Assalamu Alaykum,

I just returned from a 5-week trip to Morocco, a month of which i spent in Fas. Founded by Idriss II, who is considered to be a saintly descendant of the Prophet (pbuh), Fas (aka Fes or Fez), is considered one of the holiest cities of Islam. As one Arab chronicler wrote,

When he was about to begin construction, he lifted up his hands and prayed for it and its inhabitants in the following words: “Almighty God, make of it a house of knowledge and of legal science, so that in it Thy Book may always be read and Thy laws always observed. Let its inhabitants hold fast to the Book and the Sunna, as long as Thou shalt preserve it.” And so this city never ceased to be a centre of science and of law… Many and varied are the benefits, blessings and graces which Fez received thanks to the prayer which its founder offered on its behalf, thus echoing the Prophet’s intercession for Medina and our lord Abraham’s intercession for Mecca…

Another scholar wrote,

I know of no other Islamic city that is so ancient and so filled with religion and science, that was founded by a true descendant of the family of the Prophet; and the resulting blessing from this has never failed. (These two quotes were taken from Titus Burckhardt’s FEZ: City of Islam)

The year of its foundation was 808 C.E., making it exactly 12 centuries old this year, and I will speak more about this later. Fez became a center of knowledge not only for Muslims, but also for its large Jewish population. One century after its foundation, a Jewish scholar described it as,

“…the great ancient city of Fez, the seat of the Law, the threshing-floor of wisdom, the winepress of the testimony, which drives away sleep to study the Law of the Lord, which breathes divine learning even in its sleep…”

Now in the year 2008, Morocco is celebrating Fas’ 1200th birthday, with year-long celebrations, and on each month focusing on a different theme. I don’t remember them right now, except that May’s theme was a celebration of the contributions of women. You could argue that the greatest contribution ever made to the city of Fas was that of a woman, Fatima al-Fihriya, who in 859, founded the Qarawiyyin Mosque-University, the oldest continuously operating institution of higher learning in the world. The Qarawiyyin became one of the greatest centers of knowledge in the Islamic World and of the world in general, as even Christian and Jewish scholars would visit it and study in it. Her sister made another great contribution by building the Mosque of al-Andalus, so named because it was built by the Andalusi refugees who had come to Fas. This mosque was also an important center of knowledge but not so much anymore.

So not only was I fortunate enough to go to Fas on this special year, I also discovered when I got there that the annual Fes Festival of World Sacred Music would run for two weeks while I was there! Perfect timing, al hamdu lillah!

My father called his friend in Morocco, who called his (important) friend in Fas, who invited six of the top scholars of Fas in their fields for dinner. So on my first night in Fas, I find myself sitting in a room with all these scholars, asking me how they can help me! I told them I went to learn two things: Maliki Fiqh, and Usul al-Fiqh. They recommended two of their best students, who have been teaching at the Qarawiyyin for the past 4 years, and called them for me, in order to start the next day!

If you’re wondering why I picked the Maliki madhhab, coming from a country that is Hanafi and Shafi’i, you can read my next post about my studies in Fas.