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Many private library owners in the State of Qatar have confirmed their passion to continue and confirm the country’s efforts in the dissemination of knowledge and science, making a continuous cultural contribution by making their private libraries available to researchers and readers.
In an exclusive statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), they explained that Qatar’s interest in books and libraries is long-standing, as private library owners believe their mission is to make knowledge and science accessible to everyone.
Mr. Ali bin Abdullah Al Fayyad, a Qatari heritage researcher and owner of a private library in the Ruwais region in northern Qatar, said in a special statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that interest in Qatari heritage books and libraries began since the founding of modern Qatar, starting with the city of Huwayra, which is considered the capital of the State of Qatar, mentioned in an Ottoman document, along with the date of its founding. The document, which is kept in the Qatar National Museum, is dated: 1555 AD, indicating that after the city of Huwayra, the city of Zubarah flourished in various fields including science and culture as a community of merchants, scholars and celebrities from Basra Due to the plague in 1772 AD and for political reasons during this period, Zubarah flourished in science, culture and literature, with many scholars settling here and owning large and small private libraries.
Fayed explained that the era of the founder, Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani, “may God have mercy on him”, was the era in which the establishment of the modern State of Qatar began, and the Sheikh was not only a ruler, but a politician, writer and great poet, “may God have mercy on him”, who would bring knowledge from Najd and teach people goodness and call people to God. India and distribute it to students of knowledge in Qatar, Najd and the Arabian Gulf. It is said that one year he bought a batch of religious books and distributed them all to students of knowledge in Delhi, India. Jassim had his own books, which are now stored in the Qatar National Library, so there are many private libraries in Qatar and their cultural role continues, the most prominent of which is the Sheikh Library. The library of the former ruler of Qatar, Ali bin Abdullah Al Thani, “may God have mercy on him,” as well as the library of Sheikh Justice Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Jaber, the library of His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Mahmoud, and the library of His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Ibrahim Al Ansari, “may God have mercy on them.” The latter is one of the most famous libraries in Qatar, and there are many others covering various regions of the country.
Regarding the private library that bears his name, Fayed said: “It started with the collection of books in my home, then I moved them to my father’s old living room, then I moved them completely to the current headquarters in the villa. He noted that the library contains six sections: books related to Qatar’s history, Qatari magazines and journals, books related to the history of the Arabian Gulf, Arabic literature and language, Arabic and Islamic history, geography, religious books and rare ancient books, then encyclopedias, general knowledge and science, and specialized sections for Arabic and Gulf journals and magazines.
He noted that the library also includes photo albums and photographic documents of Qatari people, as well as a news archive containing clippings from Qatari newspapers and magazines covering important topics related to the State of Qatar.
Fayed added that the library has a dedicated audiovisual material section, which includes recordings of some of Qatar’s interpreters, documentaries, scientific and cultural films, and heritage, religious and artistic recordings, and the number of books and magazines has reached a record high so far. The number of books reaches 40,000, and stressed that the library is open to researchers and readers and provides services free of charge like public libraries in the country, but focuses on the types of books related to Qatari and Gulf history. Researchers are also allowed to photograph the books they want to complete their tasks.
Engineer Faisal Ansari, Executive Director of the Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ansari Quran and Science Complex (which includes the Qatar Calendar House, Islamic Research Center and Public Library), expressed his statement to QNA in a similar report: The public library named after Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ansari is the result of the way he was raised and the continuous acquisition of Islamic knowledge and books throughout his life. Until 1975, when God Almighty made it easy for him to build a relatively large house, he chose to build a library in the house attached to the Council with the purpose of providing books to all those who are interested and familiar with it. It remained in its original location in the Al-Nasr area until the death of the Sheikh in 1989, when the Sheikh’s sons chose to develop the library, so they moved it to a library from the hall allocated to it by the Council. The library is located in the Al-Dafna area and was officially relocated in 2011.
Engineer Al-Ansari explained that the library contains about 25,000 books on Islamic jurisprudence, Islamic culture and some related sciences such as translations, language books and Arabic literature, and also contains many rare books that can only be found in Sheikh Al-Ansari Library. . It is filled with many translations of the meaning of the Holy Quran in different languages and different readings.
The library or Sheikh Abdullah Ansari complex is considered one of the country’s landmarks, a great building, the fruit of hard work, and the harvest of a lifetime of love for books and passion for publishing.
He added that Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ansari (may God have mercy on him) was interested in manuscripts and collected many of them, some of which date back 280 years, and the most important contents of them have been preserved. The manuscripts are rare copies of the Quran, as well as manuscript books such as the book “Al-Muntaqa fi Al-Ahkam Al-Shariah Min Kalam Khair Al-Bariyah” copied by Ibn Taymiyyah in 1865 AD, and books printed in India more than 150 years ago and original works written by Sheikh Al-Ansari himself, noting that Sheikh Al-Ansari’s work in science and writing resulted in 249 books and supervised the printing.
Sheikh Abdullah Ansari, Executive Director of the Quran and Science Complex, stressed that the Sheikh Abdullah Ansari Library is interested in updating its collection with new titles and keeping up with valuable publications, in addition to developing the services provided by the Quran Library. The library keeps pace with technology by enabling researchers to access the contents of the library’s books, manuscripts and the first Qatari calendar through a website that is more than seventy years old, where books and manuscripts have been digitized for easier access. The library also interacts with readers through social media and is known for the services it provides free of charge, in addition to providing a book loan service and some free printing and packaging services. Islamic and Arabic science researchers consider the index search service to be one of the most important services provided by the library, as it connects the beneficiaries with the content on the shelves, as a special program has been designed to help beneficiaries quickly access the library’s information sources.
The Library is committed to encouraging and developing reading and literacy skills, working with cultural and social centres in the State of Qatar in all programmes, initiatives and conferences that encourage reading and literacy and building smart partnerships to increase reading and literacy opportunities for community members.
Ansari noted that the library is keen to coordinate and cooperate with cultural institutions such as the Ministry of Culture, Qatar National Library, the “Katara” Cultural Village General Foundation, and civil society institutions interested in cultural affairs, stressing that the library management considers its collections to be national heritage that should be accessible to everyone in Qatar.
As for researcher Abdulaziz Al-Buhashim Al-Sayyed, owner of a library named after himself in Souq Waqif, he said in a special statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that his library began with his family’s interest in culture and books. His father, “may God have mercy on him”, had a library at home, which strengthened his family members’ passion for reading and learning, and they began to be interested in building the library in an expanded way to accommodate more books and have more books. Due to the desire and passion for books, due to the professionalism of historical research, there was an interest in collecting many books related to the history and heritage of Qatar, as well as books of orientalists and travelers who visited Qatar and the Arabian Gulf region. The most famous is the British traveler Charles Belgrave, who visited Qatar in 1863, and many historians have recorded this era.
He explained that his library has more than 4,000 books, the most important of which are original publications from the collection of Qatar’s founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani, May God bless his soul, as well as rare original editions of ancient Qatari poets such as Al-Faihani, Al-Tabtabai and others, as well as books on Qatari architecture and popular heritage, noting also a dedicated section on Qatar’s maritime heritage.
Al-Bohashim Al-Sayed added that he was also keen on collecting old Qatari and Arab journals and magazines from various Arab capitals, especially Cairo and Beirut, because these journals, knowledge and science sometimes contain rare pictures, which are fresh in the memory of today’s readers. The library houses an archive of more than 1,400 old Arab films produced in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, documenting Arab cinema, especially those that represent Arab cinema. A famous landmark along with Arabic novels and literary books, pointing out that these collections have helped him participate in many exhibitions in Qatar and abroad. Where the old books are displayed, the public eagerly accepts them and then begins to consider the visitors in the library’s Souq Waqif, close to the heritage market, which will suit the books inside the library.
The owner of the Abdulaziz Al-Bohashim Al-Sayed Library concluded in a statement to QNA that his library has become a pioneer for researchers and school students who are looking for some of the information and knowledge contained in these books, so students are able to complete their work in the library, expressing his hope that the location of the library will be expanded to serve more researchers and scholars.
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