The Sba'iyyin Madrasa or Madrasa as-Sba'iyyin (also spelled Sbaiyin or Sebaaiyyine; ) is a historic

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

in the

medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

Fes Fez () or Fes (; ) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fez-Meknes administrative region. It is one of the largest cities in Morocco, with a population of 1.256 million, according to the 2024 census. Located to the nort ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. It is located in the Andalous quarter of

Fes el-Bali Fes el Bali () is the oldest part of Fez, Morocco. It is one of the three main districts of Fez, along with Fes Jdid and the French-created ''Ville Nouvelle (New City'). Together with Fes Jdid, it forms the medina (historic quarter) of Fez, signif ...

, next to the al-Andalus Mosque. It was founded in 1323 by Abu al-Hassan and adjoins the larger

Sahrij Madrasa Sahrij Madrasa or Madrasa al-Sahrij (sometimes also Sihrij Madrasa) () is a madrasa in Fez, Morocco. The madrasa is located inside Fes el Bali, the old medina quarter of the city. The madrasa dates back to the 14th century during the golden age of ...

, which was founded just before it.Kubisch, Natascha (2011). "Maghreb - Architecture" in Hattstein, Markus and Delius, Peter (eds.) ''Islam: Art and Architecture''. h.f.ullmann. p. 312. Together, the two madrasas served to teach and lodge students in the vicinity of the main mosque.

History

Historical background

The madrasa was built during the

Marinid The Marinid dynasty ( ) was a Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula ...

era, when many of Fes's historic madrasas were built. It was commissioned in 1323 by Abu al-Hassan, who later became

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

but at that time was only a prince and

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to his father, Sultan

Abu Sa'id Uthman II Abu Sa'id Uthman II (; Abū Sa'īd 'Abdullāh 'Uthmān ibn Yūsuf Abū Ya'qūb; ) (December 1276 – August 1331) was the 9th Marinid sultan, reigning from 1310 to 1331. A younger son of Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd al-Haqq, Abū Sa'īd 'Uthmān succe ...

. The madrasa was initially known as ''Madrasa al-Sughra'' (the "Lesser/Smaller Madrasa") because it was built as a complement to the larger ''Madrasa al-Kubra'' ("Greater Madrasa"), later known as the ''Madrasa as-Sahrij''. It eventually came to be known as the ''Madrasa as-Sba'iyyin'' (roughly: "Madrasa of those who teach the Seven Recitations of the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

") presumably due to the madrasa's specialization in teaching the seven canonical methods of reciting the Qur'an. Together, the Madrasa as-Sahrij and the Madrasa as-Sba'iyyin provided both lodging and teaching for students studying at the nearby Andalus Mosque, much as the Seffarine and al-Attarine Madrasas served students at the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque across the river. The madrasas were also accompanied by another ''

funduq A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a variety of names incl ...

'' or hospice, but this has since disappeared.

Recent damage and restoration

The madrasa may likely have been restored multiple times along with its neighbouring counterpart, the Sahrij Madrasa. However, both madrasas eventually fell into neglect in recent decades. There were initial efforts to repair and protect them in the 2000s, including from the

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training ...

, but they then suffered from further vandalism. In particular, serious damage was done to the Sba'iyyin Madrasa in 2009 when looters removed two carved wooden beams and some of the

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

columns that held up the gallery balcony, causing the second floor of the gallery to collapse. The two madrasas were more recently repaired and restored by the local heritage agency ADER-Fès and reopened in 2017, as part of a wider program of rehabilitation for Fes el-Bali which started in 2013.

Architecture

The madrasa is contemporary to the neighbouring Sahrij Madrasa but is smaller and less extensively decorated than the latter. It covers an area of 183 square metres. It is entered from the street via a bent passage, but it was also apparently connected to the other madrasa via another interior passage. Inside, it consists of small courtyard with a small central fountain and surrounded by a two-story gallery supported by marble columns and brick pillars. The ceiling above the columns is supported by wooden beam

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case ...

s which are carved with arch-like and

arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foliate ...

motifs as well as

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

inscriptions. Both levels of the gallery give access to the student accommodations, a total of 23 sleeping rooms plus 3 office rooms. On the ground floor, at the far end of the courtyard and across from the entrance, is a small prayer hall which is undecorated (or has lost its former decoration) and has a simple ''

mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall". ...

''.

References

External links