The Aghlabid dynasty of
emirs, members of the
Arab tribe of
Bani Tamim, ruled northern Africa, nominally on behalf of the
Abbasid Caliph, for about a century, until overthrown by the new power of the
Fatimids.
Al-Qayrawan city, founded by
Uqba ibn Nafi in 670, and home to Al-Qayrawan mosque, known as
Jamii Uqba, was built between 670 to 680. The mosque was the first to be built in the region between north central and north western Africa and it underwent several rebuilding and
embellishments. The Jamii witnessed its greatest embellishments of sculpted wooden columns and glazed tiles in the prayer hall area during the reign of
Ziyadat Allah.
Malik, who died in 795 considered Al-Qayrawan in
Tunisia, in addition to
Kuffa in
Iraq and
Medina in
Arabia as the three major capitals of Muslim learning.
Yahia ibn Salam Al-Basri (745-815) wrote and taught his tafsir (interpertation of
Quran) in Al-Qayrawan. And
Assad ibn Al-Furat (759-828) synthesized the teaching of all his teachers and taught in Al-Qayrawan. It was during Aghlabid rule, that the city attracted the largest amount of students from all Muslim land, including
Spain.
At the end of the 9th century, a
Bayt Al-Hikmah (house of wisdom) was built, emulating and rivaling the same Bayt Al-Hikmah in
Baghdad. Bayt Al-Hikmah in Al-Qayrawan excelled in the study of
medicine,
astronomy,
engineering, and
translation. Public education was widespread and women actively participated in the pursuit of knowledge. Scholars, nobility, and men from all walks of life eagerly supported the libraries in the mosques.
The study of medicine was presented by
Ziad Khalfun,
Ishak Imran, and
Ishak Sulayman. Their works were translated by
Costantine the African in the 11th century, and were later taught in
Salerno, subsequently becoming one of the first
European universities with specialization in medicine. Under the Aghlabid, Islam reached the
Mediterranean islands, among them
Sicily.
In 827 a base has been established in Sicily. From the Aghlabid base Mazara in the western coast of Sicily, a force of 10,000 multi ethnic men composed of Arabs,
Berbers, Spaniards, and
Sudanese marched and conquered
Palermo in 831,
Messina in 843, and
Enna in 859, placing the island under effective Muslim control.
Aghlabid rulers
References:
http://www.muslimheritage.com/uploads/Qayrawan.pdf
http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art168.htm
http://i-cias.com/e.o/kairouan.htm