Fatima Al Fihri

Fatima Al Fihri is an Islamic picture book for children aged 4 to 9 about Fatima al-Fihri, a Muslim woman who loved learning and used her family's wealth to build a mosque and, the book says, the first university in the world, in the city of Fez in Morocco.

As a little girl, Fatima learned everywhere she could: at school, from books, from her sister and her father, and from the people of her city. When her family moved from Tunisia to Fez, a busy city full of people from all over the world, she was excited about everything she would learn there. Every day she went to the mosque, read books and met new people, and her father worked hard so that she could keep learning.

When she was older, her father died. Fatima was very sad, but she kept going to the mosque, and with the wealth he left, she rebuilt it. More and more people came to pray and to learn. Remembering the word "Iqra", read, she understood that learning is not only about gaining knowledge but about sharing it. So she bought more land around the mosque and built a university where people from all over the world could learn together.

Part of the WomanKind series, the book is written by Aaliyah Tar Mahomed. It introduces children to a woman from Muslim history and shows them that knowledge is a gift to be shared.

When Fatima was little, she loved learning. She learned at school and she learned from books. She also learned from her sister, from her father and from the people of her city.

Then Fatima and her family moved from Tunisia to a new city, Fez, in Morocco. Fez was a magical city, with bright, shining lights and people from all over the world. Fatima was excited: she would learn all sorts of new things there. Every day she went to the mosque, read many books and met new people, and her father worked very hard so that she could keep learning.

One day, when Fatima was older, her father passed away. It made her very sad. But she still went to the mosque every day, and with the wealth her father left behind, she rebuilt it. More and more people from Fez came to the mosque to pray and to learn, and that made Fatima very happy.

The word "Iqra" stayed in Fatima's heart and mind, and she remembered its true meaning. It is not only about gaining knowledge; it is about sharing what you have learned with others. So Fatima bought even more land around the mosque and built what the book calls the first university in the world, a space where people from all over the world could learn and share knowledge.

For more than a thousand years, the book says, she has given the world what she valued most in her life: education.

• Surah Al-Alaq 96:1: Read in the name of your Lord who created: "Iqra", the first word of the Qur'an to be revealed.