al-Budairi Family Library (MAB)

• Private

The Budairi Library was established by the Sufi scholar Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Budair, known as Ibn al-Hubaysh (died 1220/1805). He was of North African origin and studied in al-Azhar, where he remained for several decades before coming to Jerusalem. He was buried in the current building of the library that was his house, located next to the west wall of al-Haram al-Sharif. During his life, he wrote a number of literary works. Perhaps the most famous one is his poem celebrating the defeat of Napoleon before the walls of 'Akka 1799.

The library contains manuscripts, in addition to documents specific to the history of the family and their properties in the Ottoman period. The majority of the manuscripts are related to the different branches of the Islamic religion, followed by the topics of Arabic language and literature, astronomy, logic and history. The 636 manuscripts listed in the catalog have been copied on 35 mm microfilm, but not those that were added later to the collection.

The manuscripts cover the sciences of the Qur'an, tafsir, usul al-din, fiqh, its principles, and Sufism. The number of titles varies from topic to topic. For example, the books on Sufism are more numerous (approximately 500) than other subjects because the owner was himself a Sufi and he concentrated on acquiring books from Sufism. There are approximately 250 Arabic language and literature titles, 60 titles covering Islamic history and the life of the Prophet, and approximately 100 titles on a range of subjects; including logic, astronomy, arithmetic and medicine.

Saturday – Thursday, 09:00 - 13:00

The archive or library is open to the public, by appointment.

Documents can be photocopied, using the photocopier or scanner available.

http://parc-us-pal.org/resources/jerusalemArchives.htm#thirteen
Jerusalem historical libraries and archives revisited, Revised report prepared for Open Jerusalem, October 2014, Merav Mack

Author : Open Jerusalem http://www.openjerusalem.org/