Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, London
Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation was established in London in 1988 by the Yamani Cultural and Charitable Foundation. It is housed in a historic Jacobean manor: Eagle House. The Foundation has as its aim the documentation and preservation of the Islamic written heritage. It is pursuing this aim principally through its work in surveying, cataloguing, editing and publishing Islamic manuscripts.
Islamic manuscripts are estimated to number three million, covering subjects as diverse as the Quran, Prophetic traditions, jurisprudence, logic and philosophy, as well as mathematics, botany, biology, poetry and literature, and art and crafts. Nowadays these manuscripts are not the exclusive preserve of Arab and other Muslim countries, or even of countries with large Muslim minorities. Manuscripts are found extensively in Europe, the Americas, Japan, Australia and Africa. There is hardly a country that does not possess some manuscripts produced under the aegis of the Muslim civilisation.
This large and important resource is, tragically, in great danger of being damaged or even lost forever. Political conflict, social upheaval or merely natural causes - whenever and wherever there is a lack of resources essential for its maintenance and preservation, this heritage is in danger.
Al-Furqan Foundation is committed to mobilising every available expertise to preserve these manuscripts and to restore their content to the cultural mainstream.
THE LIBRARY
The Library was founded by HE Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani in 1991.
1. The Collection
The Library is intended to serve students of the Islamic heritage, and specifically those undertaking research into Islamic Manuscripts. It houses approximately 14,000 volumes: a rich collection of bibliographies, Arab and Muslim biographies, catalogues of manuscript collections in some 90 countries and a diverse collection of books in Islamic studies, philosophy, science, history, art and Sufism as well as Arabic language and literature.
The Library subscribes to 20 specialist periodicals.
2. Manuscript Holdings:
Although the Library does not collect manuscripts, it holds microfilms and CD-ROMs for some thousands of manuscripts in the Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Bosnian and Indonesian languages.
Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation
Eagle House, High Street, Wimbledon
London SW19 5EF
Email: info@al-furqan.com
Tel: +44 20 8944 1233
Fax: +44 20 8944 1633
Source: http://www.al-furqan.com/
