SHAFAQNA- The library of the Great Mosque of Mecca is one of the most valuable libraries in the Islamic world, which has housed a priceless and rare treasure trove of manuscripts over the period of thirteen centuries.
Having its original core formed in the second century AH during the time of Bani Abbas, the Library of the Great Mosque of Mecca is one of the most valuable libraries in the world of Islam, which contains a rare and priceless treasure trove of ancient manuscripts.
Referring to the library of the Great Mosque of Mecca as one of the oldest and most important libraries in the world of Islam, Ahmad bin Fahd Al-Shuwaier, the Deputy Director of Libraries and Scientific Research in Saudi Arabia, said that this library dates back to the year 161 AH and the reign of Caliph Muhammad Al-Mahdi Abbasi; To the time he ordered the construction of two buildings in Mataf Courtyard (the place for Tawaf in Masjid Al-Haram). One to supply water to the pilgrims and the other to preserve the manuscripts. And this constituted the primary nucleus of Masjid Al-Haram library.
The Deputy Director of Libraries and Scientific Research in Saudi Arabia added that in the time of Al-Saud dynasty in Saudi Arabia, the library was moved from inside the Great Mosque to outside and to a number of different locations, until now that it has settled in its central building in Batha Al-Quraysh in Mecca.
Al-Shuwaier noted that Saudi officials plan to move the library to a building designated for it next to the Great Mosque as soon as possible to serve the pilgrims, researchers and those interested. He also pointed out that the Great Mosque is the only library in Saudi Arabia that contains the history of the Saudi press and its entire archive, and so the library is the only reference for archiving newspapers and magazines in Saudi Arabia.
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