madrasas is an integral part of a large-scale rehabilitation program of the ancient medina of Fez founded in the 7th century.
Launched in 2013, the program involves restoring monuments and historical sites dating back to the period between the 10th and 13th century.
Among the monuments renovated are the al-Qarawiyyin library, which was opened last year and is considered one of the oldest libraries in the world, and Dar al Mouaqquit tower, which was recently reopened and is used to monitor the astronomical map.
Founded in 859 by a devout and wealthy Muslim woman called Fatima al-Fihri, and nestled in the old medina of Fez, the al-Qarawiyyin library is home to unique Islamic manuscripts treasured by historians.
Serving as an observatory for astronomers observing the lunar crescent and the establishment of prayer times, the Dar al Mouaqquit tower features a museum housing ancient Moroccan and Arab astronomical instruments, which offers Moroccans and foreign visitors great opportunities to discover the kingdom’s scientific heritage.
