Page 38 - Liwa18-E

Ali Mohamed Al Matroshi

together to rent an apartment in a building owned by Mr. Yousef bin Nasser
Al-Nu’aimi in the eastern neighborhood near Al Qaytub, a Bedouin Mosque,
to serve as its headquarters. After its launch, some of the library neighbors also
donated what publications they could.

• Library Objectives:
A. To spread Islamic awareness and culture among the younger generation.

B. To avail students of the opportunity to make use of the Shari’a books that
were in the possession of the founders.

C. To act as a respectable alternative to shady and disreputable entertainment
places and gatherings.

The library contained standard works on Islamic heritage in general, and the Salafist
(orthodox) ideology in particular, such as the written works of the two Imams: Ibn
Taymiyah and his student Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyah, as well as those of Muhammad
bin Abdul Wahab, in addition to a number of modern publications on Salafist Islamic
thought.

• Decline of the Library:
The Ibn Taymiyah library survived approximately one year. In fact, several factors had
combined to weaken its cultural role and force it to close down prematurely:

a. The library did not have a steady source of income. Thus, the founders’ poor
resources and their inability to meet necessary requirements such as payment of
rent and electricity charges, as well as their failure to supply the library with new
books or subscriptions, led to its closure.

b. The library lacked a full-time librarian which meant they depended on volunteers
to carry out the librarian tasks. Initially, Yousif Ali Ghanem bin Zayed Al
Nu’aimi volunteered to serve as its librarian, but he was a student at the time and
had both family and school obligations that subsequently forced him to work a
short shift in the library. Thus, the library opened only in the afternoon between
‘Asr (afternoon) and Maghreb (evening) prayers, for a very limited period of time
not exceeding three hours during the relatively short winter days.

c. The nature of its book collections was limited, as a large proportion was mainly
classic Shari’a publications. Although scientifically valuable and rare, this type
of literature is only sought by Shari’a scholars and researchers. Furthermore,
quite a few of the collections were antiquated editions, which included Indian
lithographs, Bulaq publications from Egypt, and possibly a few manuscripts.

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