Welcome to Al-Furqan’s E-Database
The largest gateway of Islamic written heritage
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‘World Collections’ databank / collection
The ‘World Collections’ databank / collection holds the digitised outcome of the survey on the collections of Islamic manuscripts in the world, completed and published by the Al-Furqan Foundation in 1994, under the title “The World Survey of Islamic Manuscripts”.. This Survey is available in both the English and Arabic language.
This flagship project (the only one of this type to date) started in 1989, focusing on identifying and recording undocumented Islamic manuscript collections in the world, with the aim to support and instigate research into the field of Islamic manuscripts. A number of known scholars and experts contributed to this encyclopaedic work.
The Survey identified collections in 106 countries. It is a compilation of detailed independent studies, highlighting just over a million and a half Islamic manuscripts from just over 2,500 collections. These collections, in more than 40 languages, belong to public and private libraries in almost 1,300 cities. It gathered extensive information about these libraries, including details about their establishment and the status of their collections, unveiling in the process rare manuscripts. For example, the collection of manuscripts at the Institute of Oriental Culture (University of Tokyo) - that was acquired in 1987 - included several new and unique Islamic manuscripts. The noteworthy discoveries were two copies of Risala fi anwaʿ al-mashruʿat, a comprehensive work on the terminology of jurisprudence, by Luṭf Allah al-Kaydani (died 1349 AD /750 AH). These were significant findings, as they had not even been mentioned in the most renowned classical period references, such as Brockelmann's famous work Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur (GAL), Sezgin's Geschichte Des Arabischens Schriftums (GAS), and Kaḥḥala's Muʿjam al-muʾallifin.
A large number of the identified libraries have listed and included detailed descriptions about the manuscripts held in their collection, in a form of a document or publication. This publication is known as a ‘catalogue’; with most of them published and available for purchase. Another form of a published catalogue is one that was compiled by a group of libraries, known as ‘library consortium’. These libraries partnered to combine their collections into one unified published catalogue, known as a ‘union catalogue’.
Some libraries held collections that were not catalogued or documented. Others made an attempt to describe their collections in simplified lists and general documentations. These were usually not published and are known as ‘unpublished catalogues’.
A unique outcome of the Survey was the identification of all the various catalogues. Just over 5,500 catalogues of Islamic manuscripts were surveyed, including the listing of almost 700 union catalogues, and almost 1,000 unpublished catalogues.
All this information and much more is ready to be explored on theAl-Furqan Digital Library, under the ‘World Collections’ databank.
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| Date of establishment: | 750 AH / 1349 CE |
| Status: | Institutional |
| Status Details: | Public library |
| Condition of access: | Access restricted to research students and fellows and students of universities. |
| Total number of Islamic MSS: | 2,030 (Arabic). |
| Description of Collection: | The importance of this library is such that it receives official delegations, scholars and politicians, including kings and heads of state. The manuscripts in this library number 2,030, all of which are in Arabic. In addition to these, there are collections of papers (with numerous gaps and omissions) which still need to be collected, arranged, sorted and catalogued. It should be noted that a significant number of these manuscripts have been completely lost. This much can be deduced by comparing the present contents of the Library with the contents as listed in the original registers. Some of the MSS are in poor condition, being either completely or partially damaged, and require treatment and restoration. The Library also has a collection of various manuscripts which are still kept in special boxes. The manuscripts of the famous al-Qarawiyin Library cover all aspects of scholarship and literature, including Qurʾanic studies, Ḥadith, fiqh, literature, grammar, linguistics, history, geography, medicine, astronomy, physics, chemistry, mathematics, music, as well as other branches of knowledge and literature. The oldest MS. in the Library dates from the seventh Islamic century (13th century CE). In general, the MSS date from the period between the 12th and 19th centuries CE. A significant number of the manuscripts are considered rarities on account of their contribution to scholarship, some being the only extant copies in the world. Some are considered artifacts in their own right because of the high quality of their illumination and the beautiful gilded decoration of their opening pages and margins. Among the important manuscripts of the collection are: (i) al-Bab fi ʿIlm al-Kitab by Ibn ʿAdil Abu Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn ʿAli ibn ʿAdil al-Ḥasani al-Dimashqi, in eight parts; (ii) Kitab al-iktifaʾ bi-ma taḍammanahu min maghazi Rasul Allah ṣalla Allahu ʿalayhi wa-sallam wa-magḥazi al-thalatha al-Khulafa, by al-Kilaʿi Abu 'l-Rabiʿ Sulayman ibn Musa (d. 634 AH), in two parts; (iii) Ṭawaliʿ al-anwar on theology, by al-Qaḍi al-Burhan ʿUbayd Allah ibn Muḥammad al-ʿUbaydali al-Sharif al-Farghani, Qaḍi of Tabriz (d. 743 AH). There are dozens of other manuscripts of great importance. See: Maktabat Jāmiʾ al-Qarawīyīn fī Fās. Khazāʾin al-kutub al-ʿArabīya fi 'l-khāfiqayn.By Fīlīb Tārrazī.Beirut, vol. 1, pp. 230-232. Khizānat al-Qarawīyīn wa-Nawādiruhā.By Muḥammad al-ʿĀbid al-Fāsī.Majallat Maʿhad al-makhṭūṭāt al-ʿArabīya / Revue de l'Institut des Manuscrits Arabes 5, pp. 3–16. 1961 – 1962 Taqrīr ʿan makhṭūṭāt al-ʿArabīya fi 'l-Maghrib. By Maḥmūd ʿAlī Makkī.Revista del Instituto de Estudios Islámicos en Madrid / Ṣaḥīfat Maʿhad al-Dirāsāt al-Islāmīya fī Madrid 9–10, pp. 443–459. Maktabat Jāmiʿ al-Qarawīyīn ʿabr al-tārīkh.By Nuzhat Ibnat Al-Khayyāṭ.Al-Majalla al-Maghribīya li-l-Tawthīq wa-'l-Maʿlūmāt / Revue Maghrébine de Documentation 3, 1985, pp. 9–25. See also Muḥammad al-Fasi’s union catalogue, 1961, and Benjelloun-Laraoui’s 1990 survey: Les bibliothèques au Maroc et quelques-uns de leurs manuscrits les plus rares. By Muḥammad al-Fāsī.Hespéris Tamuda 2, pp. 135–144. Les bibliothèques au Maroc.By Latifa Benjelloun-Laraoui. Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose (Islam d'Hier et d'Aujourd'hui, 34). 413pp. |
| Published Catalogues: | 7 |
| Unpublished Catalogues: | 1 |
| Online access: | http://www.alquaraouiyine.com/ |
| Published Catalogues Total: 7 | 1917 – 1918 |
1958 | |
1959 | |
1960 | |
1962 | |
1973 – 1974 | |
1979 – 1989 | |
| Unpublished Catalogues Total: 1 | Most of the MSS have been entered in the four-volume catalogue. There are also handwritten registers in which most MSS are recorded, and many loose sheets identify MSS by titles, authors and subjects. |
| Union Catalogues & Surveys Total: 22 | 1958 – 1959 |
1959 | |
1961 | |
1965 | |
1967 | |
1967? | |
1968 | |
1968 | |
1971 | |
1971 | |
1973 | |
1974 | |
1976 | |
1976 | |
1979 | |
1982 | |
1983 | |
1985 | |
1986 | |
1986 – 1988 | |
1990 | |
1992 | |
| Bibliographical appendix Total: 14 | 1949 |
1958 | |
1967 | |
1967 | |
1972 | |
1977 | |
1978 | |
1980 | |
1982 | |
1984 | |
1985 | |
1986 | |
1986 | |
1989 |
Cities surveyed
Libraries surveyed
Catalogues surveyed
