world but there are several examples in Fez, including at the Chrabliyine and Bab Guissa Mosques. It was kept separate from the main mosque to preserve the purity of the latter as a regular prayer space, which could be soiled by the presence of a dead body. This oratory dates back to the Almoravid period and also features embellishments such as a muqarnas cupola and a number of ornate archways in varying forms. Spoliated capitals from al-Andalus are also re-used here in the doorways leading from the prayer hall to the funerary annex and in the columns supporting the muqarnas cupola. Library Behind the southern wall of the mosque and east of the mihrab axis is the historic library of the mosque and university. It is sometimes cited as the world's oldest library that remains open. The first purpose-built library structure was added to the mosque by the Marinid sultan Abu Inan Faris in 1349 CE, though it was located at the mosque's northeastern corner instead of to the south. The first structure still exists embedded near the women's section of the mosque, and consists of a square chamber measuring 5.4 meters per side. Its entrance is covered by a wooden screen from the Marinid period which features an inscription carved in cursive Arabic above the doorway recording Abu Inan's foundation of the library. The current library building dates in part from a Saadian construction by Ahmad al-Mansur (late 16th century), who built a chamber called al-Ahmadiyya behind the qibla wall. Most of the building dates from a major 20th-century expansion commissioned by King Mohammed V that started in 1940. It included the current grand reading room, which measures 23 metres long and features an ornately-painted wooden ceiling, and also added an entrance outside the mosque which made it accessible to non-Muslims. This new library expansion was inaugurated in 1949. The library complex underwent another major restoration in recent years led by Aziza Chaouni and was set to reopen in 2016 or 2017. Status as world's oldest university Some sources, like UNESCO, consider al-Qarawiyyin to be the "oldest university in the world". By comparison, UNESCO describes the University of Bologna (founded in 1088 and usually recognized as the oldest medieval European university) as the "oldest university of the Western world". Some historians and scholars also refer to al-Qarawiyyin as the world's oldest existing university. The claim is also published by