The
Al-Azhar University is not just the oldest university in Cairo but also one of the oldest Islamic universities in the world. The Islamic university's
glory has been increased manifold due to the adjoining Al-Azhar mosque. The Al-Azhar mosque was built in the year 971 A.D., while the university was founded in 988 A.D. with the purpose of propagating the teachings of Islam. In its initial years, the university was established as an Ismaili Shia school but later on it went on to become a Sunni school, which it continues to be to this day.
The syllabus followed by
Al-Azhar University is purely Islamic, with the Quran and the Islamic laws being taught regularly. Other subjects taught at this Islamic madrassa are grammar, rhetoric, logic and solar and lunar calculations. The process of teaching is purely old-school, with students forming a circle around the feet of the sheikh and classes being taught in rote memorization. In higher classes students of Al-Azhar University are encouraged to take up Socrates' philosophy. However, the university exercises a strict restriction on admitting students who are non-practicing Muslims. Medicine and engineering are the newest subjects that have been started by the university in 1961.
