Al-Qarawiyyin in the old city of Fez was founded as a mosque between 857 and 859 by Fatima al-Fihri, and the teaching that grew around it has been cited by UNESCO and the Guinness World Records as the oldest continually operating institution of higher learning in the world. It was reconstituted as a state university by royal decree in 1963 and teaches Islamic religious and legal sciences, classical Arabic and Maliki jurisprudence. The mosque remains in use.