Description
“Mother of the Children” (Oum al Banine)
— Honorific title given to Fatima al-Fihri
This oversized postcard is a reproduction (offset printed, NOT letterpress) of our “Veil of Knowledge” broadside, created in hopes of giving all girls, worldwide, the chance to obtain an education. This postcard faithfully reproduces the hand-lettered typography and hand-drawn illustrations of the original.
Fatima al-Fihri founded Al-Qarawiyyin mosque and university—the oldest university still in operation today. Because she lived in the 9th century, no direct quotes have made it to the present era. Instead, the piece highlights Fatima’s honorific title, “Mother of the Children.” The phrase weaves through the piece like the mortar between stones, repeating again and again like a mantra. The design mirrors the Arabesque decorative style, as well as the common practice of decorating Muslim houses of worship with text (often phrases from the Qur’an). Because it is forbidden to depict the Prophet in Islam, architecture is often adorned with text and geometric patterns instead.
“The Veil of Knowledge” is an ornate tribute to Fatima’s world and the institution she founded. The composition, structured like a Persian manuscript page, features an illustration based on the architecture of Al-Qarawiyyin, with its angular rooflines and sweeping curved arches. Interspersed thoughout the piece is a hand-drawn geometric pattern that mirrors the tilework throughout the university and mosque. Wrapping around the “walls” behind a pair of columns is the Basmala (the phrase that begins every chapter of the Qur’an), lettered in Arabic script.
You can find all available postcard designs in the postcards section of the shop.
Postcard size: 5 x 8 inches
PLEASE NOTE: these oversized postcards require extra postage for mailing.
PAPER FINISH: this postcard is made from paper with a smooth, eggshell finish. If you write on it, we recommend using either a ballpoint pen or some form of permanent, smear-proof ink.
Colophon reads:
Fatima Al-Fihri (c. 800 – 880) grew up in Fez, Morocco with her sister Miriam, daughters of a wealthy Tunisian merchant. The daughters were well-educated and devoted to their community. After the death of their father, Fatima vowed to spend all her inheritance in building a mosque, both a place for worship and a center of learning. In 859, she founded Al-Qarawiyyin, which offered courses in grammar, rhetoric, logic, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, history, geography and music — drawing scholars and students from all over the world. (Gerbert of Auvergne — later Pope Sylvester II — studied there, and was credited with the introduction of Arabic numbers and the concept of zero to Europe.) This important spiritual and educational center of the Islamic world, one of the largest mosques in Africa, is considered the oldest university still in operation. As a woman with such generosity and vision, Fatima is remembered and honored as Oum al Banine, “the mother of the children.”
Illustrated by Chandler O’Leary and printed by Jessica Spring, with the knowledge that all women must have the right to an education.
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This original artwork is copyright Chandler O’Leary and Jessica Spring 2014. Copyright is not transferable with the sale of this postcard. The buyer is not entitled to reproduction rights.
WA state residents are subject to sales tax.
This card will ship flat in a protective mailer, via the United States Postal Service.
