Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
A European spokesperson was keen to highlight the visit made by the European Union foreign policy official to Al-Qarawiyyin University in Morocco, on the sidelines of the visit by the European official to Rabat, which concluded on Friday and lasted for two days.
  The spokesperson wrote, "High Representative Josep Borrell visited the University of Al-Qarawiyyin in Morocco, the oldest institution of higher education and the first university in the world, where he was impressed by one of the oldest manuscripts of the Holy Qur'an, which dates back to the ninth century and was written in Kufic script.
According to what was posted on Twitter, the spokesperson for the European Union in North Africa and the Middle East, Luis Miguel Bueno, who concluded his tweet by saying, "An exceptional world heritage.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records rankings, it is the world's oldest higher education institution and the first university to grant a medical degree, and it continues to teach without interruption. Historians refer to it as the oldest university in the world. The university is an educational institution belonging to the Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque, which was built by Mrs. Fatima bint Muhammad Al-Fihri Al-Qurashi in 245 AH corresponding to 859 AD, which later became one of the leading spiritual and educational centers in the golden age of the Islamic world. The university began teaching immediately after the building of the mosque in the form of lessons and seminars held in it, in the Moroccan city of Fez. However, some historians believe that it did not become a university except during the Almoravid or Marinid era. Al-Qarawiyyin University is also the first scientific institution in the world to invent specialized scientific chairs and degrees. It was incorporated into the modern public university system in Morocco in 1382 AH / 1963 AD. The design and style of the mosque represents the historical Moroccan and Islamic architecture, which includes many different decorations for different periods of Moroccan history.
  At the end of his visit to Morocco, Josep Borrell announced two initiatives that will strengthen the partnership between the European Union and Morocco:
1. A high-level dialogue in the security field, including the fight against terrorism in our immediate neighborhood.
2. Close cooperation in multilateral institutions to meet global challenges.