Students at work in the courtyard ('heart') of the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, Egypt. The Mosque is directly associated with Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, founded in 975. The chief centre of Arabic literature and Sunni Islamic learning in the world and the world's second oldest surviving degree granting university. The university's mission includes the propagation of Islamic religion and culture. To this end, its Islamic scholars (ulemas) render edicts (fatwas) on disputes submitted to