Al-Azhar launches project to rescue manuscripts
Regional-Egypt, Religion, 10/1/2003

For centuries, Al-Azhar, the cradle of Islamic learning, housed one of the world's largest collections of Islamic manuscripts.

There are approximately 3 million ancient manuscripts from various Islamic eras in the Muslim world, 1.3 million of which are located in Egypt. Out of the 1.3 million, 42,164 are housed at Al-Azhar University.

The prestigious mosque was founded in AD 972, in the Fatimid period, three years after Cairo was born.

It later evolved into a reverend centre for Sunni Islamic learning. In 1897, a central library for Al-Azhar was established, which served as a repository for the vast collection of Islamic works of reference scattered throughout the university's other libraries.

Some of the manuscripts date from before 969 AD, when Cairo's founding dynasty, the Fatimids, who ruled Egypt until 1171, entered the country. Because Egypt didn't have printing presses until the early 1800s, many of these old manuscripts are handwritten, in beautiful, surprisingly uniform, Arabic script.

Some manuscripts have yellowing, torn pages with notes scrawled around the margins.

ÊÊÊ There is a large copy of the Holy Quran, with majestic Arabic calligraphy, while a smaller, older version is written in heavy, neat handwriting on deer leather.

For long centuries, this wonderful treasure house of rare manuscripts was left unindexed and disorganized.

They were completely neglected and many were damaged, lost or stolen.

Islamic scholars had to travel to Cairo to view these works in person. Even then, gaining access to the yellowing, hand-scripted treasures could be a very tedious and frustrating affair.

Dr. Youssef el-Atfi, the projects and libraries' manager at the Cabinet Information Centre, is the man in charge of rescuing and maintaining the manuscripts of Islamic mosques, the most important of which is Al-Azhar.

He says that Al-Azhar Library is distinguished from other big libraries in the Islamic world by its rare manuscripts and books written by Al-Azhar scholars and Islamic scholars in general.

"These manuscripts expound on dozens of subjects, including fiqh [Islamic jurisprudence], medicine and other sciences, literature and history.

They're written in Arabic and other languages such as Turkish, Persian and Urdu since students came to Al-Azhar from across the Muslim world," he told el-Mossawer Arabic-language weekly magazine.

Al-Azhar has decided to rescue its priceless treasures by launching Al-Azhar online (www.alazharonline.org), giving Internet users the chance to access some of the world's oldest and rarest Islamic manuscripts.

It will also provide direct access to Islamic culture and heritage as seen through the eyes of the world's oldest university and religious institution. However, the website has been delayed because of the war in Iraq and the time of going to press a launch date has not been announced yet.

The idea for the portal was initiated by General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Minister of Defence, following his visit to Al-Azhar in April 2000 when the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Dr Mohammed Tantawi, discussed the idea of preserving Al-Azhar Library's priceless manuscripts and books.

The $ 5 million-project features the digital conversion of over 42,000 manuscripts, dating back over 1,400 years, and it includes 9,000 that are the only existing copies in the world.

The electronic scanning and storing of the university's archives will take another five years to complete.

A committee of scholars from Al-Azhar was formed to sort through the manuscripts and decide which ones to post on the portal when it is launched.

Obviously, the historical importance of each manuscript will be taken into account.

The committee, which started work two years ago, wants to create a research tool for Islamic scholars and academics around the world, providing them with convenient access to some of the oldest and most important Islamic manuscripts in Al-Azhar archives.

The project is being executed in phases. The first featured the construction of the infrastructure at Al-Azhar Library. In the second phase, a training programme will be launched for 100 staff working on the project, in addition to preparing an administrative office within the library itself.

The third phase, which has already started, was marked by the opening of the technical laboratory which occupies the entire fifth floor of Al-Azhar Library.

The library is equipped with 90 hi-tech computers for doing the electronic archiving, in addition to other equipment for the developers, web designers and programmers working on the project.

The project management has formed committees of noted scholars from Al-Azhar who will provide the portal with information on various Islamic topics of interest to all Muslims such as fatwas (religious rulings), fiqh and Islamic civilization.

Such a prestigious project will allow Al-Azhar scholars throughout the world to interact and be able to receive and answer religious questions.

Apart from gaining access to various manuscripts, researchers will also be able to obtain, via the portal, high-resolution copies of the manuscripts for a nominal fee that will go towards funding Al-Azhar projects.

Previous Stories:
  Azhar University to launch satellite TV to project moderate image of Islam   (8/15/2003)
  42,000 manuscripts, 125,000 Islamic books on internet   (11/16/2002)
  Al Azhar plays important role in Islamic call   (12/1/2001)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search