Maktabat Aljamea: (Library)
THE HEART OF THE INSTITUTE
The library comprises of a multi-level reference and circulation section which contains an array of content in diverse languages, including vast selections of print and non-print media. Some of the periodicals and magazines in the archives section are nearly a century old.
There is a special library which is home to rare Islamic manuscripts, some carefully preserved for nearly 1000 years. These rare books are housed in the library’s Rare Book Section which is open to researchers from Aljamea and outside alike. The library also houses some of the most exquisite manuscripts of the Holy Quran.
THE HALL OF NICHES
Aljamea is especially proud of its unique research library known as Qāʿat al-Zawāya al-Fatimīya al-ʿIlmīya (Hall of Fatimi Academic Niches). The library is organised in sections. As walls come together and meet in a corner, similarly the corners of each zāwiya come together and connote a conglomeration of views of different authors. A place of peaceful contemplation, each section represents a chronological period of Fatimi history beginning with the era of the Prophet Mohammed SAW and culminating with the present age of His Holiness Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin RA. Books, manuscripts and documents pertaining to each period in relation to theology, jurisprudence, history, literature, philosophy and other disciplines are catalogued for easy access within each zāwiya.
The rationale behind this form of organisation is to signify the continuous transmission of knowledge within the Fatimi daʿwa over centuries. It also emphasises the central position of the imam or dāʿī in every age, stressing how his entity is the pivot around which all peripheries revolve. The zāwiya of the Quran is in the centre, demonstrating the prime position of divine revelation in the body of knowledge.