From the Chairman
Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation م
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Newsletter NUMBER EIGHT July 2003 CONTENTS
AI-Furqân Islamic Heritage Foundation is pleased to publish the eighth edition of its Newsletter, through which we continue to communicate with our readers, informing them of the Foundation’s activities, news and publications. It saddens me to report that al-Furqân has lost two distinguished luminaries of the Muslim world earlier this year: Professor Yusuf Ibish, the Foundation’s Director and a member of its Board of Experts, and Professor Annemarie Schimmel, a member of the Foundation’s Advisory Council and an active contributor to the Foundation’s work, as a lecturer and writer. Al-Furqân’s efforts continue in a number of fields to document the manuscript heritage of the Muslim world, including ^™ eying, c^ a lo g in g , preserving and photocopying manuscript collections around the world, as well as editing and publishing a number of them. ؛n ttas al-F^qân Foundation has over the ^ s t few ^ n th s carcied out many tasks that progressed its objectives. In the field of editing manuscripts, the Foundation has published the second س third volumes of a five-volume edition of al-Maqrizi's A l-M a w a iz wa alI'tibâr f i D ikr al-Hitat wa al-Athar. edited by Dr Ayman Fu’ad Sayyid. In cataloguing Islamic manuscripts, the Foundation has recently published four volumes o f the catalogue of manuscripts in Bosnia (volumes X, XI and XII, and a reprint of volume II). Alongside the cataloguing of the manuscripts in the Ghazi
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A w ard 15 ?ctffoTt^ofti'stiS^he C atalogu ing 6 manuscripts in cataChairm an’s A d d ress ا İQgues is complemented by the documentation work of copying the manu^om m u n tty E v en ts.......................... y scripts and making them available to C on servation 10 researchers. The Catalogue ٠/ Arabic
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en c y c lo p a e d ia 14 u mveTSity Library India, volume I, was ^ F ^ i l P a h a M u ş ^ a f . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I l also published recently. Furthermore, Forthcom ing E v en ts......................... 9 cataloguing ؟ ؛continuing in manycounب tries, including inaia. uzoeKisian. Foundation Structure and B oards.... 2 Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Bosnia, al-Furqan on the N et....................... 11 اه ل ج ي ؛Palestine, Egypt, Mali and H onou rs 17 Library ! ٠ ص, . . U D iiu anes س P ro file 16 Public L ectures P u blication s W orld N e w s
the field of surveying libraries of Islamic ؟؛adscripts around t^e world, ٦ ١ ٦ the Foundation has published the fourth د, final volume of the Arabic version of the W orld Survey, the English ver8 sion has been fully published. The survey covers Islamic manuscripts tnrougn6 out the world, held by ؛ndividuals, .18 libraries, and public and private cultural Jn
and academ ic institutions. B y com pleting this work, w e hope to provide those in volved with manuscript heritage with a tool for b ibliograp hic referen ce, thus helping to identify this heritage in its various locations, facilitating a ccess and use. The Foundation also continues to publish the series o f lectures it hosted over the past years. It published the lecture titled M usic in M uslim Civilisation, by Dr M uham m ad Şâlih a l-M a h d i, and Frofessor R oshdi R ashid’s Science in Islam and Classical Modernity. Al-Furqan also hosted several other lectures, an exhibition o f w atercolour paintings and a Y em eni m usic evening. In addition, the Foundation launched a w ebsite where browsers can read everything concerning al-Furqan’s activities. A pilot edition o f the Encyclopaedia ٠/ Makkah and Medinah has been published, adopting all the technical, editorial and production m ethods and procedures that it hopes to use in final production. The Foundation has made the edition available to a selection o f scholars, w h o se experience and com m ents w ill help us assess it. The Foundation’s Chairman has issued an edition o f the H oly Qur’an know n as the ‘Fadil Fasha Sharifovic Qur’an, w hose margins are em bellished w ith the text o f the seven recitations A s part o f its m ission and objectives, the Foundation has honoured P rofessors Şalâh a l-D ln al-M unajjid and Ihsan 'Abbâs, tw o distinguished scholars, innovative academ ic researchers and prominent editors, for their serv ices to Islam ic heritage and their efforts in collecting, cataloguing, preserving, editing, attributing, studying and publishing. In appreciation o f their contribution, they w ere presented with the F o u n d a tio n ’s Award at tw o cerem onies held in their honour. A lso, in the sam e area, the Foundation has published a Festschrift in honour o f Professor Şalâh al-D in al-Munajjid. The book contains a number o f articles written by Arab and western scholars, w ho are colleagu es and friends o f Frofessor al-M unajjid, covering various scholarly issues in w hich alMunajjid has been in volved , studied and written about. Al-Furqân Foundation, in carrying out these projects and in working to maintain a varied range o f activities, is endeavouring to be true to its purpose and working towards the achievem ent o f its objectives. The Foundation’s m anagem ent, consultants, experts, staff and supporters look forward to fulfilling its aspirations in the m any different field s o f preserving the M uslim heritage. Ahm ad Zaki Yamani Chairman, al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation