Islamic Manuscripts

Islamic Manuscripts

HMML’s growing Islamic manuscript holdings represent a range of Islamic cultures, including the West African tradition centered in Timbuktu (Mali), Hārar in Ethiopia, major family libraries of Jerusalem, the Zaydi tradition of Yemen, as well as manuscripts located in Gaza, Persian manuscripts from Mughal India, and the Library of Congress. It also includes Islamic manuscripts located in Southeast Asia, hosted in partnership with the DREAMSEA Project.

HMML’s first partnership to focus on the digitization of Islamic manuscripts began in 2010 with a project in Hārar, Ethiopia, followed in 2011 by four projects with family libraries in Jerusalem. In 2013, HMML partnered with SAVAMA-DCI (Sauvegarde et Valorisation des Manuscrits pour la Défense de la Culture Islamique) in Bamako, Mali, to digitize the manuscripts evacuated from Timbuktu. Digitization in Mali expanded to include libraries that remained in Timbuktu and to Djenné, another center of Islamic culture in Mali. Digitization of Islamic manuscripts continues to be the focus of projects in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Highlights



Islamic Manuscripts Stories

Laṭāʼif al-matn fī manāqib al-Shaykh Abī al-ʻAbbās, a Shādhilī Sufi text once owned by Ahmadu Lobbo, ruler of Masina. (<a href='https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/148132'>SAV BMH 16153</a>)
Laṭāʼif al-matn fī manāqib al-Shaykh Abī al-ʻAbbās, a Shādhilī Sufi text once owned by Ahmadu Lobbo, ruler of Masina. (SAV BMH 16153)
Illustrations of Medina and Mecca in Dalāʼil al-khayrāt—the Prayers for the Prophet—part of the Issaf Nashashibi Library, Jerusalem. (<a href='https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/139449'>DINL 356 143</a>)
Illustrations of Medina and Mecca in Dalāʼil al-khayrāt—the Prayers for the Prophet—part of the Issaf Nashashibi Library, Jerusalem. (DINL 356 143)
Treatise on Hanafi law, in the collection of the Great Omari Mosque, Gaza City, Gaza. (OMM 68)
Treatise on Hanafi law, in the collection of the Great Omari Mosque, Gaza City, Gaza. (OMM 68)
Qurʼan manuscript in the collection of Jāmiʻ Shahārah, Yemen. (<a href='https://w3id.org/vhmml/readingRoom/view/145950'>ZMT 1905</a>)
Qurʼan manuscript in the collection of Jāmiʻ Shahārah, Yemen. (ZMT 1905)

Other Collections

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