Arabic language research centres

Fihrist: Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World

Bodleian Libraries (Oxford) and Cambridge University Library

Open union catalogue of Islamic and Middle Eastern manuscripts in UK libraries, searchable in Arabic and English.

United Kingdom · Oxford

Section arabe – Institut de recherche et d'histoire des textes (IRHT)

CNRS

Studies, catalogues and digitises Arabic manuscripts, incl. French public libraries and Timbuktu collections.

France · Aubervilliers (Paris)

DREAMSEA – Digital Repository of Endangered and Affected Manuscripts in Southeast Asia

PPIM, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, with CSMC, Universität Hamburg

Digitises and catalogues endangered manuscripts in Southeast Asia, including Arabic Islamic manuscripts from pesantren, with open access.

Indonesia · Jakarta

Qalamos – Connecting Manuscript Traditions

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and Leipzig University Library

Union portal for metadata and images of Asian and African manuscripts in German institutions, including Arabic.

Germany · Berlin

The Islamic Manuscript Association (TIMA)

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge

International non-profit association for the preservation, cataloguing and access of Islamic manuscript collections; conferences and workshops.

United Kingdom · Cambridge

SAVAMA-DCI (Sauvegarde et Valorisation des Manuscrits pour la Défense de la Culture Islamique)

Association of private Timbuktu library owners supporting the conservation and cataloguing of their Arabic manuscripts; inventories added to WAAMD.

Mali · Timbuktu

Dairatul Maarif il Osmania

Osmania University, Hyderabad

Edits and publishes Arabic manuscripts in Islamic sciences, philosophy, Sufism and science; about 240 titles in some 800 volumes.

India · Hyderabad

Arewa House – Centre for Historical Documentation and Research

Ahmadu Bello University

Preserves and digitises Nigerian Arabic and Ajami manuscripts; holds about 1,600 manuscripts.

Nigeria · Kaduna

Türkiye Yazma Eserler Kurumu Başkanlığı

Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Türkiye

Runs manuscript libraries such as Süleymaniye, acquires and preserves manuscripts, and publishes editions, many Arabic.

Türkiye · Istanbul

Oriental Manuscripts Fund, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography, Dagestan Federal Research Centre RAS

Dagestan Federal Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences

Largest collection of oriental manuscripts in the North Caucasus, mostly Arabic (grammar, lexicography, law, history, medicine), enlarged by field expeditions.

Russia · Makhachkala

Oriental Collections, St. St. Cyril and Methodius National Library

National Library of Bulgaria

Holds and catalogues some 3,000 Arabic manuscripts alongside Ottoman and Persian ones; catalogues include one on hadith sciences.

Bulgaria · Sofia

Département des Manuscrits Arabes et Ajami (MARA), Institut de Recherches en Sciences Humaines (IRSH)

Institut de Recherches en Sciences Humaines, Université Abdou Moumouni

Collects and studies Arabic and Ajami manuscripts from family libraries; about 4,000 described in an eight-volume catalogue.

Niger · Niamey

Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation – Centre for the Study of Islamic Manuscripts

Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation

Surveys, images, catalogues, edits and publishes Islamic manuscripts, mostly Arabic.

United Kingdom · London

Islamic Scientific Manuscripts Initiative (ISMI)

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

Database of authors, works and manuscript witnesses in the Islamicate exact sciences, mostly in Arabic.

Germany · Berlin

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML)

Saint John's University

Digitises endangered manuscripts, including an Islamic (largely Arabic) manuscripts programme in Mali, Jerusalem and Harar.

United States · Collegeville, Minnesota

Princeton Geniza Lab

Princeton University

Transcribes and catalogues Cairo Geniza documents, mostly in Judaeo-Arabic, in a public database.

United States · Princeton

Islamology Department, Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire Cheikh Anta Diop (IFAN)

IFAN Cheikh Anta Diop, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar

Holds and studies a manuscript collection, mostly Arabic, with Ajami texts in Pulaar and Wolof.

Senegal · Dakar

Imom Buxoriy xalqaro ilmiy-tadqiqot markazi

Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan

Collects, restores and studies hadith and heritage manuscripts; has a manuscripts department, museum and library.

Uzbekistan · Samarkand

Centre of Arabic Documentation, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan

Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan

Founded by John Hunwick to microfilm, catalogue and study Arabic manuscripts from northern Nigeria; holds Arabic and Ajami collections.

Nigeria · Ibadan

Centre for Islamic Studies, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto

Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto

Research on the writings of the Sokoto jihad scholars; collects and microfilms Arabic manuscripts of the Sokoto Caliphate.

Nigeria · Sokoto

Written Heritage Research Center (Mirās-e Maktub)

Edits, publishes and catalogues Arabic and Persian manuscripts and studies codicology.

Iran · Tehran

Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC)

Universität Hamburg

Research institute for manuscript cultures worldwide, including Arabic and African Ajami manuscripts and Islamic seals.

Germany · Hamburg

Tombouctou Manuscripts Project

Institute for Humanities in Africa (HUMA), University of Cape Town

Studies, translates and digitises Timbuktu's Arabic manuscripts and the history of the book in West Africa.

South Africa · Cape Town

Abu Rayhon Beruniy nomidagi Sharqshunoslik instituti

Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan

Holds, studies and catalogues about 26,000 manuscripts in Arabic, Persian and Turkic.

Uzbekistan · Tashkent

Institut des Hautes Études et de Recherche Islamique Ahmed Baba (IHERI-ABT)

Government of Mali

Collects, restores, digitises and studies the Timbuktu manuscripts, trains Arabic teachers, and publishes Revue Sankoré.

Mali · Timbuktu

Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa (ISITA)

Northwestern University

Scholarship on Islamic learning in Africa; catalogues and translates African Arabic and Ajami manuscripts.

United States · Evanston

AMEA Məhəmməd Füzuli adına Əlyazmalar İnstitutu

Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences

Collects, preserves, catalogues and publishes manuscripts, with a dedicated catalogue of Arabic manuscripts.

Azerbaijan · Baku

Институт восточных рукописей РАН (Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS)

Russian Academy of Sciences

Holds and studies a large collection of Oriental manuscripts, including Arabic ones such as an early Qur'an codex.

Russia · St Petersburg

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Arabic Persian Research Institute

Department of Art and Culture, Government of Rajasthan

Preserves, catalogues and publishes handlists and studies of Arabic and Persian manuscripts.

India · Tonk

Gazi Husrev-begova biblioteka

Library holding about 17,000 manuscript works in Arabic, Turkish and Persian; catalogues and publishes studies.

Bosnia and Herzegovina · Sarajevo

Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library

Ministry of Culture, Government of India

Library of about 21,000 manuscripts, half in Arabic; catalogues, digitises and publishes catalogues.

India · Patna

Rampur Raza Library

Ministry of Culture, Government of India

Library of about 17,000 manuscripts in Arabic, Persian and other languages, with a multi-volume Arabic catalogue.

India · Rampur

Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit

Cambridge University Library

Conservation, cataloguing and research of Cairo Genizah fragments, many in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic.

United Kingdom · Cambridge