Al-Azhar University: A Millennium of Islamic Scholarship and Modern Education

Al-Azhar University, located in Cairo, Egypt, stands as a testament to the enduring legacy of Islamic scholarship and its adaptation to the modern world. Founded between 970 and 972 AD, it is technically among the world’s oldest universities, despite not gaining formal university status until 1961. For over a millennium, it has been a highly respected center of Islamic learning.

Historical Overview

Foundation and Early Years

Al-Azhar was established as a mosque in 970 CE in the Fatimid era by Jawhar Aṣ-Ṣiqilliy, the commander of the troops sent by the Fatimid Caliph Al-Mu’izz. Its initial purpose was to spread Shiite teachings in Egypt. The building was completed on the 9th of Ramadan in AH 361 (24 June 972 CE). Both Caliph al-Aziz Billah and Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah added to its premises.

Named after the mosque in Cairo’s medieval quarter, it was founded by the Shi’ite Fatimid Dynasty in 970 AD and was formally organised by 988 AD. The name "Al-Azhar" may allude to Fatimah, the Prophet Muhammad's daughter, known as "al-Zahra" ("the Luminous"), from whom the Fatimid dynasty derives its name.

Transition to Sunni Learning

In the 12th century, following the overthrow of the Isma'ili Fatimid dynasty, Saladin (the founder of the Sunni Ayyubid dynasty) converted Al-Azhar to a Shafi'ite Sunni center of learning. Saladin introduced the college system in Egypt, which was also adopted in Al-Azhar. He had all the treasures of the palace, including the books, sold over a period of ten years. Many were burned, thrown into the Nile, or thrown into a great heap, which was covered with sand, so that a regular "hill of books" was formed and the soldiers used to sole their shoes with the fine bindings.

Mamluk Era: A Golden Age

Al-Azhar experienced its rejuvenation during the reign of the Mamluk era (1260 - 1516), specifically under Sultan Baybars and at the hands of Prime Minister Izz al-Din Aydmer. Aydmer had proposed to Sultan Baybars the refurbishment of the mosque and received financial aid from the sultan himself and many other princes. This manifested into the rise of Al-Azhar towards its golden age, coupled with the influx of Muslim scholars moving to Egypt.

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With the fall of the Mongols in Ayn Jalut, Sultan Baybars invited the Abbasid family to Cairo to resume their office, which led to the immigration of Islamic scholars from the East to Egypt. Subsequently, another influx of Muslim scholars migrating from the West followed due to the destruction of famous Islamic schools in Qurtuba (Cordoba), Ishbiliyya (Seville) and Balansiyya (Valencia). This union of Eastern and Western Muslim scholars in Egypt generated the rebirth of Al-Azhar’s most illustrious period as the chief centre of learning in the Islamic world.

During the Mamluk period, most of the prominent Muslim scholars of the time taught in Al-Azhar, or at least visited the institution for a brief period of time. The great care that was given to Al-Azhar by the Mamluk princes put the mosque in a position that was unequalled by any other Cairean mosque.

Ottoman Rule and 19th Century Reforms

Al-Azhar continued to be a beacon of learning and knowledge in the Islamic world when the Mamluks were defeated in 1517. Under Ottoman rule, its significance was still transcendent amongst Egyptian institutions of learning, although it did suffer a decline in its scientific preservation and expansion of knowledge and arts.

It was not until the nineteenth century that a modern reform was proposed for Al-Azhar by a number of individuals, notably Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh. The reform, which aimed to modernise Al-Azhar as a standard educational entity, included a number of regulations such as employment, admission requirements, examination systems and certification.

20th and 21st Century: Modernization and Expansion

In 1961, Al-Azhar was re-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. Historically, Al-Azhar had a membership that represented diverse opinions within Islam. The theological schools of al-Ash'ari and al-Maturidi were both represented.

By early 1960s, Al-Azhar was nationalised and underwent further reforms such as the establishment of the faculties of medicine and engineering, women’s colleges, regional facilities and others. Women also began to be admitted to study in 1962.

Academic Programs and Structure

Al-Azhar University offers a wide array of programs spanning various disciplines, reflecting its transformation into a comprehensive modern university. It offers undergraduate, postgraduate and graduate study programs and has 81 faculties, 9 Institutes, 359 academic Departments, 42 Centres, 6 University hospitals and 27 General administration units.

Undergraduate Programs

Al-Azhar University offers undergraduate programs in a variety of fields, including:

Islamic Studies: Encompassing theology, jurisprudence, and Arabic language.
Medicine
Dentistry
Engineering
Pharmacy
Agriculture
Commerce
Education
Humanities and Social Sciences

Graduate Programs

The university also provides graduate programs, including:

Master's degrees in Islamic Studies, Business Administration, Engineering, and Health Sciences
Doctoral Programs: Doctorates in Islamic Studies, Medicine, Engineering, and other specialized fields

Faculties and Institutes

Al-Azhar University comprises numerous faculties and affiliated institutes across different campuses. These include:

Faculties of Medicine: Located in Cairo, Damietta, and Assiut for both boys and girls.
Dental Faculties: Situated in Cairo and Assiut for boys and Cairo for girls.
Faculties of Pharmacy: Present in Cairo and Assiut for both boys and girls.
Engineering Faculties: Located in Cairo and Qena for boys and Cairo for girls.
Faculties of Agriculture and Agricultural Engineering: Located in Cairo, Assiut and Sadat City for boys.
Science Departments and Affiliated Institutes: Faculties of Science are in Cairo and Assiut for boys and Cairo for girls, with technical institutes affiliated with the faculties of science in each location.
Faculties of Education: Found in Cairo, Assiut, and Tafahna Al-Ashraf for boys and Cairo and Assiut for girls.
Faculties of Physical Education: Located in Cairo for both boys and girls.
Commerce Faculties and Affiliated Educational Institutions: Faculties of Commerce are in Cairo for boys and girls, Tafahna Al-Ashraf, and Assiut for girls, along with Institutes of Management Information Systems affiliated with the faculties of commerce in each location.
Fundamentals of Religion Faculties: Faculties of Theology and Dawa are in Cairo, Tanta, Mansoura, Zagazig, Menoufia, and Assiut for boys.
Girls' Colleges: Al-Azhar Girls Colleges are located in various cities including 10th of Ramadan, New Minya, Thebes (Luxor), Aswan, Assiut, and Fayoum.
Sharia and Law Departments and Affiliated Institutes: Faculties of Sharia and Law are located in Cairo, Assiut, Tanta, Tafahna Al-Ashraf and Damanhour for boys, along with Judicial Assistants Institutes affiliated with the faculties of Sharia and Law in each location.
Arabic Language Faculties: Faculties of Arabic Language are located in Cairo, Menoufia, Mansoura, Itay El-Baroud (Beheira), Zagazig, Girga and Assiut for boys.
Islamic/Human Studies Faculties and Affiliated Educational Institutions: Faculties of Islamic and Arabic Studies are located in Cairo, Damietta, Qena, Aswan, Didamoun, Desouk, Minya for boys, and in Sohag, Fayoum, Al-Khanka, Al-Qurain, Beni Suef, Damanhur, Sadat City, Port Said, Kafr El-Sheikh, Zagazig, Cairo, Alexandria, Mansoura for girls, along with Faculties of Human Studies in Tafahna Al Ashraf and Cairo for girls, and Judicial Assistants Institutes affiliated with the faculties of Islamic and Arabic Studies in Cairo and Mansoura for girls.
Media Faculties: Located in Cairo for boys and girls.
Faculty of Artificial Intelligence
Faculty of the Holy Quran for Readings and their Sciences: Located in Tanta for boys.
Faculty of Graduate Studies
Faculty of Islamic Sciences For Foreigners
Faculty of Home Economics: Located in Tanta for girls.
Faculty of Languages and Translation: Located in Cairo for boys.
Nursing Faculties and Institutes: Faculty of Nursing located in Cairo for girls, along with Technical Institutes of Nursing in Cairo, Assiut and Damietta for girls.

Online Learning

Al-Azhar University also provides opportunities for online learning. To study at Al-Azhar, you can apply online, with the online registration specifically for new students submitting for the first time. It is possible to study online at Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, but only one program is currently open for online learning. This program is in the Faculty of Islamic Sciences and is provided exclusively in Arabic.

Traditional Method of Seeking Knowledge

In the university-mosque’s early years, the format of education in the Al-Azhar Mosque took the traditional form of educational rings wherein the teacher would give lectures at designated spots in the mosque, while the students sat around him listening attentively and asking questions directly when they had doubts. This format is called talaqqi and it is conducted at multiple ruwaq situated within the mosque.

These ruwaq are traditional classrooms, similar to fraternities, whereby students are segregated according to their ethnicity. Knowledge seekers from around the world are allowed to reside in these ruwaq, and are free to choose whichever teacher they wish to learn from.

This talaqqi method of teaching allows the student to holistically extract knowledge from his teacher with contextual awareness and perception of its complexities. The teacher is also able to directly monitor his students based on their varying levels of understanding and comprehension.

This traditional method also cultivates dutiful behaviour and conduct, as it intimately nurtures the student to respect and pay great reverence to the knowledge he is acquiring, the scholar he is receiving from and also the book he is studying from. The basic range of studies taught during these early years was Islamic law, theology and Arabic language.

Research and Centers

Al-Azhar University is also home to several significant research centers, including:

Al-Azhar Islamic Research Academy: The Islamic Research Academy is the highest authority on research. It tackles contemporary matters while creating global guidelines for Islamic practices.
International Islamic Centre for Population Studies and Research: This centre partners with UNFPA and focuses on population matters while educating people about demographic trends.
Research centres in Medicine and Chemistry: operate at Al-Azhar.

International Recognition and Skills Development

The Azhar programs are internationally recognized. Once you finish one of the programs you will get an internationally recognized qualification. Al-Azhar University will provide you with all the skills you need in life like leadership skills.

Al-Azhar's Role in Islamic Thought and Society

Historically, Al-Azhar had a membership that represented diverse opinions within Islam. The theological schools of al-Ash'ari and al-Maturidi were both represented. It has a long tradition of teaching all four schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi, and Hanbali). Adherence to a Sufi order has long been standard for both professors and students in the al-Azhar mosque and university system. Although al-Azhar is not monolithic, its identity has been strongly associated with Sufism.

Al-Azhar now maintains a modernist position, advocating "Wasatiyya" (centrism), a reaction against the extreme textualism of many Wahhabi Salafi ideologues.

Notable Figures Associated with Al-Azhar

Throughout its history, Al-Azhar has been associated with numerous influential figures, including:

Hassan al-Banna (1906-1949): Egyptian schoolteacher, imam, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Dr. Mohammed Burhanuddin (1915-2014): 52nd Dā'ī al-Mutlaq of Dawoodi Bohras.
Salamat P. Muhammad Ali Shihab Tangal (1936-2009): Indian community leader, Islamic religious leader and scholar, politician.
Timothy Winter (b. 1960): English academic, theologian and Islamic scholar.
Mustafa Khattab: Canadian-Egyptian Muslim scholar, author, youth mentor, public speaker, imam, and university chaplain.
Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah: The pioneering Pakistani journalist became the first woman to address the university in 1955.

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