Contrary to what the name might suggest, it was not founded by the
Marinid ruler
Abu Inan Faris but rather by his father
Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman in 1335-36, as inscriptions in the madrasa itself indicate. There is a
madrasa with the same name in the city of
Fes, which was built entirely by Abu Inan. The madrasa's construction was supervised by the city's
qadi, Abdallah ibn Abi al-Ghamr. It was one of several madrasas in the area around the nearby
Grand Mosque of Meknes, the city's main mosque where teaching also took place. The two other main madrasas, also built by Abu al-Hasan, were the
Madrasa Shuhud and the
Madrasat al-Qadi. The latter was remodeled afterwards by sultan
Moulay Isma'il (ruled 1672-1727), who devoted it to students from the Tafilalt. Like these other madrasas, the Bou Inania Madrasa was devoted to teaching Islamic sciences but also to providing housing for students. == Architecture ==