Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project
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The Ahlul Bayt Digital Library Project (Ahlul Bayt DILP), established in 1996, is a non-profit Islamic organization that features work from a group of volunteers operating throughout the world. It operates the website Al-Islam.org, whose primary objective is to digitize and present quality resources related to history, law, and society of the Islamic religion and its personalities, with particular emphasis on the Twelver Shi'ah Islamic school of thought. Al-Islam.org is a site which also serves as a means of introducing Islam to non-Muslims.[1]
Aims
The Ahlul Bayt DILP's aim is to encourage the research of Islam, and to facilitate propagation of knowledge to locations where such resources are not commonly or easily accessible. To cater to this objective, the Ahlul Bayt DILP is constantly expanding its digital library, which consists of over 4000 resources accessible for free.[2] The Ahlul Bayt DILP states that it also aims:
...to encourage research and enquiry which the use of technology facilitates. With Al-Islam.org, we attempt to present a balanced and accurate picture of Islam as it has been taught and practiced by the Most Noble Messenger Muhammad (s) and his family, the Ahlul Bayt (a). All reasonable attempts have been made to prevent inauthentic information from being carried on this site. However, we in no way can guarantee the absolute authenticity of all of the data and should not be held responsible for any errors herein. Furthermore, we do not necessarily endorse all external links from this site.[3]
History
Since its launch, Al-islam.org has proven to be one of the most authentic sources of Shi'a Islam information, and is notable for being the top site in Yahoo!'s list of Shia sites by popularity.[4]
Organization
The organization is a 501(c)(3) public charity,[2] and is made up of volunteers who contribute articles and/or digitized materials. The DILP and the Al-Islam.org site are supported by individual donors and well-wishers.
Ongoing projects
On-route to achieve a vast library with the best resource of Islamic knowledge, the Ahlul Bayt DILP team is currently working on various important projects.
Digital library
The free digital library consists of more than 800 resources in different languages. To further accommodate its users, the Ahlul Bayt DILP team has been working on various projects which give detailed information on a specific topic. Such projects include the Shiite Encyclopedia, the Event of Gadeer Khum project, and Tahrif (distortion) of Islamic texts.
While the majority of the texts currently available in the library are English translations, the DILP volunteers have taken up the task of providing texts in other languages like Spanish, Italian, Swahili, Arabic, Urdu and Gujarati.[5]
The digital library also includes full texts of Islamic books, written by both scholars and laymen. While it does not hold the actual copyrights on these digitized texts, permission from the copyright holders was taken in order to allow DILP and its volunteers to rectify material in terms of spelling, grammar, etc.
Sections of the digital library
The digital library is divided into different sections, which include:
- Belief & Creed
- Education & Society
- Quran & Hadith
- History & Politics
- Spirituality & Philosophy
- Laws & Worship
Multimedia gallery
The multimedia section of Al-islam.org has a large collection of audio/video resources. These are mainly Quran recitations, lectures, elegies, and supplications. It also has a picture gallery consisting of images of Islamic calligraphy and many important Islamic sites.
The Multilingual Quran
The Multilingual Quran section of the DILP is a searchable Quran with English translation as well as commentary from Agha Puya/S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali. It also includes multiple translations, and browsing by root-words and topics.[6]
Journal archives
This contains archived articles from scholarly journals such as Al-Seerat, Al-Tawheed, and Al-Thaqalayn.
The Event of Ghadir Khum project
This is a scholarly examination of the event where the Prophet Muhammad appointed Imam Ali as his successor. The study focuses on examining the chain of narrators and the tradition of Al-Ghadir.[7]
Islam in a Nutshell
This is a set of fact sheets, ready for distribution, which are available in numerous languages including Albanian, Bosnian, German, Swedish, and Thai.[8]
Alif-Bot
This is an informative Islamic robot which can give basic information about Islam.[9]
Islam Supplication Browser
This is a multilingual collection of Ad’iya and Ziaraat, categorized by source and date.[10]
Recognition
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Content of the library has been cited by many universities and academic institutions as a source for Islamic studies, such as the
- George Mason University[11]
- University of Cambridge[12]
- University of California Los Angeles [13]
- Columbia University[14] Australian National University[15][16]
- New York University[17]
- Duke University[18]
- Franklin & Marshall College[19]
- University of Michigan[20]
- State University of New York[21]
- University of Sheffield[22]
- University of Haifa[23]
- Utrecht University[24]
- Paideia Centre for Public Theology[25]
- University of Chicago[26]
- Western Kentucky University[27]
- The Middle East Information Network[28]
- Middle East Policy Council[29]
- Grand Valley State University[30]
- University of Melbourne[31]
- Vanderbilt University[32]
- Saint Anselm College[33]
- Humanitarian Resource Institute[34]
- University of St. Michael's College[35]
- National Library Board of Singapore[36]
- Oklahoma City University[37]
- California State University, Bakersfield[38]
- Michigan State University[39]
- Chaminade University[40]
- University of Texas of the Permian Basin[41]
- New England Institute of Technology[42]
- University of Pennsylvania[43]
- John M. Dawson Institute for Church State Studies[44]
- Florida Christian College[45]
- Westfield State University[46]
- National Humanities Center[47]
- University of Wisconsin–Madison[48]
- Northern Virginia Community College[49]
- University of Minnesota Duluth[50]
- University of Texas at Austin[51]
- Tel Aviv University[52]
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill[53]
- University of Miam,[54]
- University of Leeds[55]
- Abu Dhabi University[56]
- Bangor University[57]
- University of Georgia[58]
- Nyack College[59]
- University of London[60]
- Center for Research Libraries[61]
- The Missionary Society of St. Columban[62]
- University of California, San Diego[63]
- Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade[64][65]
- Elizabethtown College[66]
- Ohio University[67]
- Drexel University[68]
- Ghent University[69]
- Library of Congress[70][71]
See also
References
- ^ Sumaiya Hamdani (March 2003). "The Ahlul-Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project". George Mason University.
- ^ a b "Ahlul bayt digital islamic library project". JustGive.org.
- ^ "About Us". Al-Islam.org.
- ^ "Islamic Sects > Shia'ism". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 2006-12-07.
- ^ "Al-islam.org Free Library". Archived from the original on 2007-01-03.
- ^ "Multilingual Qur'an Project".
- ^ "Event of Ghadir Khumm".
- ^ "In a Nutshell (Factsheets in Many Languages)".
- ^ "AlifBot, The Muslim Robot". Archived from the original on 2012-07-17.
- ^ "Islamic Supplication Browser".
- ^ "Ahlul-Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project". Chnm.gmu.edu. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
- ^ http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/library/electronic-resources/e-books Archived January 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Islam - Middle Eastern Studies - Research Guides at UCLA Library". Guides.library.ucla.edu. 2013-12-09. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
- ^ https://archive.is/20120710224835/http://library.columbia.edu/indiv/area/cuvl/middle_east_studies/religion/islam.html. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
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- ^ "Asian Studies WWW Monitor - ANU College of Asia and the Pacific - ANU". Coombs.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
- ^ http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/program/neareast/test/8_me_resources.html
- ^ "Duke University > Center for the Study of Muslim Networks > Links". Duke.edu. 2003-04-02. Archived from the original on 2011-08-05. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
- ^ "Franklin & Marshall College Library: Research Resources: Class Guides". Library.fandm.edu. 2001-09-11. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
- ^ "Electronic Text Collections - Near Eastern Studies Library Resources - Research & Technology Guides at University of Michigan Library". Guides.lib.umich.edu. 2013-12-10. Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
- ^ "jmmh". Albany.edu. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
- ^ "List of digital library projects - Wikiana". 13 July 2012. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012.
- ^ "Middle East". Lib.haifa.ac.il. 2007-01-14. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
- ^ "Internetbronnen - Library - Utrecht University". Uu.nl. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233209/http://paideiacentre.ca/story/theology-resources-online. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
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- ^ http://libguides.wku.edu/content.php?pid=191211&sid=1691017 Archived 2012-02-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20061222061948/http://www.mideastinfo.com/Religion/islam.htm. Archived from the original on December 22, 2006. Retrieved December 30, 2006.
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- ^ "Recommended Websites - Middle East Studies - Subject Guides at Grand Valley State University". Libguides.gvsu.edu. 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
- ^ http://cils.law.unimelb.edu.au/index.cfm?objectID=294D8923-5056-B405-51596AEC35365365&Level2=31
- ^ http://libstaff.library.vanderbilt.edu/Divinity/reference/ref_web_sites.htm
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