Newsletter No. 5 - Dec. 2000 by Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation

Al-Furqân Islamic Heritage Foundation

Newsletter N U M B E R

F IV E

D ec. 2000 C O N TEN TS

we^sensethe threat to our moral and

C ataloguing ....................................... 15

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Comm unity E vents ............................... defaced and C onference ................................................. unjustly 8 Encyclopaedia ............................................ several

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its brief as working ‫ ©ا‬save ،he Manuseript Heritage of Islam and bring this heritage to a position where it is accessible to main-stream scholarship. Al-Furqan attempts to maintain a level of flexibility while adhering to its declared strategy. Its project to document the manuscript heritage continues; surveying collections of Islamic manuscripts in the world and providing catalogues for these collections; working for the conservation of collections; imaging manuscripts on microfilm and CD-ROM, and publishing new critical editions of important manuscript works. Al-Furqan also aims to disseminate information on an authentic and enlightened Islamic culture and to draw vital connections between this culture and contemporary civilisation. During the last year al-F u rq ^ has seen a change of Director. Dr Kamal Arafat Nabhan, who steered the Foundation from 1997 to 1999 decided that the time had come to base himself in Egypt with his family. The position of Director-General has been happily filled by Frofessor Yusuf Ibish, a " scholar and academic. Professor Ibish has been involved with the F o u n d a tio n s in c e 1991 as founding member of the Board of Experts and, more recently, as the B oard's

heritage. The

‫ع‬

Chairman’s A d dress.......................... 1

^ Forthcoming E ven ts......................... 13

We are pleased to present issue V of al-F u rq ^ Foundation's Newsletter. With this issue, the Newsletter finally settles on the form that will embody the Foundation's commitment - on the one hand to seriousness of content, and on the other, to beauty, as a basic v a ln e of Islam. The Newsletter is al-Furq‫^؛‬n F ou n d a tio n 's main instrument in communication with its friends across the world. We give you news of the activities of the Foundation, which we nurture and tend, with the aim of bringing forth ideas from the realm of the imagined to that of the actual, of turning some dreams into reality. This is a time when there is a need to realise some of the great dreams of the builders of the I sla m ic Civilisation, and, indeed, of human civilisation as a whole. To bring some of the glory of the past into the present - and the future too, by the Grace of God. A l-F u rq ^ Foundation was established in response to a requirement created by the circumstances surrounding the human cultural heritage generally and the Islamic heritage specifically. In the current climate, where bigotry and narrow-mindedness so often lead to aggression

Award ......................................................... spiritual

Conservation ..................................... 15

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4 Ih lfla sffe w

Foundation Structure and Boards...... 2 years , ،٠ the actual destruction o f H onours ...................................................... Islamic vehicles o f culture - such 7 Leetures 12 as manuscripts. W e do not have to go back to the time o f the Tartars ^ LiDrary........................................................ ID ‫؛‬٠ see the drowning o f books, nor Obituaries ..................................................... to the Spanish Inquisition to 5 Profile 3 ‫؛‬witness the^r burning. The National Library o f Sarajevo, burnt to a “ •• • , ،1 Fubhcations ................................................ ٢١ shell, is there to remind us o f the W orldw ide N e w s .................................... irrational destructiveness o f man. 16 Al-Furqân Foundation has defined

Vice-Chair. Al-Furqan Foundation is continutng on a path of solid achievement, it makes use of the most recent advances of information technology, but it makes use, above all, of the best and most committed hearts and minds from across the world that it has the honour to call its colleagues: the Boards, Consultants, Administration, Staff and Friends of al-Furqân Foundation. A hm ed Zaki Yamani Chairman, al-Furqan

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STRUCTURE FOUND ER The Yamani Cultural Foundation

THF- BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairman: Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani Members: Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoghlu DrZakiM ustapha

THE IN TERN A TIO N A L ADV ISORY COUNCIL Chairman: Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Y a m a n i Members: Professor Nasseruddin al-Assad (Amman) Professor George Atiyeh (Washington) Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoghlu (Istanbul) Professor Enes Karic (Sarajevo) Professor Salahuddin al-Munajjid (Jeddah) Professor Seyyed Ho$$e‫؛‬n Nasr (Washington) Professor Annemarie Schimmel (Bonn) Professor Abd al-Hadi al-Tazi (Rabat) Professor Syed Vahiduddin (Hyderabad) Professor Juan Vernet (Barcelona) Professor w Montgomery Watt (Edinburgh)

THE BOARD OF EXFERTS Chairman: Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani Members: Professor Iraj Afshar (Tehran) Professor Ibrahim Chabbuh (Tunis and Amman) Professor Yusuf Ibish (Washington) Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoghlu (Istanbul) Professor Roshdi Rashed (Paris) Dr Muhammad Isa Waley (London) Dr Jan Just Witkam (Leiden)

D IR EC TO R G EN ERA L Professor Dr Y usuf Ibish

A ddress fo r €orr€spondence: The Director General Al-Furqan Foundation Eagle House High Street Wimbledon London SW 19 5EF UK

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Profile H a m a d a l-J a s ir ( 1 9 1 0 - 2 0 0 0 ) Sheikh Hamad al-Jasir, a lifelon g personal friend o f alFurqan F ound ation’s Chairm an, S heikh A hm ed Zaki Y am an i, w a s a fo u n d in g m em b er o f a l-F u rq an ’s International A dvisory C ouncil. Hamad al-Jasir w as on e o f the forem ost scholars of' the Arab world. A m em ber o f the A cad em ies o f Baghdad, C airo and D am ascu s, he w as a major driving force behind the educational renaissance o f modern tim es in Saudi Arabia. He w orked in ed u ca tio n , the la w , jo u rn a lism and p u b lish ing. H e brought out a l-Y a m a m a h , the first new spaper in R iyadh,in 1952, fo llo w ed by al-R iyâ d new spaper in 1976 and fin ally al-'Arab, a periodical sp ecialising in the history and literature o f the Arabian F eninsula, in 1978. He established the first printing house in Najd in 1955 and in 1966 he esta b lish e d Dar a l-¥ a m a m a h for Research, Translation and Fublishing. B ut it w as as a scholar, a historian and geographer o f the Arabian F en in su la that Ham ad al-Jasir perhaps m ade his greatest contribution to the culture o f his hom eland. 11c lea v es m any b ook s that bear h is name and that c o v e r a w id e ran ge o f g en res: from geographical to historical atlases, to travel w riting, to biography and critical editions o f classical texts, in its ch oice o f classical texts to edit - should g iv e H is contribution to al-Furqan F oundation has been profound. In 1991, in the inaugural m eetin g o f the C ouncil, he pleaded eloq u en tly that the Foundation -

AL-FURQAN ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDA TION NEWSLETTER V

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p riority to w o rk s d e a lin g w ith th e h isto r y and geo g ra p h y o f the tw o h o ly e itie s o f M akkah and Madinah. T h is led directly to the Chairman estab lish in g a branch o f a l-F u rq a n F o u n d a tio n in J id d a h , to w ork e x c lu s iv e ly on the project o f the E n c y c lo p a e d ia o f M akkah and M adinah. A project w h ich e n jo y ed the b lessin g o f Sheikh Hamad al-Jasir. A nother Furqan project w hich ben efitted a great deal from Sheikh H am ad’s direction and a d v ice is the new critical ed ition o f W at a' al-W afa' fîA k h b â r D âr alM ustafâ, edited by F rofessor Q asim al-Sam arrai and n ow nearing com pletion. S h eik h Ham ad al-]a sir w ill be sorely m issed by the w orld o f scholarship and culm re, by all his friends and students, and by everyon e at al-Furqan Foundation in both Jiddah and London.

R IF E N E SS IS ALL “ It is death its e lf to be afraid o f death. D eath is painless, in fact death is rest. I have reached a stage o f m y life w here 1 have fu lfilled all m y w ish es. M y c o n sc ie n c e is clea r and there is nothing ‫ ا‬am looking forward to. M y strength is g o n e and m y life is alm ost over. A fter all, this life is a stage that m ust end o n e day. O ne sh ou ld be ready to arrive at the end w ith a sen se o f com fort and safety.” Hamad al-Jasir said these words in 1991. H e continued for a further 9 years to g iv e g en erou sly o f h is w isd om and his learning to all w h o asked.

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Encyclopaedia of Makkah & Madinah T h e p ro ject o f the E n c y e lo p a e d ia o f M akkah and M adinah is h ou sed in the Jiddah branch o f al-Furqan Islam ic H eritage F oundation. T he project aim s to: P ublish an E n cyclop aed ia o f M akkah and Madinah. P u b lish b o o k s, stu d ie s and th eses on M akkah and M adinah (w ith the approval o f independent ju d g es and the A cad em ic Board o f t h e Foundation). P u b lish critical ed itio n s o f historical referen ces o f a sp e c ific nature and relating to M akkah and M adinah. C o m p ile and p u b lish a m u lti-lin gu al b ib liograp h y o f p u b lish ed w ork s, refe r e n c es, th eses and a rticles on M akkah and M adinah. E stab lish an Inform ation Centre holding a co llectio n o f te x ts , r e fe r e n c e s , p h o to g r a p h s, d o c u m e n ts, m ap s, th eses, tra v elle r s’ a cco u n ts, jou rn als, m icro film s and aud io-visu al material on M akkah and Madinah. T h e project w orks through a C ouncil o f C onsultants, an A ca d em ic Board, a num ber o f S p ecialised C om m ittees and an E xecu tiv e A dm inistration. T h e first m eetin g o f the C o u n cil o f C on su ltan ts w as h eld in fid d a h on 4 N o v e m b er 1994 and the m ost recent w as held in L ondon on 30 April 1999.

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The Council of Consultants Members L o n d on l999

The Academic Board: Sheikh A hm ed Zaki Yam ani (Chair) Professor A b d -A ll‫؛‬،h Anqawi Professor Ahmad Khaled al-Badali Professor Abd a l-L a tifB in D uhaysh P rofessor Ibrahim Chabbouh Professor Omar Falateh Professor A sim Hamdan Dr Adnan al-Harithi Dr Y o u sefA h m ed Hawalah Professor E km eleddin Ihsanoghlu Professor M i’raj Mirza Dr Abdullah Shaw oosh Professor Abd al-W ahhab Abu Sulaym an Professor Abbas Tashkandi

Publications: A I-T a ’rJkh wa al-M uarrikhün bi-M akkah ;١١١٨ al-Qarn al-Thâlith a l-H ijri ilâ ‫ أل‬/-‫; و‬،‫ آاء‬al-Thâlth 'Ashar, b y Muhammad al-Habib al-H ila

AI-BI'ah al-TabT'iyyah li-M akkah al-M ukarramah , by Ruqayyah Hasan Najim.

The Council o f Consultants: Sh eikh A hm ed Zaki Yam ani (Chair) P rofessor N asir al-D in al-A sad P rofessor Kazim al-M u saw i al-Bojnordi P rofessor Abd el-M a lik Bin D uhaysh P rofessor Y u su f Ibish P rofessor E km eleddin Ihsanoghlu P rofessor Robert M cHenry P rofessor Tayyar A lati Qulaj P rofessor Abd al-W ahhab Abu Sulaym an Dr Jan Just W itkam

N a yl al-M unâ bi-D h ayl Bulügh al-Q urâ li-T akm ilat It+ âf al-Wara, by Jar-Allah ibn Fahd, ed. M uham m ad al-Habib al-Hila.

W afa’ al-W afa ‫ آم‬Târikti M adîn at al-M uştafâ, by alSam hüdı, ed. Q asim al-Samarrai.

A'lâm al-M akiyyln min al-Qarn al-Tâsi' ilâ al-Q am alRâbi' 'Ashr al-H ijrl , by A bd-A llah ibn Abd al-Rahm an al-M u 'allim î.

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In Memoriam D r H o sn i A h m ed A b o u E l-F itto u h S h eik h A h m ed Z ak i Y am an i In m y w orking life, w hich has spanned several deeades, have dealt w ith m any p rofession als: adm inistrators, eco n o m ists, la w y ers, aca d em ics and others. E ach is different. S o m e o f the differen ces can be traced back to the person’s original character and som e can be traced to the imprint on that character o f a particular profession. T h e e x e c u tiv e accu racy and ‫ ؟‬u ick r e sp o n se o f an administrator m ay be lacking from the behaviour o f an academ ic w h o n evertheless m akes up for that lack with the breadth o f h is in tellect and the o rig in a lity o f his research.

‫ا‬

O ne m a n ‫ ا‬have w orked with has com b in ed the best o f the e x e c u tiv e /a d m in istr a to r w ith the b e st o f the a ca d em ic and sch olar : Dr H o sn i A b o u el-F itto u h , w h o m G o d gra ced w ith a p rofou n d fa ith and an ab solu te m oral scru p u lou sn ess. H e w orked tirelessly and in sile n c e . He laid th e fo u n d a tio n s fo r the E n cy clo p a ed ia o f M akkah and M adinah but - as the project started to take shape - he passed aw ay and left a space that cannot be filled by on e person. Our on ly con solation in lo sin g him is that he is now w ith G od, reaping in the next w orld the fruit o f what he so w e d in this: h is g o o d n e ss and p iety and his constant work in the service o f the Islam ic heritage and the tw o h oly cities.

D r A liy a H aji. ٥٢

Haji jo in e d the Foundation in 1990 and has been largely resp on sib le for b u ild in g up the c o lle c tio n o f books and catalogu es that the Foundation has acquired. She w as a friend and a support to 11‫ ة‬her c o llea g u es and w ill be m uch m issed.

AL-FURQAN ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDA TION NEWSLETTER V

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Publications Since the appearance o f its last English Newsletter, alFurqan Foundation published the follow ing titles:

E dited Texts:

Al-Makhtütât al-Islâmiyyah f î al-'AIam, a translation o f the ١٧٠^،^ Survey oflslam ic Manuscripts, ed. Geoffrey Roper, vols IV, tr. with additions by 'Abd al-Satt‫!؛‬r all^alwajî (set to be 5 vols).

L es mathematiques infinitesim ales ‫ اله‬IXe au XIs siecle, vol III, Theories des Coniques, Constructions Geom etriques, et G eom etrie Pratique, by R oshdi

Mu'jam al-Mu’alifln al-Muslimtn Fi IfrTqya: al- Kitâbât al- ’Arabiyyah fi IfrlqyS as-Südâniyyah hattâ al qarn 19, a translation o f Arabic Literature o fA fric a , ed Sean

Rashed (set to be 7 vols) (2001).

O'Fahey,

S u r v e y s:

M u'ajam al-M u'alifln a l-M u slim ln // IfrTqya: Kitâbâtuhum bi al-Lughah al-'Arabiyyah wa al-Lughât al-Ifrlqiyyah, a translation o f Arabic Literature ofAfrica

Al-Makhtütât al-Islâmiyyah f î al-'Alam, a translation o f the W orld Survey ‫ ؛ه‬Islam ic M anuscripts, ed. Geoffrey Roper, vol. II, tr. with additions by 'Abd alSat^r al-l^alwaj! (set to be 5 vols) (2000).

٧٠١. 1 tr.

'Awn al-Sharlf Qasim.

, ed. John Hunwick, vol. II tr. al-A m în Abü-M angah Muhammad.

C a ta lo g u es:

Fihris al-Makhtütât al-'Arabiyyah f î al-Maktabah alKhâlidiyyah bi al-Quds, com piled by Nazm y al-

Fihris Makhtütât Baladiyyat Shebln al-Kom, com piled

Ju'beh, edited by Walid al-Khalidi.

by YoussefZeidan.

Fihris al-Makhtütât al-Islâmiyyah bi Sâhil al-'Â j , Catalogue o f Arabic, Turkish, Persian and Bosnian Manuscripts in the Library o f Ghazi Husrev B eg in S arajevo, vol. VII, com piled by Haso Popara and

eom piled by Baba Yunus Muhammad, edited by John Hunwick.

Fihris al-M akhtütât alrlslâm iyyah

Zejnil Fajic (set to be 10 vols) (2000).

Catalogue o f Arabic, Turkish, Persian and Bosnian Manuscripts ١٨ the Library ٠/’ Ghazi Husrev B eg in Sarajevo, vol. VIII, com piled by Mustafa Jahic (set to

‫ اط‬M athaf Jos

(Nigeria), compiled by Baba Yunus Muhammad, edited by John Hunwick.

Fihris al-Makhtütât al-Islâmiyyah

‫ آه‬Sokoto (Nigeria),

com piled by Baba Yunus Muhammad, edited by John Hunwick.

be 10 vols) (2000).

Fihris Makhtütât Maktabat Jâmi'at Ibadan (Nigeria) vol 1, com piled by Baba Yunus Muhammad, edited John Hunwick.

Catalogue ٠/ Arabic, Turkish, Persian and Bosnian Manuscripts in the Library o f Ghazi Husrev Beg in Sarajevo, Vol. 1^.

Fihris Makhtütât Maktabât Ghâna, com piled by Baba Fihris Makhtütât Nia'mah wa Wallâtah (Mauritania),

Yunus Muhammad, edited by Ali Abd al-Muhsin.

Fihris Makhtütât M aktabat Mamma Haydarah li alMakhtütât wa al-W atha’iq bi-Mâlî, V ols I, II and III, com piled by Abdelkader Haidara, edited by F ‫ةال‬d Sayyid (1999-2000).

Ayman

M en eg ra p h s:

com piled by Ahmed Ould Muhammad Yahia, edited by Ulrich Rebstock, revised by Ibrahim Chabb©uh.

The Earth & Its Sciences ١٨ Islamic Manuscripts, Proceedings ٠/ the 5th Conference ٥/ al-Furqan Foundation (24،h and 25th November ‫( ) وووا‬English).

The Poets' Geography by Annemarie Schimmel (2000).

A l-A rd wa mâ 'Alayha, Proceedings o f the 5th Conference o f al-Furqan Foundation (24th and 2 ‫و‬،‫أا‬

U nder preparatien for 2001:

N ovem ber (Arabic).

1999), edited by Ibrahim C habbouh,

L es mathematiques infinitesim ales ‫ ال ك‬i x e au XIe s i e c l e , vol IV T ran sform ation s e t M eth odes Geometriques, by Roshdi Rashed (set to be 7 vols). Al-Makhtütât al-Islâmiyyah fîal-'Âlam , a translation o f the World Survey o flsla m ic Manuscripts, ed. Geoffrey Roper, vols III and IV, tr. with additions by 'Abd alSattar al-HalwajT (set to be 5 vols).

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Honours

S h e ik h A h m e d Z a k i Y a m a n i w as awarded

P r o f e s s o r E k m e le d d in I h s a n o g h lu w a s

IRCICA's 'Award for D istin gu ish ed ?atrons o f Scholarship in Islam ic C ivilisation' in October 2 000.

granted the 'Medal o f D istin gu ish ed State Service' by the President o f the R epublic o f Turkey on 8 June

2000 .

‫ص‬

P r o f e s s o r R o s h d i R a s h e d and h is research team w ere aw arded 'La M ed a ille d'Or, A vicen n e' by U N E SC O on 20 Septem ber 1999

AL-FURQAN ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER ٧

P r o f e s s o r s Iraj A fs h a r and Y u s u f I b is h were awarded IRCICA's 'Award for E xcellen ce in Scholarship in O ctober 2 000.

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Conference Al-Furqan Foundation's Fifth Conference carried on the attempt to examine problems o f editing manuscripts o f science and to establish a m ethodology for dealing with them. The C onference in 1999 concentrated on manuscripts in the various disciplines o f the Earth Sciences. Many em inent speakers presented papers and the audience o f specialists and scholars ensured useful and interesting debates.

A b str a c ts IRA J A F S H A R Javaher Name-ye Nezami, the Oldest Persian Text ٠٠ Gems This is the earliest work in Persian on gem s and m ineralogy and was written in 592. It rem ains unpublished. This text, second to ‘A I-]a v ^ er Fl al-Javaher’ by Abu R a y ^ n al-Birunl (d .440), contains descriptions o f gem s, metals and ‘mamzüjât’, including the ‘talvih ^ ’ (enamels). The author recorded in his work a great deal o f his personal experiences and information, as well as what he had heard from gem dealers and jew ellers. It is therefore o f high value because it includes many original points. The author had been invited by two kings, Ghurid King M uhamm ad ibn and A la ’ al-D In Takesh Kharazmshah for con su ltation s and ad vice about jew ellery . There are five manuscripts o f this work. This paper introduced them and the novelty o f the text.

IB R A H IM B E N M U R A D Reading and E diting the Term inology ٠ / B otan y The paper deals with 3 topics: 1. The problems o f reading the terminology o f botany in the Islamic scientific heritage: a. The reading o f the 'old' scientists o f this term ifiology and their use o f it in their works. Interpreting and writing down the terminology were o f major importance in their definitions. b. The readings o f translators from Arabic into European languages. 2. The problems o f editing the terminology o f botany in published Arabic Jexts. 3. The problem s o f identifying the origins o f the term inology o f botany in modern and contemporary Arabic scientific texts which have studied and analysed the traditions o f botany.

IB R A H IM C H A B B O U H Views on Some Problems in Geographical Texts P ro fesso r C habbuh recorded som e im portant observations on the corpus o f manuscripts o f geography that have survived to our time: - interpreting a manuscript o f geography is som etim es an excavation: annotations and commentaries written (at a later date) into the margins o f a MS were sometimes

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(later still) incorporated by copyists into the body o f the text. - errors made by copyists ha¥e becom e absorbed into the tradition, particularly in the case o f place-names. For these to be corrected research has to be done into pre-lslamic place-names. - a clear distinction has to be made between geographers w hose work is based on direct experience: travel and observation (e.g. Yâqüt), and those w hose writings are based on the works or observations o f others (e.g. Ibn distances were measured by ,stage', a stage being the distance covered in one day till noon. The distances covered varied depending on terrain and other circumstances. The 'stage' therefore is not a satisfactory unit o f measurement. - comparing an unchanged monument to a text w ill show the accuracy or shortcomings o f the writer. A text may som etim es be rearranged on the basis o f an extsting monument. - Manuscripts o f geography are not our only means o f recreating population centres, cities and routes. Travellers' journals are also useful in this respect though they deal primarily with the cultural aspects o f places. Professor Chabbuh said that research in these areas should aim at Producing an authorised Atlas.

A B D U L L A H Y O U SE F A L -G H U N A IM R em arks ٠٠ the E d itin g o f A ra b ic Geographical Texts The Arab geographical heritage is a basic pillar o f the Arabic library and o f the cultural heritage o f Islam. D espite the many geographical works that have been published in Arabic, both in old tim es and in new, there are still many points to be taken into account if w e are to arrive at an accurate evaluation o f this rich tradition; a tradition which contributed ‫ ؛؛‬great deal to the developm ent o f geographical thought and which introduced concepts and m ethodologies still held in esteem by the scientific community. This paper is born o f 30 years' in v o lv em en t in studying, analysing and editing MSS o f geography and therefore a first-hand awareness o f the areas o f difficulty faced by anyone working in the field, as w ell as a view on the appropriate m ethod s o f w ork in g w ith geographical texts, maps and term inology. W e limit ourselves, however, to a few telling examples. W e conclude that the general situation as far as editing the geographical heritage o f Islam is concerned can be summed up in 3 points: a. Books that were edited in the past, are now rare, and need to be published again in new critical editions. In som e cases different cop ies o f M SS relating to a particular book have been discovered since it was last edited; these could throw new light on the work. b. Books that were edited in m odem tim es but which did not fulfil the required work on place names and locations, or did not do proper research on all available MSS o f the book and are therefore without much real value. c. Geographical books and treatises that have never been editedLibraries all over the w orld hold geographical M SS that need to be ed ited and published.

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‫؛‬SLAM!C HERITAGE FOUNDATION

The Earth

‫ه‬

Its Sciences in Islamic Manuscripts

24th and 25th N ovem ber 1999 Eagle House P anel I:

G eography in Islam ic C iv ilisatio n Chair: Sheikh A hm ad Zaki Yamani ?rofessor Roshdi Rashed Earth's Mathematical Sciences ?rofessor Abdullah Yousef al-Ghunaim Remarks on the Editing of Arabic Geographic Texts Panel II: G eography in Islam ic C iv ilisatio n Chair: P rofessor Y u su f Ibish Professor Ibrahim Chabbouh Views on Some Problems in Geographical Texts Dr Regis Morelon Geography and Astronomy P anel III: G eography in Islam ic C iv ilisatio n C h a i r • P ro fesso r Ibrahim Chabbouh Dr Jan Just Witkam Published Texts on Geography Dr Ayman Fuad Sayyid Unpublished Texts on Geography Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoğlu Preliminary Notes on Geographical MSS in Ottoman Scientific Literature P anel IV: C h e m istry Chair: P ro fe sso r E km eleddin Ihsanoğlu Professor s Nomanul Haq A Case Study: The Jabirian Corpus Panel V: M ineralogy and o th er topics C hair‫ ؛‬P rofessor R oshdi R ashed ?rofessor Iraj Afshar JavâherNâme-ye Nezâmi, the oldest Persian text on gems, compiled in 592/1195-6 Professor Ihsan Abass Editing a Geographical Text: A Case Study (Professor Chabbouh read the text on behalf of Professor Abass) P anel VI: Botany and A gronom y Chair: P rofessor Iraj A fshar Professor Mauro Zonta Averroes' Lost Treatise On Plants P r o f e s s o r Ibrahim Ben Murad Reading and Editing the Tetroinology of Botany Sum m ing up and R esolutions: C hair: Sheikh A hm ad Zaki Yamani Professor Yusuf Ibish The Revivifieation ofthe Earth Sciences Professor Roshdi Rashed _______________________ Summing u p _____________________________

AL-FURQAN ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER V

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S N O M A N UL HAQ A Case Study: The Jabirian Corpus T h e large body o f m anu scrip ts o f alch em ica l, m etaphysieal, and religio-political writings attributed to Jâbir ibn H a y y ^ - the corpus Jabirianum - presents a set o f problems and challenges that are unique in Arabic textual sch olarsh ip . A form idable ch allen ge, for exam p le, com es from the enorm ously w ide scope o f these writings - in their subject matter they range from c h e m ic a l p ro ce sse s and artificial gen eration to c o s m o lo g y and m e ta p h y sic s, from s c ie n tific m ethodology and experimental procedures to astrology and m agic, and from philosophy, mathematics, and lo g ic to e s c h a to lo g y , p o litic s and alp hab etical m y sticism . Then, there is this daunting problem o f m aking sen se o f the technical vocabulary o f these writings - a problem further compounded by the lack o f scholarly agreement concerning the dates or authenticity o f Jabirian treatises. Third, a peculiar and, in practice, in s u r m o u n t a b le d iffic u lty is p o sed by Jjabir’s= execu tion o f the principle o f what he ‫ةء‬11‫ة‬ ‫ آ س ا‬،‫ ‘ل‬a l-'ilm , the p rin cip le o f D isp ersion o f K now ledge -know ledge was to be dispersed all over the body o f a vast corpus like pieces o f a jigsaw puzzle. Finally, the modern editor o f Jabirian manuscripts is confronted by an irritating lack o f linguistic uniformity and substantive consistency in the Jabirian corpus - and this makes the editorial onus unusually heavy. T h is paper elaborates on these issues and points to possib le m ethodological constructions in order to make sen se o f this powerful and fateful body o f medieval Arabic scientific literature.

Y U S U F IB IS H The R evivification ٠٢ the Earth Sciences A s w e stand on the threshold o f the 21st Century, it ‫؛‬.‫؟‬ in stru ctive to note the con cern s voiced by m any M uslim scholars about 'geographic illiteracy'. The urge to 'do som ething about this' can be traced back to co n cern s about the M uslim countries' ability to com pete in the global econom y and in military affairs w h ile they su ffer from an astonishing degree o f ignorance about the rest o f the world. There is a grow in g recognition that our w ell-being is related to global markets, international political developm ents, environmental issues, to the em ergence o f computer and telecom m unications technologies. The scien tific revolution that reshaped Earth Sciences in the second half o f the 20th Century was so sudden, co m p lete and co m p ellin g that it has becom e an exam ple o f a scientific paradigm shift. A result o f all the ab ove has been an increased aw areness o f the need to revive the Earth Sciences so that they may occupy their rightful and necessary place in the educational system s o f Muslim countries.

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E K M E L E D D IN IH S A N O G H L U Preliminary Notes on Geographical MSS in Ottoman Scientific Literature The Ottoman scientific literature o f geography is a unique combination o fth e ongoing tradition o f Islamic geography and, at the sam e time, the beginning o f a new tradition o f European geography. The literature is com posed o f a large number o f MSS dispersed among big and small collections o f Oriental MSS all over the world. It reveals important contributions in both traditions by Ottoman scholars. This paper w ill analyse these contributions and report on a study made in the series o f the Ottoman Scientific Literature compendia. The paper w ill include results o f anlyses and exam ples o f the developm ent o f this literature.

REGIS M O R E LO N Geography and Astronomy Ptolem ee, le grand astronome de langue grecque au deuxi£me s i^ le de notre ere, avait p u b ic plu،sieurs ouvrages d’astronomie pure, et un grand ouvrage de g^ grap h ie. Les Arabes, ‫ ة‬partir du neuv^m e s^ cle, ont repris ses travaux, mais ils ont inclus en partie retude de la terre dans leurs ouvrages d-’astronomie. Vers le milieu du neuvi£me s i^ le , ‫ف‬Baghdad, c ’est alFarghânî, ٩٧‫ ؛‬a co m p o se le prem ier ouvrage synthethique a ce sujet, et les autres astronomes ont, dans leur m a jo r ity su iv i ce m o d ^ e dans la co m p o sitio n de leurs grands t r a i l s . C ’est ce mouvement que nous etudierons a ^ar،‫؛‬r de.‫ ؟‬oeuvres de quelques grands auteurs.

R O SH D I R A S H E D Earth’s Mathematical Sciences The geographical expansion o f the Islamic World, the foundation o f many urbanised centres, etc,, as well as a new understanding o f the relation ship s betw een know ledge ( ,ilm ) and action {'amal) initiated a new class o f mathematical disciplines, som e o f which were m ainly concerned with the earth. W hat are these disciplines? How are they perceived by bibliographers o f Arabic manuscripts? And, what is the state o f research? These are the main questions raised in this paper.

AL-FURQAN ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER

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JAN JUST WITKAM

٥٢ Witkam

took as his theme the works o f professional Arab geographers, eoncentrating particularly on the work o f M ichael Jan de G oeje (1 8 3 6 -1 9 0 9 ) who published many critically edited Arabic texts during his long and distinguished career. H im self a product o f an era when there was both considerable interest in the M iddle Eastern world in his native- Holland and development o f a rigorous discipline o f textual analysis in European scholarship, this em in‫ ؟‬nt Dutch scholar edited many geographic works including the Library o f Arabic Geographers, a series o f eight volumes.

A Y M A N F U A D S A Y Y ID Unpublished Texts ٠/ Geography B esid es their pure geographical content, Arabic geographical texts are a principal source for the study o f the literature, the history and the administration o f the Arab Islam ic civ ilisa tio n , © rientalists have been interested in the main texts o f Arab geography (regional - mathematical - classical - linguistic - travels) since the beginning o f the N ineteenth Century, and yet there important texts that have not yet been published such as the MSS o f Ibn Zawlaq, al-MuhabH, Ibn WasTf S ^ h , al-A sw ani, al-Bakri, Ishaq ibn a l- ^ s a y n , al‘Abdri, al-'Uthrl, al-Qada'i, Ibn al-Jay^n, al-Witwat al-K utubî, Ibn Fadl Allah al-'U m arl, Ibn Iyas and others. In publishing geographical texts during the last century and at the beginning o f this century no scien tific m eth od olgy w as fo llo w e d . T exts w ere m ostly published without commentary or scholarship. Some recently published M SS only underline the need for new, scholarly editions.

M AURO ZONTA A verroes’ Lost Treatise ٠On Plants’ Among the few ‘theoretical’ texts on botany written in Arabic during the M iddle A ges, there is A verroes’ ‘Book o f Plants’. The only evidence o f its existence was, until now, an auto-quotation found in A verroes’ m edical treatise, the ‘C o llig et’. A ccording to this quotation, Averroes’ ‘On Plants’ was devoted, among others, to such subjects as plants’ tastes, sm ells and colours. In Shem Tov Ibn Falaquera’s philosophical-scientific en cyclop aed ia in H ebrew, ‘The O pinions o f the P hilosop hers’, there are tw o chapters d evoted to botanical subjects and put under the name o f Averroes. One o f them is m ostly devoted to a treatment o f the tastes o f plants. T his paper g iv e s an E nglish translation and analysis o f such a treatment, showing that it m ight correspond to the relevant passage o f Averroes’ lost work ‘On Plants’.

AL-FURQAN ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDA TION NEWSLETTER V

al-Furqan news.

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P u b lic L ectu res In order to strengthen its lin k s w ith th o se w h o are interested in the A rab-Islam ic heritage and culture, the Foundation has inaugurated a series o f public lectures, held at E agle H ouse. T he lectures draw on to p ics that co n n e c t the Isla m ic h erita g e w ith the c o n cern s o f contem porary so ciety , such as spiritual and intellectual issu es in the M uslim w orld. F o llo w in g is an account o f recent lectures:

P r o f e s s o r T a r if K h a lid i, ( $ ‫؛‬٢ T hom as A dam s Professor o f Arabic and Director o f the C entre o f M id d le Eastern S tu d ies at C am bridge U n iv ersity ), C hrist in the Islam ic C ultural T radition, 25th February 1999.

H E Sheikh A hm ad Zaki Y am ani p resided over a sem inar on Human R ights, 2 6th, 27،h & 28th April 1999.

P rofessor R osh d i Rashed (C N R S P aris U n iv e r sity 7 " S c ie n c e in Islam C lassical M odernity", 26th June 1999.

P rofesso r Ibrahim Chabbouh, ,E lly Examples of Art, Architecture and C alligraphy in the Islam ic West" . 7th October 1998

P rofesso r Y u su f Ibish, organised a sym p osiu m to celebrate the C entenary o f the influential bi-m onthly periodical Al-Manâr , founded in 1898 by M uham m ad R a s ^ d Ri^a. F iv e leading sch olars o f m odern Islam ic history ‫؛‬a r tic ip a te d . The first panel, w h ich w as chaired by HE S heikh A hm ad Zaki Y am ani, con sisted o f papers by Professor Ibish on "The L ife & T im es o f R a s ^ d Rida" and P rofessor Y ahya M ichot (G xford U niversity) on "The Influence o f Ibn T aym iyyah on Al-Manar". In the secon d panel, for w h ich P ro fesso r Ibish w a s in the chair, P ro fesso r Y asushi K osugi (K yoto U n iversity) spoke about "The Study o f the Islam ic W orld in Japan and the Importance o f Al-M anar". He w as fo llo w e d by Dr N adia A buZahra (G xford U n iversity) w h o gave a paper on "The F ataw a o f A l-M an ar". T h e paper in the last panel, chaired by Dr Kama! Arafat N abhan, w as delivered by P r o fe sso r B a sim M u sa lla m (C a m b rid g e and the A m erican U niversity o f B eirut) en titled " A sp ects o f M odernity in A 1-Mana f . 3rd D ecem ber 1998.

'‫ئ‬

P r o f e s s o r A n n e m a r ie S c h im m e l g a v e the first lecture o f the M illen n iu m : "The Poets' G eography, 15th February 2000.

P rofessor Y u s u f Ibish, D ir ec to r -G e n e r a l al-F urqan F o u n d a tio n , C onstitutional Theory", 10th April 2 0 0 0

" M u slim

H E Sheikh Ahm ad Zaki Y am ani "The D isco v ery o f the H ouse o f Khadija, the Prophet's Marital Hom e", 1 ‫ا‬th May 2 0 0 0 .

AL-FURQAN ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER

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Forthcoming Events LECTURES

The Millennial Anniversary

Professor Annemarie Schimmel will deliver a lecture on Images o f Animals in Islamic Culture. (28th February 2 ‫ ه‬0 ‫( ا‬. P rofessor Ibrahim C habbouh w ill address the Foundation on The A rt and Significance o f Islamic Cuisine (date to be announced).

Thabit ibn Qurrah

p A bgrall Thabit ibn Qurrah on Conic Sections

Professor Ekm eleddin Ihsanoğlu is to speak on the subject o f Ottoman Science between the Islamic T radition and European Tradition (date to be announced).

B urnett

Thabit ibn Qurrah’s Astrological Works in Latin

I C habbouh Information on the topic HE the Chairman has chosen for his Annual Leeture and the date will be announced in due course.

Al-Şâbi’ah in Baghdad in the Third Century AH A z

٥٧٢ ‫؛‬

Baghdad in the Third Century AH

C A T A L O G U IN G

C O U R SE

A specialised course for cataloguers o f Islamic MSS w ill be held in M orocco this summer. It will be held in Rabat, in co-operation with the National Library o f Rabat under the Directorship o f Mr Ahmad Tewfiq and will take place during June and July. The course is fully financed and will accommodate up to 30 participants. It is primarily for Cataloguers based in Africa. Priority will be given to candidates who have responsibility for or access to collections o f Islamic MSS. A thoorough know ledge o f Arabic is a requirement.

FO R T H C O M IN G

CONFERENCE

The Foundation's Conference ٧١ and Conference VII will be held on "The Islamic Manuscript Tradition in the Human and Social Sciences". Topics will include H istory, Ju risp ru dence, L in g u istic s, P o litic a l Thought, Psychology and Sociology.

B E lm absout ]Thabit ibn Qurrah’s Book on Statics [al-Qarastoun s

G unduz

Society and Culture in Harran during the Tim e o f Thabit ibn Qurrah

‫ ه‬Gutas Translations from Greek to Arabic

C Houzel Thabit ibn QurTah and the Theory o f Parallel Lines

H Kennedy The Caliphate and Scholarship in ،‫؛‬١٠Early Abbasid Period

E K nobloch The Trigonometry o f Thabiy ibn Qurrah in Latin

T L ^y The Translations o f Thabit ibn Qurrah in Hebrew

R M orelon Astronomy

2001

S Y M F O S IU M

A sym posium w ill be held on the m illennial anniversary o f Thabit ibn Qurrah on 2nd and 3rd N ovem ber. The tw o-day programme is detailed below.

AL-FURQAN ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDA TION NEWSLETTER ٧

R Rashed Thabit ibn Qurrah, Mathematician and Philosopher

M T ardieu The Syriac Texts o f Thabit ibn Qurrah

‫دا‬

al-Furqan news.

Award P rofessor Ramadan S esen has b ecom e the first scholar to be aw arded al-Furqan Foundation's "Award for the Study o f Islam ic M anuscripts." T he A w ard w a s esta b lish e d by a d e c isio n o f the F oundation's B oard o f Experts in 1996 to recig n ise ex cep tio n a l work in the study and/or ca ta lo g u in g o f Isla m ic M an u scrip ts. L ast y ear it w a s g iv e n to Professor S esen in recognition o f his important work in the study o f Islam ic H istory and particularly for his co n trib u tion to the c a ta lo g u in g o f m an u scrip ts in A rabic, Turkish and Persian.

al-Furqan news.

T he award w as presented to P ro fesso r S esen by the Chairm an o f al-Furqan F ou n d ation , S h eik h A hm ed Zaki Yam ani at 7pm on Thursday ‫ ا‬١ M ay 2 0 0 0. P r o fe sso r S e se n has h ea d ed the D ep a rtm en t o f M anuscripts at the International R esearch C entre for Islam ic C ulture and Art (IR C IC A ) in Istanbul sin ce 1982. In his address at the Award cerem on y P rofessor Sesen sp o k e o f the im p ortan ce o f the b o o k in Isla m ic civ ilisa tio n . H e spoke o f the book as ‫ د‬m edium for the transm ission o f k n o w led g e and as an o b ject o f art and d iscu ssed the historical circum stan ces that have led to the su rvival o f so m any Islam ic M S S to the present day.

AL-FURQAN ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER

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Conservation Bulletin The Board o f Experts o f al-Furqan Foundation decided in a m eeting in 1996 to form a council within the stru cture o f th e F ou n d ation o f in d ep en d en t organisations working in the field o f conservation, to be called 'The al-Furqan Council for the Preservation o f the Recorded Heritage o f Islam'■ There would also be a com m ittee from the Board o f Experts consisting o f Professors Chabbouh, Ibish and Ihsanoğlu to organise the work o f the Council. A sub-Committee o f ‘The A l-F u rq ^ Council for the Preservation o f the Documented Heritage o f Islam’ met at a)-Furqan's W imbledon headquarters on the 19th o f June 1998 to discuss how to begin to implement the directions o f the Foundation’s Advisory Board relating to the conservation and preservation o f Islamic MSS. The C om m ittee recom m ended (and the Board later ap proved ) the esta b lish m en t o f a N ew sletter, specialising in the first instance in the m ethods o f Preventative Conservation. The first step towards the implementation o f this decision is the establishment o f a database containing information on all collections o f Islamic MSS across the world. In the summ er o f 2 0 0 0 the Foundation started com p ilin g the data-base relying on and updating information from its own World Survey o f Islamic Manuscripts.

Library The Library was founded by HE Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani in 1991. 1.T h e Collection The Library is intended to serve students o f the Islamic heritage, and specifically those undertaking research into Islamic Manuscripts. It houses a rich collection of b ib lio g ra p h ies, Arab and M u slim b io g ra p h ies (app roxim ately 1 4 ,5 0 0 v o lu m e s), ca ta lo g u es o f manuscript collections in 90 countries, and a diverse collection o f books in Islam ic studies, philosophy, science, history, art and Sufism, as w ell as the Arabic language and literature. The Library subscribes to 20 specialist periodicals. 2. Library Services: The Library Catalogue is accessible on computer and w ill soon be on the Internet. The Library allow s readers on-line access to the Internet and to som e Databanks and can provide a m icro-film serv ice for manuscripts. The Library holds microfilms and CD-ROM s for som e thousands o f manuscripts in the A rabic, ?ersian, Turkish, Bosnian and Indonesian languages.

In October 2000 it sent out a sample o fth e work carried out to a number o f experts in the field. They came back with very positive responses and som e very useful suggestions for modifications and additions.

Cataloguing

To date the data-base com prises entries for som e 300 collections in 12 countries.

Al-Furqan Foundation has now published a total o f 35 catalogues and handlists o f co llectio n s o f Islam ic Manuscripts across the world. (S ee 'Fublications' for details.)

Imaging

W e are currently running cataloguing projects in libraries in Bulgaria, Burkina Fasso, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Niger, Pakistan, Palestine, Tatarstan, Uzbekistan and others.

The Foundation continues with its imaging o f MSS in: 1. The Library o f al-Ghazi Husrev Beg in Sarajevo. It has now acquired more than 5,000 MSS on microfilm and more than 200 on CD-ROM . The collection is currently being catalogued and will soon be accessible to readers. 2. Indonesia. It has now acquired 700 MSS. 3. The Library o f Upsala in Sweden. It has now acquired 170 MSS.

AlL-FURQAN ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER ٧

World news...

World News M elcom International M elcom International's 22nd annual Conference was held in V enice from M onday ^2 May to W ednesday 24 May 2000. Lecture session s took place in the Aula M agna o f the University, in Ca'Dolfm. Lectures were delivered on the follow ing topics: H ushang A'lam : ‘An A lm ost Unknown M agnificent M anuscript (1 0 3 8 /1 6 2 9 ) Kept in the Library o f the Form er R oyal P alace in Tehran: a Manuscript o f Mehran b. Mansur's Arabic Translation from Syriac o f the D e Materia M edica ofD ioscorid es’; Joan Aliprand : ‘The U nicode standard, Version 3.0: Content, D esign principles and Library Applications’; Heather Bleaney: ‘The Inexorable Rise o f Periodical Publishing;’ C atherine Fauveaud : ‘Le Proche-G rient dans les collections des bibliotheques du C ol^ ge de France’; A nita K eizers : ‘C o-operation between International Libraries in Cairo;’ W olf-D ieter Lem ke : ‘The Libraries o f the German Griental Society in Beirut and Istanbul’; © razgozel M achaeva : ‘A ntichi codici dell' Istituto N azionale dei manoscritti del Turkmenistan; C andan N em lio g lu : M anuscript S tu dies in the Suleym aniye Library, Istanbul’; N ik o la j S erik o ff: ‘C a ta lo g u in g o f A n o n y m o u s Manuscripts’; A nnie Vernay-Nouri : ‘U ne edition de la G ^ g ra p h ie d'ldrisi sur cd-rom publi<‫؛‬e par la BN F ’; E lizab eth Vernon : ‘Issu es and G ptions in the Autom ation o f Hebrew and Arabic-Script Bibliographic Data’; Arnoud Vrolijk : N o Conscripts for the "Nizam": the 1850 Events in Aleppo as Reflected in Documents from the Syrian and Dutch National Archives’; Lutz W iederhold : ‘C o-operative Structures for the C o llectio n o f Internet R esou rces on and from the M iddle East’. M elcom International's 23rd annual Conference is to be held in Saint Petersburg from Monday 28 May to W ednesday 30 May 200 ‫ ا‬.

World news.

After more than 4 0 0 0 years o f developm ent o f the Pharaonic culture, the Greek dynasties, be£un with the Ptolem ies, made it possible for Alexandria to be the w orld ’s intellectual and com m ercial capital and metropolis. The Library they built there, in the fourth century BC, became the world’s first university with its c o lle§ e scholars including such fam ous names as Euclid, Erastosthenes, Heron and Archim edes. The §reat library, which also served as a publishing house, was built at the side o fth e museum. Anticipating our modern libraries in the way it was run, it had a catalogue o f all the works it possessed 700,000 o f listed and classified manuscripts already in the third century B € - and claim ed ‘legal deposit rights’, thereby being entitled to make a copy o f every book that entered the country. To mark the opening o f the new library in summer 2001, the UK Friends o fth e Alexandria Library and the British Library w ill publish a Limited Edition book entitled The Arabic Treasures ٠/ the British Library. The book w ill introduce 32 o f the m ost important manuscripts from the British Library’s 14,000 Arabic manuscripts which have now been reproduced for the first time, on m icrofiche, in collaboration with the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh. They have been selected for their importance, their influence and their beauty. T hese cover the scientific disciplines in which the Alexandrian scholars led the world and culminate in Arabic masterpieces in the Qur’anic sciences, the Hadith and Fiqh. Som e feature history, m ysticism and the arts. Together, they show how the Islamic civilisation linked the GraecoRoman world o f the Alexandria Library to Europe as it em erged from the Dark A g es. A lso , they w ill demonstrate Europe’s debt to Islam ic scholars and scientists

Through the sale o f the book, the UK Friends o f t he Alexandria Library will be able to raise sufficient funds ،‫ ه‬present a com plete m icrofiche collection o f the fourteen thousand manuscripts in the British Library to the new library of Alexandria. For further information on this project, contact: Friends o f the Alexandria Library, 61, Sedlescom be Road, London SW 6 IRE, or visit the website at w w w .go.to/foal.

FRANCE B ib liot^ q u e nationale de France

T he B ib lio th ‫ ؛‬que n a tio n a le de F ran ee has p u b lish ed th ree m ajo r co n trib u tio n s to the study o f m anuseripts during 2000:

EGYPT T h is spring, the new library o f Alexandria w ill be form ally opened by President Mubarak. This important project w ill create a universal modem public library as a centre o f culture, science and academic research. T he library w ill p rovid e both the national and international com m unities o f scholars and researchers w ith unique co llectio n s and facilities focu ssin g on A lex a n d ria n , E g y p tia n , an cien t and m ed iev a l civilisation s as w ell as on contemporary disciplines. It w ill also have valuable collection s o f scien ce and tec h n o lo g y resource m aterials to help the SOCİOecon om ic and cultural developm ent studies on Egypt and the region. 16

Manuel de codicologie des manuscrits en Venture arabe: collection ’6tudes et recherches.

This invaluable book com prises as its authors François D eroche, A nnie Berthier, MarieGenevieve Guesdon, Bernard Guineau, Francis Richard, Annie Vernay-Nouri, Jean Vezin and Muhammad Isa Waley. ١ Scribes et manuscrits ‫ الد‬Moyen-Orient and

‫و‬.

Manuscrits, xylographes, estampages.

AL-FURQAN ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER

World news...

IRAN

World news...

: EVENTS

Seminar on ‘Cataloguing the Islamic M SS’ A seminar on ‘Cataloguing the Islamic M ss’ was held in Tehran under the auspices o f the Markaz-i Nashr-i Mîrâş-i Maktüb on 3 May 2000, on the occasion o f the 13‫ ؛‬International Tehran Book Fair. There were three lectures in the seminar: 1. Afymad-i M unzavi, ‘Cataloguing the Persian MSS”, 2. A ^m âd-R eza R ahim i-R isseh, ‘C ataloguing the Islamic MSS in the World. A Survey o f (un-) catalogued M ss’, and 2. A li-i Şadra’TI Khü’î, ‘C ataloguing the Islamic MSS in Iran and its Problems’.

N e w C atalogues o f Islam ic M ss /.

: PUBLICATIONS IN THE FIELD

OF ISLA M IC M SS

‫د‬.

A yinih-yi M îraş/M irror o f Heritage, Vol. 2, Nos 3 & 4 , quarterly journal o f book review in the field o f Islam ic MSS and text editing published by Markaz-i Nashr-i Mîraş-i Maktüb

N e w B o o k s in the F ield o f Islam ic M ss

‫ا‬.

Muqaddamih’-Î bar Üşül wa Qavâ'id-i FihristNigârî dar Kutub-i K hattî [An Introduction ‫؛‬٠ the Principle o f Manuscripts Cataloguing], by

Fihrist-i Nuskhihâ-yi K atti-i M arkaz-i Dâ'irat al-M a'ârifiI B uzurg-i İslâm î, M ujallad-i Yekum: Geanjlneh-yi Ihdâ’i Khândân-i Sultân 'A ll S u ltâ n ı/Catalogue of t he Manuscripts ٠/ the Library of t he Centre for the Great Islamic E n cyclopaedia, ٧٠/. /; The C ollection Presented by the Family o f Soltan-Ali Soltani,

Fihrist-i Nuskhihâ-yi Khattı-i Kitâbkhânih-yi M ajlisil Shürâ-yi İslâm î / The Manuscripts Catalogue ٥/ the Islamic R epublic ٥/ Iran Parliament Library , V o l.23, part 2 by 'A. Ha’irl, Tehran: Kitâbkhânih-yi Majlis-i Shürâyi İslâmî. This volum e is devoted to the 63 MSS (715 titles) o f the late M. s . Tabâabâ'î that were devoted to the library.

Fihrist-i Nuskhihâ-yi K attl-i Kitâbkhânih-yi imâm Şâdiq-i Q azvln / A Catalogue o f the Manuscripts in the Imam Sadeq Library in Qazvin, ٧٠/. l b y M Tayyâr-i Marâghî, Qazvln. 524 MSS have been described in this

Fihrist-i Nushhihâ-yi Khattî-i Markaz-i Ihyâ’-i M irâş-i Islâm, ٧٠١ I, by Ahmad-i HusaynT-i

Fihristil Nuskhihâ-yi 'Akşî-i Markaz-i Ihyâ'-i Mîrâş-i Islâm, Vol. I, by s . Ja'far-i HusaynT-i

‫ا‬. Nâmrh-yi Nshârestân, An Iranian International Journal for Islamic Manuscripts Research, Vol. 1, No

volüme.

Ishkivari, Qum.

Ishkivarî and s Şadiq-i Husaynl-i Ishkivari, Qutn. Markaz-i Ihyâ’-i MTrâş-i Islâm (The Isla m ic H eritage R ev iv a l C en tre) was established in 1996 as a centre for gathering M SS and m icrofilm s. C ataloguing o f these M.S.‫ ؟‬and m icrofilm s is done and the first volumes been printed. 7.

F ihristil N usakhil K a ttl-i Kitâbkhânih-yi Mİ1ITİI Jumhürî-i İslâm î Iran, Vol. 16: Kutub/' 'Arabî / A Catalogue o f t h e ' ' ;٨ the National Library o f Iran, V o l.16, A rabic Manuscripts, Hablb-Allah 'A zlm l, Tehran.

ITALY From 4-6 October 20 0 0 the U niversity o f B ologna hosted the Third C onference on C o d ico lo g y and Paleography o f Middle-Eastern Manuscripts.

M. Vafadâr-i Murâdî., Tehran: Kitâbkhâneh, Müzih va Markaz-i Asnâd-i M ajlis-i Shürây-i İslâmî. AL-FURQAN ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER ٧

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by A hm ad-i M u n zavl, Tehran: M arkaz-i D â’irat al-M a‘ârif-i Buzurg-i İslâm î. This catalogue describes 528 MSS (1,250) titles in this library containing som e 1,730 titles.

J o u rn a ls 1, p u b lish ed by th e Library, M useum and D ocum entation Centre o f the Islam ic Consultative A ssem b ly. This issu e contains articles on ‘The Concepts o f Copy-Editing in Persian Poetry’ by Najlb Mâyil Hiravi, ‘The Technical Features o f Lithographed Books in the NâsirT Period (1264-1313/1874-1895) by S hıvâ Küklân, ‘The Shâh Nâmeh o f Firdowsi: The Florence National Library Manuscripts (614/1217) by Barât Zanjânî, ‘Jawâm i'-i Ahkâm al-Nujüm o f alBayhaqT ( d .5 6 5 /1 1 6 9 ): A N o ta b le B o o k on A strological Rules and the S ociology o f Persia’ by 'Arif Nawshâhî, ‘Chester Beatty Library o f Ireland and Islamic Manuscripts’ by A^mad-Rezâ RahTmT-Risseh and ‘Colophons in Islamic and Western Traditions with Particular Reference to Persian Colophons by Hasan-i Hâshim î-i Mınâbâd.

Fihris Makhtütât M aktabat ÂI-İ ‘Usfür Büshihr by H. Â1-İ Jumay' and A.

al-Marhüh, Qum (in Arabic). This catalogue describes briefly 539 Arabic and Persian Mss in Büshehr, a seaport in southern Iran.

2000.

IRAN

Hunar-i Kâghaz-Burî dar Iran [The ٨٢‫ ؛‬o f Paper Cutting/Paper Cut-Out in Iran] by Yahhâ Zuka', Tehran: Farzân Riiz.

Pre-Seminar on Islamic Manuscripts The Pre-Seminar on Islamic Manuscripts was held for the first tim e in Tehran under the auspices o f the Library, M useum and Docum entation Centre o f the Islam ic Consultative A ssem bly on 21 and 22 May There were 44 lectures in the pre-seminar grouped into eight main subject areas: preservation and restoration, docum ents, text editing, librarianship information service, the teaching o f cod icology and cataloguing, text illumination, codicology and cataloguing.

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JO R D A N A l al B eit Foundation is currently preparing T h e

Com prehensive Catalogue o f the Arabic and Islamic H eritage and has already published four volum es, the titles o f two o f which are: A l Fiqh wa usuluhu and Fihris as-Sira an-Nabawiya alSharifa. This catalogue w ill be the largest Al al-Beit has yet published, a total o f ‫ ول‬volum es, including in d ices. T he Foundation intends to publish one volum e every 3 months. T he Foundation has also already started to produce two other catalogues: A C atalogue o f M athem atics and M edicine and A Catalogue ofH istory and Geography.

K U W A IT T he H eritage M anuscript and D ocum ent Center has been very a ctiv e, p ub lish in g a large number o f catalogues and edited texts, for exam ple. The Arabic

and Islamic Manuscript Benefit Value and Preservation by Muhammad bin Ibrahim al-Shaibani, President o f the Heritage Manuscript and D ocum ent C enter,I999. T h e C enter has also run an exten sive programme, m icrofilm ing many M SS.

PAKISTAN M uhammad Shah Bukhari has recently contacted AlFurqan Foundation to report that he has com pleted three catalogues: ‘Catalogue o f Illuminated Manuscripts in the N ation al M useum o f Pakistan, K arachi’, ‘C atalogue o f Hadith and Fiqh Manuscripts in Arabic in the National M useum o f Pakistan, Karachi’ and the ‘Catalogue o f Quranic Manuscripts (Urdu/Arabic) in the N ational M useum o f Pakistan, Karachi’. A ll three catalogues w ill be published shortly.

TURKEY 2000 saw the twentieth anniversary o fth e formation o f IRCICA - the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture - by the O rganisation o f the Islam ic Conference. IRCICA is located in part o f the historical Y ildiz Palace in Be§ikta§ and its twentieth anniversaty w as marked in Istanbul in October 2000 during the Sixteenth S ession o f the O IC’s Standing Comm ittee fo r E c o n o m ic and C o m m ercia l C o-o p era tio n (COM CEC). The principal commemoration, however, took place in Malaysia at the Academy o f Language ahd Literature, Kuala Lumpur, one o f the cultural and scholarly institutions with which IRCICA has enjoyed fruitful <‫؛‬o-operation since the 1980s. IR C IC A has a lso ch o se n to mark its m any achievem ents in an exhaustive study o fth e institution’s contribution over the last twenty years to the study o f Islam ic culture and civilisation and its promotion o f mutual understanding between Muslim and other world cu ltu res: IR CICA 1980 - 2 0 0 0 introduced by E km eleddin Ihsanoğlu and com piled and edited by Zeynep Durukal Abuhusayn. Professor Ihsanoğlu, the institution’s Director General since its inception, paints a fascinating picture o f the developm ent o f IRCICA’s strategy and the paths it has trod to achieve its aims. 18

AL-FURQAN ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER ٧

al-Furqan news..

the hou se’s se n sitiv e restoration, and on the successful and sym pathetic blend o f eastern and western sty les in its decoration. In addition to v iew in g the building, visitore learned about the work o f the Foundation and m any asked to be put on the m ailin g list.

Local Interest Groups M any W im bledon residents have a strong sen se o f local identity, priding them selves on their k now ledge o f their local environm ent. A s the occupant o f on e o f the m o st beautifal buildings in W im bledon V illage, Al-Furqan Foundation has over the years received many requests from local in،erest groups to v isit Eagle House. During 1999 and 2 0 0 0 parties b elon gin g to the f^)ndon Appreciation S ociety, the W im bledon So ciety, the Friends o f Cannizaro Park and the W est W im bledon Society all v isited the F ou n d ation’s headquartere and were warm ly w elcom ed. They were equally keen to leam about the b u ild in g ’s past and the present rctivities o f the Foundation and were delighted to leam that Eagle H ouse was n ow d e v o t« l to the noble mm o f preserving the heritage o f Islam ic manuscripts.

The Wimbledon Society In June 1998 the hospitality o f the Foundation was extended to membere o f the W im bledon S o ciety at the end o f their tour o f W im bledon H igh Street.

Queen Fabiola of the Belgians On the 1 1th o f A pril 2 0 0 0 , Q u een F ab iola o f the B elg ia n s visited al-Furqan F oundation. Her M ajesty spent a day at the Foundation, in the com pany o f the C hairm an. S h e v isite d the Library, ex a m in e d the p u b lic a tio n s, m et w ith the sta ff and toured the Foundation's headquarters at Eagle House.

Community Events The Foundation considere that v isits by the public are very important in pub licisin g the work o f al-Furqan and in strengthening links w ith the local com m unity.

London Open House Weekend 1 8 th 1 9

‫ ه‬th

The West Wimbledon Society On 21 st April 1999 sixteen m em bers o f the W est W im bledon S ociety were given a tour o f E agle H ouse and refesh m en ts.

Gther visits The Foundation has w elcom ed interest from local sch o o ls and adult education co lleg es, providing spontaneous hospitality for three ju n ior school groups w h o se teachers were taking them on a historical tour o f W im bledon and w elcom ing groups o f art students fascinated to see the interior o f E agle House. In October 1999 Mr Jon C atleugh, the Secretary o f the D e Morgan Foundation, and h is w ife cam e to admire the fireplace tiles in the Sem inar R oom by W illiam de Morgan (see below ).

S € p te m b € r 1 9 9 9

Eagle H ouse, the headquarters of Al-Furq^r Foundation, is a Grade II officially listed building and the second oldest hou se in W im bledon. B u ilt in 1613 by Robert B ell, one o f the foundere o f the East India C om pany, it still has many o f its original features, including tiles and plastenvork ceilin g s. Sadly neglected by the tim e it was acquir«! by the Yamani Cultural ‫ ه‬Charitable Foundation in 1989, it was restor«J and refurbish،*‫ ؛‬in an exten sive programme between 1989 and 1991. T he Foundation has conserved the fabric o f the building for ftiture generations. Septem ber 1999 was the third tim e E agle H ouse had participat«J in the Open H ouse schem e, a nationwide cultural initiative in w hich bu ild in gs o f historical and/or architectural interest w hich are not normally accessible to the public open their doors. As before, there was a great deal o f enthusiasm and interest shown by the 550 visitors. They frequently com m ented on AL-FURQAN ISLAMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER ٧

H isto rical

Research

The Foundation also hosted sm all groups o f visitors who were address ‫ س‬by the local historians, N onnan P lastow and Richard M ilward. Mr M ilward has also prepared a booklet on the history o f E agle House, which is to be published by the Foundation in 2001. T h is draws together the varied strands o f the h o u se’s history, whether as sum ptuous private hom e, boarding school for h«:tic boys, look ou t for bom b ‫ ة‬٤٧٦٦age in the Second World War or cultural foundation. The booklet should prove to be a valuable resource for the local historian and resident alike. In October 1999 Jon C atleugh, Secretary o f the de Morgan So ciety , visited the house in order to study the Victorian fireplace tiles in the Sem inar R o o m . He pronounced them to be a very rare exam ple o f the work o f W illiam de Morgan, a m em ber o f the Arts and Crafts M ovem ent who was very influenced by the lustre work o f M iddle Eastern tilemakere.

‫وا‬

SUMMER COURSE IN CATALOGUING Al-Furqan Foundation w ill hold its 4th Course for Cataloguers o f Islam ic M anuscripts in the summer o f 20 0 1 . The course w ill be held in Rabat, M orocco, in c o - o p e r a tio n w ith the National Library o f Rabat, and w ill run for 5 weeks during June and July. The course is fully financed and is open to cataloguers and librarians from African countries who w ork in institutions holding collections o f Islam ic M anuscripts. E xcellent know ledge of written Arabic is a n ecessity. For further information write (in Arabic) to : 'Cataloguing Cotirse', al-Furqan Islam ic Heritage Foundation, Eagle H ouse, High Street, London SW 19 5EF. S T A T E M E N T O F M IS S IO N Al-Furqân Islamic Heritage Foundation has the g e ^ a l brief to care for Islamic Manustfipts. The Strategic Aims of the Foundation are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

to to to to to

identify and describe existing collations of Islamic MSS catalogue those M SS where needed help in the preservation o f Islamic MSS ‫ ب أ ل) ء « ) ء ل‬$ ‫ ة‬using up-to-the-minute technology publish critical editions o f selected Islamic texts

The Foundation realises these strategic aims through: Surveys o flslam ic MSS <»lfc‫؛‬ctions Cataloguing Islamic MSS collations Imaging Islamic MS s roltections or individual MS s Preservation oflslam ic M SS collations or individual MSS Publishing critiral editions ofim{»rtant texts Conferences on Islamic M SS The Foundation promotes its work and its interests in Islamic culture generally and in the MS tradition specifically through: Public Lectures and Events Exhibitions An Annual Newsletter Community Connections The Foundation has also built up a library as a resource for students and scholars oflslam ic M SS. This Library should holds almost 80% of all published catalogues oflslam ic M SS. The Foundation has also undertaken to set up Training Courses for Catalogues and an Award for Scholady Achievement in the fie^ oflslam ic M SS.