The library of Al Azhar Al Sharif in Cairo, Islam's oldest religious and educational institution, is a step closer towards digitalisation all its rare manuscripts and books will be accessible online.
Jamal Khalfan bin Howairib, Managing Director of www.sheikhmohammed.co.ae, opened on Tuesday the fifth floor of the library which includes a workshop equipped with ten scanners, more than 100 computers and servers specially designed for uploading more than 42,000 manuscripts with six million pages, and 37,000 Islamic books.
The $5 million Al Azhar online project is funded and managed by www.sheikhmohammed.co.ae under the patronage of General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Defence Minister, who approved it after a visit to Al Azhar in April 2000.
This is in accordance with Sheikh Mohammed's belief in the pioneering role being played by Al Azhar in the service of Islam and Muslims.
"The portal, www.alazharonline.org, which will be operational soon, is being built by a leading company which has digitalised the U.S. Congress and the Vatican libraries and Russia's Hermitage Museum," said bin Howairib.
"The far-sightedness of Sheikh Mohammed will turn alazharonline.org into an international digital project which will serve the entire world.
"The Holy Quran, Hadith and Islamic jurisprudence, as well as all manuscripts, articles and Fatwas (rulings) finalised until now will be downloaded onto the portal. The public will also be able to seek religious Fatwas online.
"The project will introduce Islam to the public and quash allegations against it. It will enable global access to the genuine wealth of Islamic culture and heritage from the oldest extant university and religious institution worldwide, promoting Islamic values and tolerance," bin Howairib said.
"The project includes digitalisation of Al Azhar library books, ranging from ancient manuscripts to modern works, creating a portal dedicated to Al Azhar and a network for Al Azhar, connecting ten of its main institutions in Cairo."
Al Azhar library was established in 1897, at the time of Imam Mohammed Abdo. It comprises 99,062 books and has 595,668 volumes of the most precious manuscripts and rare books.
The library is considered second to 'Dar Al-Kutub Al-Masriah' in Egypt, as far as the number of books and rare literature is concerned.
The books in the library are indexed according to their subjects: Holy books, Readings, Quran sciences, Tafseer, Hadith, Fiqh of Abi Hanifa, Al-Shafei', Mialek and Ibn Hanbal, inheritance, scholastic, logic, language, grammar, research, eloquence, literature and history.
Gulf News 2003
