From a distance, it is likened to a citadel: with a wide dome and daunting structure. Closer, it is more akin to a mosque, with the illusion of crescent peaks and minarets. However, when one stands at the gates, it is neither; it is Cairo’s cornerstone university, and Egypt’s first national institution for higher learning. For a century, Cairo University has been a landscape for the gifted, and a historical monument which marked the modernisation of Egyptian learning—becoming both a benchmark and blueprint for universities across the region. Prior to Muhammed Ali’s restructuring of Egypt’s educational systems—an endeavor which saw the country lean further and further into French inclinations—Al Azhar was the “main pillar” of higher education in the country; between its focus on the elementals of Islam and its decorated history, Al Azhar was an epicenter for budding intellectuals and religious schoalrs region-wide. Still, despite its esteem, the institution was not immune to deterioration. During the Ottoman reign over Egypt, Al Azhar was in a state of decline, and as such, an alternative was sought out. This shepherded the beginning of a new educational system, one which launched in…
