Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project

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 the 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 that also serves as a means of introducing Islam to non-Muslims.[1]

Aims

The Ahlul Bayt DILP aims to encourage the research of Islam and to facilitate the 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 4,000 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 was established by volunteers who contribute articles and digitized materials. The DILP and the Al-Islam.org site are supported by individual donors and well-wishers.

Ongoing projects

En route to achieving a vast library with the best resources 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 the Tahrif (distortion) of Islamic texts.

While the majority of 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 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

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]

See also

References
  1. Sumaiya Hamdani (March 2003). "The Ahlul-Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project". George Mason University.
  2. "Ahlul bayt digital islamic library project". JustGive.org.
  3. "About Us". Al-Islam.org. 11 February 2011.
  4. "Islamic Sects > Shia'ism". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 2006-12-07.
  5. "Al-islam.org Free Library". Archived from the original on 2007-01-03.
  6. "Al-Qur'an - Read, Recite And Research". www.al-islam.org.
  7. "Ghadir Khumm: In Qur'an, Hadith and History". www.al-islam.org.
  8. "In A Nutshell - Fact Sheets About Islam and Shi'ism". www.al-islam.org.
  9. "AlifBot, The Muslim Robot". Archived from the original on 2012-07-17.
  10. "Al-Islam.org - Islamic Supplication Browser -". supplications.al-islam.org.
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