As part of the activities of the Sharjah International Book Fair, held from November 6 to 17, 2024, the Juma Al Majid Center for Culture and Heritage participated on Thursday, November 7, 2024, in a seminar titled “Bibliography Books in Arabic Literature: Their Importance and Impact.” The seminar was organized in collaboration with the Emirates Library and Information Association. Speakers included Dr. Mohamed Kamal Jadd, General Manager of the Juma Al Majid Center for Culture and Heritage, and Fahad Ali Al Maamari, Chairman of the Emirates Library and Information Association. The session was moderated by Sultan Al Mazrouei.
The seminar discussed the significance of bibliography books in preserving Arabic literature and providing resources for researchers and specialists. It also addressed their role in organizing literary heritage and analyzing its developments. The speakers highlighted the role of bibliography as a tool for tracking and documenting literary works and its contribution to studying literary patterns and assessing their cultural impact across time, which enhances the historical understanding of Arabic literature and uncovers literary connections between works.
The speakers emphasized the importance of this science in promoting Arab heritage and passing it down to future generations. They also highlighted the contributions of the Arab and Islamic civilizations in preserving not only Arab heritage but also the legacies of other civilizations such as Greek. They noted that the Arabs taught humanity the science of bibliography, and today there is an increasing need to build a database that preserves literary history.
Dr. Mohamed Kamal Jadd explained that bibliography represents a foundational tool for literary documentation in the Arab-Islamic civilization. He pointed out that it has provided significant services to authors by documenting and attributing works to their creators. He emphasized the superiority of Arab and Islamic civilization in the fields of preservation, recording, and documentation, stating: “No other civilization has cared for documenting intellectual production as ours did, striving to verify the attribution of works and providing detailed explanations of their contents.” He also mentioned that the Juma Al Majid Center houses one of the largest manuscript collections in the world, noting that the center’s efforts benefit not only the UAE but the entire Arab world.
Fahad Al Maamari then reviewed the evolution of bibliography in the Islamic world, referencing the book Al-Fahrist by Al-Nadim, which cataloged more than 7,000 works and laid the foundation for the science of bibliography, helping to cement its importance among Muslims. He also pointed out that Islamic conquests and the spread of the Arabs contributed to the development of bibliography.
