Located in Cairo,泭Al-Azharis one of the earliest Jami(mosque/ university) complexes in the Muslim world. It was founded by the Fatimid Ismaili dynasty; the dynastysCaliph,泭ImamMuizz li-Din Allah, established Cairo as his capital in 969-973 CE.
The complex is so named in memory of the title al-Zahra (the luminous), which is associated withFatimaDaughter of the Prophet Muhammad and his first wife, Khad蘋ja bint Khuwaylid. Also wife of 尪Al蘋 b. Ab蘋 廜珀lib and mother of al-廎兀san and al-廎工sayn., the daughter of the Prophet and the wife of the firstShiaImam, Ali, from whom theFatimidsclaimed direct descent. Although it served initially as a congregational mosque for Friday prayers, it soon developed into a seat of learning. It has continued to exercise this role throughout Muslim history, attaining recognition first as the foremost center for Shii Ismaili learning and then, after the twelfth century CE, as a major Sunni educational institution.
Author
Professor Azim Nanji
Azim Nanji is currently Special Advisor to the Provost of the, and a member of the Board of Directors of thein Ottawa, a joint partnership between His Highness the Aga KhanA title granted by the Shah of Persia to the then Ismaili Imam in 1818 and inherited by each of his successors to the Imamate. and the Government of Canada. He has held many prestigious academic and administrative appointments, most recently as Senior Associate Director of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at, where he was also lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies. From 1998 to 2008, Professor Nanji served as Director of the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London.
Professor Nanji has published numerous books and articles on religion, Islam and Ismailism, including:The Nizari Ismaili Tradition泭(1976),泭The Muslim Almanac泭(1996),泭Mapping Islamic Studies(1997) andThe Historical Atlas of Islam(with M. Ruthven) (2004) andThe Dictionary of Islam(with Razia Nanji), Penguin 2008. In addition, he has contributed numerous shorter studies and articles in journals and collective volumes includingThe Encyclopaedia of Islam,泭Encyclopaedia Iranica,泭Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Modern Islamic World, andA Companion to Ethics. He was the Associate Editor for the revised Second Edition ofThe Encyclopaedia of Religion.
Within the, he has served as a member of the task force for the(AKU-ISMC) and Vice Chair of the Madrasa-based Early Childhood Education Programme in East Africa. He served as a member of the Steering Committee of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1998, 2001 and 2016.
