University of al-Zaitoon

Az-Zaytun University ( Arabic: جامعة الزيتونة ) is the oldest of the existing higher education institutions in the world, which appeared in the VIII century ( 732 ^[1] ). For a long time it existed as a religious school at the mosque of the same name . Over time, this school has become one of the spiritual centers of the Islamic world. In the modern sense, the university appeared only in 1956, after Tunisia gained independence. In 1961, the university turned into the theological faculty of the University of Tunisia and was actually absorbed by it, in 2012 it was revived again ^[2] (although the mention of the rectors of al-Zaitun was also found in 2010 ^[3] ).

Famous university graduates were historian Ibn Khaldun, poet Abul al-Qasim al-Shabbi , writer and scholar Tahar Haddad, politician Abdul-Aziz al-Saalibi, judge Muhammad Ibn Ashur, sheikh al-Azhar Muhammad Hadr Hussein, poet and re re , scientist Muhammad Nahli, encyclopedic scientist Ahmad Ibn Abu Bakr at-Tifashi and many others