In a paper on these institutions “in the Middle Ages,” George Makdisi warns against analogizing them to their European counterparts. A possibly apocryphal tradition holds that a building occupied by one of these institutions was founded by Fatima al-Fihri. That institution was named after the people of Kairouan, or al-Qarawiyyin (“al-kah-rah-wee-YEEN”). Al-Sahili was credited with building a complex that housed one of these institutions together with nearby Sidi Yahya called Djinguereber (“jin-guh-ray-BAIR”). Saladin ended Shi’a influence in one of these institutions at Cairo called Al-Azhar (“all-UZZ-har”). Another one of these institutions was housed at Sankoré (“sahn-ko-RAY”) Mosque in Timbuktu. For 10 points, the Qur’an and Islamic law were studied at what institutions often analogized to those created in Bologna and Oxford? ■END■
ANSWER: universities [or university; accept madrasas; accept schools; accept jāmi‘ah or jāmi‘at; accept University of al-Qarawiyyin or University of Timbuktu or Al-Azhar University; prompt on libraries or library; prompt on mosques or masjids until “Mosque” is read by asking “what additional function did it serve?”]
<Editors, World History>
= Average correct buzz position