Fez, Morocco: The settling dust from renovations and the banging of tools aren’t ideal sights and sounds for a library — but this is no ordinary library.
Founded 12 centuries ago by a pioneering woman and nestled in the old madina of Fez, Morocco’s University of Al Qarawiyyin library is one of the world’s oldest libraries, home to unique Islamic manuscripts treasured by historians. Yet it’s been largely hidden from the public. The architect leading its restoration, Fez native Aziza Shaouni, didn’t even know it existed until she was asked to work on it.
King Mohammed VI is expected to inaugurate its reopening soon. Shaouni is hoping it will mark an ideological change, too, and open to the public for the first time in its long history. Until now, the privilege of using the library has been limited to scholars who seek formal permission, and authorities haven’t decided yet whether to change that.
The oldest text of the Qarawiyyin library, a 9th century Quran written on leather with Kufic calligraphy
From calligraphic designs on the walls to ceramic patterns on the floors and wooden carvings on the ceilings, the fingerprint of almost every ruling dynasty since the 9th century can be seen in the architecture.
A devout and wealthy Muslim woman from the Tunisian town of Kairaouan, Fatima Al Fihri, provided the endowment for building Al Qarawiyyin in the 9th century. Originally a mosque, it expanded in the 10th century to become a university, Abdul Majid Al Marzi, imam and administrator of the mosque, said.
The library houses a collection of manuscripts written by renowned thinkers from the region, including Ibn Khaldun’s “Muqadimmah.” The 14th-century historical work spent six months on loan to the Louvre Museum in Paris during the renovations, library curator Abdul Fattah Bougchouf said.
An original manuscript by Ibn Rochd on Maliki jurisprudence written in Andalusian style caligraphy.
Other texts include a 9th-century Quran written in Kufic calligraphy, and a manuscript on the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence by Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes.
The manuscripts are now kept in a secure room, with strict temperature and humidity control. They weren’t always kept like this, however.
“The original manuscript room door had four locks,” Bougchouf said. “Each of those keys was kept with four different people. In order to open the manuscript room, all four of those people had to physically be there.”
Now, he chuckled, “All of that has been replaced with a four-digit security code.”
The reading room of the Al-Qarawiyyin mosque in Fez, Morocco.
A previous renovation and expansion effort in 1940 opened up the library to foreigners and non-Muslims by creating a separate entrance. Before that, the only way to access the library was via the mosque. Non-Muslims aren’t allowed to enter the Qarawiyyin mosque to this day.
“It was a sign of tolerance,” Abdul Fattah said.
Since ascending to the throne in 1999, King Mohammed VI has called for restorations at Qarawiyyin.
Abdelfattah Bougchouf, curator of the Qarawiyyin library, opens the first page of an original version of Ibn Khaldun's most famous work, Muqadimmah.
Architect Shaouni said she was pleasantly surprised when the Culture Ministry approached her in 2012 to work on the project — especially in a field dominated by men.
“I knew about the mosque, but never even knew there was a library there,” she said, despite growing up in the city.
She specialises in restoring old buildings in a sustainable fashion, and is also trained as an engineer, with degrees from Harvard and Columbia universities.
The courtyard of Al-Qarawiyyin mosque in Fez, Morocco.
The restoration is fixing a plumbing issue that increasingly threatened to drench the rare manuscripts in sewage water.
Shaouni is also lobbying for opening a public exhibition room for the first time — calling it “the biggest challenge of my soul” during the restoration project.
The Culture Ministry accepted the idea but bureaucratic control over the site shifted to the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs. Shaouni worries that this shift will squash her efforts. Authorities are also concerned about the cost of keeping the previous manuscripts secure.
Another way to improve access to the manuscripts is to digitise them, which the library has been doing, and about 20 per cent are now available in electronic form.
