Al-Azhar University is the oldest and most prestigious Muslim theological academy located in Cairo. The university appeared as a madrasa at the Al-Azhar mosque in 970 and was approved in 988 by the Fatimid dynasty. The name was given in honor of the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad Fatima Zuhra. Al-Azhar was considered the official mosque of the Fatimids and the de facto center of the Shia conscription. In the XII century, after the return of Egypt to the Sunni world, Al-Azhar became the most important center for the education and transmission of classical knowledge.