The light of the day · Wednesday 26 August
A woman founded the world's oldest university
In 859 CE, Fatima al-Fihri, a Muslim woman in Fez, spent her inheritance to found al-Qarawiyyin, recognized by UNESCO and Guinness as the oldest continuously operating degree-granting university on earth. It still teaches today.
Fez, Morocco · 859 CE
Wednesday 26 August 2026 · 12 Rabi al-Awwal 1448 AH
The word · Law and life
قاضٍ
Qadi
A judge in an Islamic court, whose ruling binds, unlike a mufti's opinion.
Appointment as a qadi was treated as a heavy burden rather than an honour, and several of the great imams refused it outright. The office asks for knowledge, integrity and independence, and classical manuals warn a judge not to rule while angry, hungry or distracted. The instruction reported from the Prophet, not to decide between two people until you have heard from both, is quoted in nearly every book on the…
The Path · chapter 44 of 71
تبوك
Tabuk: The Hardship Army
30,000 marched in extreme heat. The test of the hypocrites.
Faith is priced in the hard season, not the easy one
The library
The whole library, free
No ads, no account, no tracking. Every room on the phone, under the thumb.