Welcome to Al-Furqan’s E-Database
The largest gateway of Islamic written heritage
‘Our Publications’ databank / collection
‘Our Publications’ collection is a bibliographic database of the Foundation's own publications. These works are the outcome of prominent research projects and events carried out by the three centres of the Foundation, i.e. the ‘Manuscripts Centre’, the ‘Mawsoa Centre’ and the ‘Maqasid Centre’.
This collection was added to the ‘Al-Furqan Digital Library’ to enrich the user research experience. The collection is continuously updated, and currently contains over 200 works in over 400 volumes. These cover both introductory and advanced topics discussed and presented by distinguished scholars in the field of Islamic written heritage.
It also includes many popular and heavily cited publications, as well as award winning works, such as the critical edition of al-Isfizāri’s book which deals with the field of mechanics, known as “the sciences of weights and mechanical devices” (‘Ilmay al-Athqāl wal-Ḥiyal). Other popular items include works by the late famous scholar Annemarie Schimmel, such as The Secrets of Creative Love (1998) and Islam and the Wonders of Creation(2003); and many other highly demanded references, including the unique Encyclopaedia of Makkah Al-Mukarramah and Al-Madīnah Al-Munawwarah.
The Arabic Manuscripts in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Countries
Prof. Dr. Ahmed Shawqi Binebine presents a summary of the roles played by centres of learning, book repositories and the libraries in preserving the manuscript heritage of North Africa throughout the ages. He specifically focuses his attention on the Maghreb, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and countries of the Sub-Sahara. The work encompasses manuscripts written in the indigenous languages of the region, namely Arabic, Hausa, Swahili and those using Arabic script. The author presents a background on the presence of Arabic manuscripts in the region, their popularity and reasons behind the loss of great collections – to include theft, arson, wilful destruction and weathering. The author also details the characteristics of African manuscripts and materials used in their makeup, such as the paper, leather binding, types of script and writing tools such as the pens and the various ink types used. He also discusses the most important contributions made in indexing, preserving and restoring these manuscripts, with particular attention given to the academic work undertaken by the Al-Furqān Foundation in this field.
Shared KnowledgeManuscript Centre
The Critical Edition of Manuscripts: Past, Present and Future
Palaeographical Aspects of Qurʾānic Manuscripts and the Qurʾānic Fragments of the University of Birmingham
Late Arabic Scientific Commentaries: Their Role and their Originality : Works of Shams al-Dīn al-Khafrī (1550 C.E./956 A.H.) - English version