Al-Azhar Mosque is an Egyptian mosque in Islamic Cairo. Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah of the Fatimid Caliphate commissioned its construction for the newly established capital city in 970. Its name is usually thought to allude to the Islamic prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, a revered figure in Islam who was given the title az-Zahrā′ ("the shining or resplendent one"). It was the first mosque established in Cairo, a city that has since gained the nickname "the City of a Thousand Minarets." After its dedication in 972, and with the hiring by mosque authorities of 35 scholars in 989, the mosque slowly developed into what is today the second oldest continuously run university in the world after Al Karaouine in Umayyad Fes.