1001 Inventions – Fez Competition Winner: Fasih Ali Ahmed

Fasih Ali Ahmed is one of the five outstanding entries that we received and in March 2013 will be flying out with the four other winners on the official 1001 Inventions expedition to enjoy an eye-opening exploration of Fez.

In 2012, 1001 Inventions ran a competition offering five lucky fans the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the historic city of Fez in Morocco. All you had to do to enter was record a short video explaining why you think you should be on that plane.

Fasih Ali Ahmed is one of the five outstanding entries that we received and in March 2013 will be flying out with the four other winners on the official 1001 Inventions expedition to enjoy an eye-opening exploration of Fez.

Fez is a magical place, founded over a thousand years ago and still almost untouched by industrialisation. The competition winners will breathe the air of the ancients in bazaars filled with crafts and spices, drink tea in tranquil courtyards, visit historic tanneries and ceramic workshops, and see the palaces, mosques and fountains of the city’s 13th century cultural heyday, when trade routes connected it with cities across Muslim civilisation.

Along winding passageways and behind tiled facades, the group will seek hidden knowledge — none more ancient than at Al-Qarawiyin University, the jewel in the city’s crown.

This mosque-university complex was funded in 859 by an enlightened local benefactor called Fatima al-Fihri. As the world’s longest-serving place of education, its corridors still bustle with busy students today.

In their explorations, the five winners will be following the example of one of the world’s most celebrated adventurers and travel writers. Over five hundred years ago, Ibn Battuta returned to his native Morocco after a journey of eye-opening length and breadth, covering more than 40 modern countries. It was the Sultan of Fez who encouraged Ibn Battuta to write the Rihla, the account of his incredible travels.