eL Azhar
History
The mosque and university are named in honor of Fatima Az-Zahraa, the daughter of Muhammad, from whom the Fatimid Dynasty(Dynasti Fathimiyah) claimed descent.
The mosque was built in two years beginning in 971 AD (971 SM). The school of theology (madrasah) connected with it was founded in 988 as an Ismaili Shia school, but it later became a Sunni school, which it remains to this day. It claims to be the oldest Islamic university in the world, but this is
disputed by the Kairaouine Mosque in Fes, Morocco.
The core academic life of Al-Azhar has remained much the same for over a millenium: its students study the Qur’an and Islamic law in detail, along with logic, grammar, rhetoric, and how to calculate the lunar phases of the moon. Most of this learning is done by listening in a circle (halqa) at the feet of a sheikh and rote memorization. As students advance, they may engage in Socratic dialogue with their teachers or instruct their juniors.
Al-Azhar does not admit students who are not practicing Muslims but provides training in secular professions; it is thus a unique combination of a theological seminary and regular university, with faculties of medicine and engineering established in 1961.
Al-Azhar is considered by most Sunni Muslims to be the most prestigious school of Islamic law, and its scholars are seen as the highest scholars in the Muslim world. Its stated objectives remain the propagation of Islamic culture and the Arabic language.
To that end, it maintains a committee of ulemas to judge on individual Islamic questions, a printing establishment for printing the Qur’an, and trains preachers trained in da’wa and the propagation of religious publicity. Al-Azhar is run by a Supreme Council that establishes general policy, headed by a Grand Imam, styled the “Sheikh Al-Azhar.”
Since 1929 Al-Azhar has published a magazine (now monthly) whose stated purpose is to promulgate religious rules, subjects related to the propagating of Islamic literature, and basic jurisprudence (sharia), including sections on history, biographies, translated texts and news concerning the Muslim world.
The current Imam of Al-Azhar has declared that the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks and suicide bombers are heretics who are not following the true path of Islam. In a recent conference in Indonesia, he asked all “true believers” to deny speakers of violently heretical Islam places to speak in the mosque, thus preventing the spread of violent ideologies.
What to See……
The Al-Azhar Mosque is a grand structure that reflects many centuries of styles. Entrance is through the 15th-century Barber’s Gate, where students traditionally had their heads shaved.
This leads into a great courtyard (sahn), which dates from the 10th century and is overlooked by three stately minarets. The courtyard’s white facade, accented by rosettes and keel-arched panels, is mostly from the Fatimid period.
The latticework-screened residential quarters of the madrassas on the right side date from the Mamluke period. These are rarely open to visitors, but tourists may enter the prayer hall, which is warmly carpeted and supported by alabaster pillars.
The university’s library (not open to visitors), which was consolidated in 1897, is considered second in range and importance only to Dar Al-kotob Al-Masriah in Egypt, as far as the number of Islamic books and manuscripts are concerned. The library comprises of 99,062 books consist of 595,668 volumes of the most precious manuscripts and rare books, some as old as the 8th century.
For those who want to Join eL Azhar University (for indonesian only)
Wanna come and become el Azhar University student?? for this year DEPAG has claimed that who ever wants to enter this university has to follow the rules. and one of the rules is following the test, and they who pass the test may enter this university.
Talking about the test, it always contains about Islamic lesson such as memorizing Al-Qur’an, Fiqih, Qur’an hadits, Nahwu Sharaf & basic of Balaghah and many other lessons. but don’t be afraid it just rules U know…but have to pass it well. Last one it’s about talking Arabic, yup in this test exam the most importan one is talking arabic fluently, u have to have this skill OK, because all the question is in arabic both writing test or direct test, I mean direct that u face to face with Testers. If You want to see more rules just follow this link or coolenha@egypt
ENHA COOL 
Hi I want to know more about Al-Azhar try to open the web but I don’t understand with the letter. can u give me an info about the faculty in al-azhar? is its only learning about theology of Islam? I want to continue magister in Information technology
Al Azhar is not only studic of islamic teology, it has many. such as medical school, Law, comunication school, sociology and many others.
idrik….! piye kabarea?
drik,, ne yudi,,, gemana caranya bisa school sana ?
lewat mana ?
thanks….
to ARI: ahlan Ri gimana kabarnya? kalau saya kemaren lewat mediator. tapi bisa kok tidak pake mediator dengan syarat harus sering buka net. pertama cari info kapan test DEPAG buat ke timur tengah diadain. kalau tahun kemaren tesnya di IAIN mataram. nah kalo malalah ngurus berkas tiap tahun insya Allah ada yang ngurus. yang penting langkah pertama cari info tentang tes DEPAG, kalau ngerasa mampu ambil yang beasiswa cuma itu untung-untungan perginya. opsi kedua ambil yang non beasiswa alias biaya sendiri. terus ikuti tesnya. tunggu pengumuman keluar. kalau LULUS TES baru ngurus berkas. nter insya Allah kita kasih info lagi. ne email dan ID Yahoo messenger saya hi_enha@yahoo.com HP: +20162282631.
Oya Ri jangan lupa daftar juga di Universitas lain buat jaga-jaga nanti misalkan tidak jadi kesini. Good Luck kita tunggu kehadirannya disini, satu lagi sering-sering kunjungi situs http://www.ppmimesir.info
Ass…..ne filda bwt masuk dcn…tesx pa ja,,,,???
semuanya dah saya tulis di sini, kalo ada perubahan tinggal liat aja di http://www.ppmimesir.info, oya sering-sering liat situs DEPAG http://www.dikbudcairo.org/?pilih=hal&id=19 sekedar jaga-jaga kalo misalnya ada perubahan. email saya ga berubah, kalo butuh bantuan tinggal via email ajah!
iya insya allah,,kita mampir ke university al-azhar cairo