Page 33 - Liwa18-E

Libraries in Ajman from the beginning of the Twentieth Century until the Formation of the Union

although two of the Stage I libraries, namely Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed Al
Sheibah Library and Sheikh Humaid bin Saleh Al Ghanem Library, have survived.
Undoubtedly, they have undergone development, at least, in terms of the expansion
of of their collections. We will only discuss two additional libraries, namely:

1. Library of Sheikh Ali bin Majid Al-Omrani (1918-1975):

• His Upbringing and Education:

Sheikh Ali bin Majid bin Obaid bin Mohammed Al Omrani, from Al Amarin, a
branch of the tribe of Darawshe (the sheikhs of Al Bu Shamis on the UAE coast)
is the son of Maryam bint Khamis bin Abdulrahman Al Bu Dhanain al-Nu’aimi.
He was a religious scholar and a multi-faceted educator.

He was born in the town of Al-Hira in Sharjah in 1918. It is very likely that he
studied at the well-known Taymiyah School in Al-Hira in the late 1920s. In his
youth, he travelled to a number of Arab countries seeking education, such as
Najd Province, Southern Yemen, Iraq and the Levant, which was instrumental
in broadening his knowledge and education. He toured the Emirates and the
Sultanate of Oman in order to preach and guide people. Although he was very
intelligent, unfortunately he was one of the highly educated citizens who passed
away without gaining recognition. He settled in Ajman during the period (1962-
1970) at the request of its ruler, Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nu’aimi.

• His Library:
Sheikh Ali bin Majid owned a library collection composed of assorted subjects.
There were mainly Shari’a books, including the Salafi doctrine, Hanbali
jurisprudence, as well as Tafseer books, the Prophet’s biography, preaching and
some modern Islamic studies such as “Women in Islam”.

His library also included collections of travel literature books, eloquence, poetry,
history, sociology, medicine, astronomy, etc., some of which included rare
lithograph prints from Delhi, India, as well as a number of manuscripts.

Sheikh Ali bin Majid collected his books from the countries he visited, and
brought them to Ajman during his stay there. According to his sons’ estimate,
the number of his books at the end of his life was at least two thousand.

• The Fate of the Library after his Death:
Unfortunately, many of the books of this precious library were scattered after
his death. Some of them were randomly distributed among students and

33