The National Islamic Studies Library and Resource Centre
Be a part of something amazing!
Places where Muslims can go and access literature on Islam either on an advance level or a level suitable for their aptitudes is limited. The proposed library will have facilities and books for adults and children at all levels and on various genres other than Islamic literature. In fact, it aims to have a wide selection of non-Islamic materials.
Our facilities will be open and accessible to everyone without restriction, limit or membership. It will seek to be a safe space for everyone especially children, the youth and women.
The Ibn Rushd Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies aims to in-cooperate the idea of having a research centre together with the idea of The National Islamic Studies Library.
The United Kingdom has a population of 3.5 million Muslims and its growing. The large population of Muslims in United Kingdom means that to a certain extent it has become an ideal place for Islamic studies. There is an urgent need to develop provisions serving the Muslim community in particular and the wider society in general. The provisions required are to meet the educational, religious and cultural needs of the Muslim community as well as the broader cultural needs of our diverse society. Our aim is not only to serve the Muslim community, but all and every member of society. This is the best way to build bridges, make friendship, learn from each other and gain tolerance. This project seeks to serve everyone although some provisions therein will be bespoke and idiosyncratic to Muslim needs.
The United Kingdom has a population of 3.5 million Muslims and its growing. The large population of Muslims in United Kingdom means that to a certain extent it has become an ideal place for Islamic studies. There is an urgent need to develop provisions serving the Muslim community in particular and the wider society in general. The provisions required are to meet the educational, religious and cultural needs of the Muslim community as well as the broader cultural needs of our diverse society. Our aim is not only to serve the Muslim community, but all and every member of society. This is the best way to build bridges, make friendship, learn from each other and gain tolerance. This project seeks to serve everyone although some provisions therein will be bespoke and idiosyncratic to Muslim needs.
Places where Muslims can go and access literature on Islam either on an advance level or a level suitable for their aptitudes is limited. The proposed library will have facilities and books for adults and children at all levels and on various genres other than Islamic literature. In fact, it aims to have a wide selection of non-Islamic materials.
Our facilities will be open and accessible to everyone without restriction, limit or membership. It will seek to be a safe space for everyone especially children, the youth and women.
The Ibn Rushd Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies aims to in-cooperate the idea of having a research centre together with the idea of The National Islamic Studies Library.
Our Vision for the Library
The National Islamic Studies Library is a project of the Ibn Rushd Centre of Excellence for Islamic Research. Our vision is to create a library which will host the most extensive collection of Islamic literature in Europe and a ‘Centre’ of Islamic academic and intellectual activities. Our aim is to make this place ‘a Centre for community activities from academic courses and research to serving children to achieve their potential in school and higher education’.
The library will have:
- Three floors
- Lecture rooms
- Research space
- Computer areas
- Reading space
- Specialised reading space for children
- Specialised rooms for children tuition
- Specialised revision centre for children doing their GCSEs and A-Levels
- Private study rooms for PhD students
- Cafeteria
The Description of the Library and its Various Activities:
Firstly: Home to the Ibn Rushd Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies
This library will host the Ibn Rushd Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies with the aim of having multiple educational activities. The library will attract research scholars from other universities, students, Islamic scholars and members of public. The library will become a national centre accessible to all members of the public who wish to either find out more about Islam or wish to use it for some quite reading or focused work. The Library will have non-Islamic literature too.
The Library will aim to have the most comprehensive collection of Islamic books on all genres paying particular focus on tafsir (Qur’anic exegesis), hadith, jurisprudence, theology, philosophy, history and political movements and thoughts. The books will consist of classical books of the early years of Islamic scholarship as well as contemporary scholarship on all the subjects mentioned above. Alongside books the Library will have an extensive E-resources’collection.
The books will be mainly in two languages: Arabic and English. It is within this vast collection of books that research scholars will conduct their research.
The aim is to make the research centre the hub of Islamic intellectuality. In order to achieve this, the Ibn Rushd Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies aims to deliver the following initiative:
- Deliver world-class, cutting-edge research in the various disciplines of Islamic Studies
- Network with all international Islamic universities to champion research, research collaboration and much more
- Deliver a BA Islamic Studies degree programme. The primary aim of this programme will be to educate and train future teachers, youth workers, charity sector personnel and the like. Special provisions will be made for Darul-Uloom students
- The Centre will also host many academic conferences, seminars, day consultations and much more. It will attract experts, nationally and internationally, to one platform and discuss the topics at hand.
- Academic Debating Society. This will be academics and scholars holding opposite views presenting their scholastic arguments and debating the merits of their claims.
- Specialise professional training courses. There is an urgent need to provide specialised training to many members of the community such as imams, youth workers, police, legal professionals and the like regarding current issues related to Muslims. For example, imams urgently need training on issues regarding safeguarding, RSE, organ donor and other issues which are in the limelight now. Most imams do not have the time to access literature or government policies regarding certain issues. Providing training to them from specialists who are well-versed in the topic will enable them to provide better guidance to the community they serve.
- Specialist and advance Islamic studies courses on hadith, tafsir, theology and jurisprudence
Secondly: Community Activities
National Training Centre for Scholars and Imam
The role of an imam is more than leading people in prayer. The current needs of society demand imams to be able to provide pastoral care, youth work, counselling for marital issues, mental health issues, and much more. There is great need to provide training to imams to update their skills and knowledge and help them to achieve the ability to better serve their communities. By equipping imams with up to date knowledge regarding current aspects of concern and government regulations or legislation affecting Muslims will make the British Muslim community stronger and better. The National Islamic Studies Library aims to be a centre to facilitate this and it will work with third parties on delivering training. One of the challenges faced by many Muslim organisations is venue hire costs. This can hinder organisations from providing training. To address this, the facilities for imam training will be free of charge.
Centre of the ‘Ulema Research and Scholarly Debate
The need for Muslim scholars to meet and discuss issues affecting the British Muslim community is of paramount importance. Currently there is no central place for this activity to be hosted. The National Islamic Studies Library aims to be the centre of scholarly discussions, symposiums and conferences. There is an urgent need for a forum of Muslim scholars to congregate for scholarly discussions with the aim of providing theological and Islamic guidance for the Muslims in the UK and beyond.
Public Engagement
The library will provide many public engagement activities and aims to make it a place to access many types of resources. The Library will aim to achieve this by doing the following:
Provide bespoke educational programmes on various topics of interest and demand to the public: The Library will be a centre for community education. These will be vocational courses aimed at training and educating members of the public. These programmes will be tailored to meet the needs of the community. It also aims to create better awareness of social issues such as health, education, mental well-being and the like.
Reading club for children: One of the key aims of the Organisation is to reach out to disadvantaged members of the society and help boost literacy and numeracy skills. To this end, the Library will host a reading club for children in order to enhance and encourage literacy and poetry. It will employ innovative ideas to attract membership to this club. It will also have learning through play in a dedicated toddler learning zone.
The library will have facilities and non-specialist books for adults and children: Although the library will mainly consist of specialist books, it will also have a wide range of non-specialist books for adults and children. Focus will be paid to attract children to the Library with the primary aim of boosting literacy and reading skills. There will be a dedicated section for children with state-of-the-art IT equipment to make learning fun and engaging.
Revision Centre: This ‘Centre’ aims to provide young adults a safe space for learning and revision for their GCSEs or A-Level examinations. The ‘Centre’ will provide tuition and support for students. It intends to have state-of-the-art tuition and revision facilities and employ staff to provide this support.
Language Centre: Promotion of Arabic language is a key feature. The Centre intends on providing interactive and engaging Arabic classes to children and adults with the aim to help them understand Qur’an and speak Arabic.
Media Centre
In the modern world marketing your organisation and providing information about its services and facilities relies almost entirely on the media and most of this have shifted to social media. Besides this, media is the best tool to reach out to people and get your message directly to them. Online videos are becoming more popular every year – and the Media Centre will help us to provide and create the content for our audiences. In particular, the youth take a strong interest in this and to this end the Centre intends on having an outstanding media facility that will allow us to continuously engage with the community by producing content relevant videos and other media production for the public benefit. The Media Centre will also allow us to offer a range of professional services, from visually engaging Islamic films and animations to tailor-made media training courses.
Satellite TV station
Radio station
Media training centre
With our comprehensive studio and radio broadcast facilities, we can produce and edit a wide range of programmes for both internal and external audiences.
Islamic Film and animation production
It is important to create educational films and animation for the community, and it is equally important to develop individuals with the skill and talent to be creative producers who can take ideas and develop them to produce much need media content.
Studio production
The studio will be a multi-functional space with additional facilities that can be used for many types of shoots.
The studio space at the Media Centre will feature HD broadcast equipment and lighting to ensure a high-quality filming experience every time.
The Media Centre:
The Media Centre will offer its technical facilities and an experienced crew for hire. The Centre will also offer a wide range of innovative and effective media training courses.
Media training
The Media Centre will help you prepare for all types of media interviews. The media training will be as close as you can get to the real thing.
Hiring the facilities
The facilities and equipment will be available for hire at very competitive rates, with or without our team of in-house specialists. There will be special provisions made to give access to young adults who are interested in producing nasheeds and Islamic films.
Editing suites
Whether it’s films, podcasts or animations, our edit suites are used to work on all types of projects and all these edits are backed up in our archives.
Sound and vision galleries
Dedicated areas for live productions and multi-camera mixes.
Radio room
A sound-insulated space for crisp voice-over or podcast audio.
Podcast training
The Centre will provide all levels of podcast training, from preparation and scripting through to delivery.
Appeal: Be a part of something amazing…
This project is not possible without your help. Help us build the first of its kind in the UK. Help us build the National Islamic Studies Library. Please donate generously to this cause:
Account name: Ibn Rushd Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies
Bank: Al-Rayan
Account no: 01383001
Sort code: 30-00-83
IBAN: GB03 ARAY 3000 301 3830 01
Help the Ibn Rushd Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies to produce quality research and educational programmes. Your donations will help us buy books, research materials, work in collaboration with other universities, assist researchers to produce and carry out research, and much more.