Scholarship and the University Al-Zaytuna Mosque

for centuries, qirwan centre of learning , intellectual pursuits in tunisia , north africa in general. starting 13th century, tunis became capital of ifriqiya under almohad , hafsid rule. shift in power helped al-zaytuna flourish , become 1 of major centres of islamic learning, , ibn khaldun, first social historian in history 1 of products.

the flourishing university attracted students , men of learning parts of known world @ time. along theology; qur an, university taught jurisprudence, history, grammar, science , medicine. when comes books , libraries, ez-zituna libraries richest among north african counterparts. had several collections totalling in tens of thousands of books. 1 of libraries, el-abdaliyah included large collection of rare , unique manuscripts. manuscripts covered subjects , sciences, including grammar, logic, documentations, etiquette of research, cosmology, arithmetic, geometry, minerals, vocational training, etc.