I definitely understand your point about schools in the Islamic world teaching religion first, but European schools also taught religion as the primary means by which we could understand the world. It was not until the 1700s that Europeans and Arab scholars alike started taking religion out of science. European universities were run by religious scholars and were just as much influenced by religion as Islamic schools at the time. Both Christians and Muslims used holy texts to understand the natural world until Enlightenment thought started moving education in a more secular direction. Even today, many western universities are still influenced by and even run by religious groups, just look at the many Christian universities in the US that require classes on Christianity as part of their curriculum. I just feel it's unfair to dismiss Al-Qarawiyyin on the basis of it focusing on religion when most European universities did the same for centuries. I teach AP world history and even as the curriculum has changed over the years to be more inclusive of non-western civilizations, it's still very much biased in favor of Western civilizations, which have also influenced how history is taught in the places they have colonized.

While not much is known about the early curriculum, Islamic scholars led the world in many subjects at the time, including maths and science. So it's not a stretch to say that Al-Qarawiyyin also taught a diverse range of topics alongside the Quran and Islamic Law. Italy was unique among European states at the time as most of Europe was largely isolated from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, so it makes sense that Europe's first university was founded there. Again, UNESCO states that Al-Qarawiyyin is the oldest university in the world, and Bologna is the oldest in the Western world. Considering that Morocco is at the same longitude as several European countries, we can pretty easily conclude that "western" in this sense is not a description of location, but a synonym for European.

University of al-Qarawiyyin founded in 857 by a Muslim woman, commonly not counted because it was a madrasa (not a true university by European standards) until it was "modernized" in 1963. UNESCO even describes it as the oldest university in the world, while Bologna is given the title of oldest university in the "Western world." The argument seems to be that the term "university" is only applicable to the educational institutions of medieval Christian Europe, but I see no reason that institutions from outside of Europe shouldn't count if they served (and still serve) the same purpose and operated in similar manners. Seems a little Euro-centric to me.