Mombasa travels to the Swahili Coast and made some mention of the city, although he only stayed one night. He noted that the people of Mombasa were Shãfi'i Muslims, religious people, trustworthy and righteous. Their mosques are made of wood, expertly built. The exact founding date of the city is unknown, but it has a long history. Kenyan school history books place the founding of Mombasa as 900 A.D. It must have been already a prosperous trading town in the 12th century, as the Arab geographer Al Idrisi mentions it in 1151. The oldest stone mosque in Mombasa, Mnara, was built
Technical University of Mombasa After its inception, MIOME started providing technical education to Muslim students of East Africa. In May 1951, MIOME enrolled its first batch of students to undergo a technical education programme which placed special emphasis on Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Seamanship and Navigation, and Woodwork. In 1966 MIOME become Mombasa Technical Institute (MTI) and started to admit all people feom different walks of life regardless of religion or race. In the year 1976, MTI became Mombasa Polytechnic. On 23 August 2007, through a Legal Notice Mombasa Polytechnic was elevated to a University College thus the name Mombasa Polytechnic University College (MPUC).