The Scope of the Islamic Library

My research into the history of the Islamic Libraries took a turn for the better when I was able to discover, through googling with perseverance, a recent PHD thesis, posted online, that had an academic review of this very topic. It was part of a mini-thesis on the history of Islamic museums in South Africa (Adams, 2003). 
The discovery of such a well rounded review presented problems to me as a student researcher. As I had to decide how I could incorporate such information without just duplicating it (or re-writing it in my own words). This sort of discovery is a stimulus to original ideas and methods of presentation. It may also lead to looking up more significant academic references cited to see if the reviewer missed interesting points. 

A blog has more scope for visual presentation than a conventional thesis.  The youtube video about the Chinguetti library is a good example of an excellent communication device that would be very unconventional in a contemporary thesis. 

The review was a great aid with the topic I was interested in, the geographic and literary scope of Islamic libraries.  Facts cited below are from the review unless otherwise noted. 

The first Islamic libraries were, in effect, the book collections of mosques, and always featured the Quran as an important component of the collection.   The wording of the Quran has been fixed since its original compilation by Caliph Abu Bakr (573-634) of the Rashidun caliphate shortly after the death of the Prophet  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran).  There has been, however, a long history of producing Qurans in elaborate, decorative calligraphies

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_calligraphy), or, more rarely, in pictorially illuminated pages. 

The Islamic ban on use of images where they might appear to have spiritual significance meant that Qurans tended not to have the detailed images of animals, people and fantastic creatures that were found in medieval European illuminated manuscripts. 

Influential mosque libraries were located in the major centres of the Islamic world.  Here Adams’ list (Adams, 2003) of some well known examples:

• Al-Unawi Mosque (Damascus);

• Al-Azhar Mosque (Cairo);

• Al-Mansour Mosque (Baghdad);

• Al-Kamariah Mosque (Baghdad);

• Al-Zaitunah Mosque (Tunis);

• Al-Masjid Al-Jame’a (Merv);

• Mecca and Medina Mosques

  Wars, colonizations and other historical events – especially the Mongol invasions early in the 13th century – damaged the collections of many libraries.   Two clusters of libraries that still contain many ancient books are the libraries at Chinguetti, Mauritania (featured in the previous blog) and the Central Library complex of Astan Quds Razavi in Mashad, Iran.

The latter was established in the 15th century or earlier, and it, along with associated museum trusts, currently holds over 1.1 million volumes, including approximately 70,000 rare, historical manuscripts.  Mashad, situated in northeastern Iran, was a minor city until the Mongol raids of 1220, when it was left largely intact while many other cities in the area were destroyed. 

 

Adams, R.  2003.  Historical development of Islamic libraries internationally and in South Africa : a case study of the Islamic Library in Gatesville.   Minithesis for Magister diploma, University of the Western Cape

 

Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Book 61: Virtues of the Qur'an

http://web.archive.org/web/20110107135721/http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/hadith/bukhari/061.sbt.html