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IRCICA: Developing Interests in the Islamic Civilization
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IRCICA,
is the subsidiary research centre of the Organization of the
Islamic Conference, working in the field of culture
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In
an enormous and unique building in Istanbul , there are many people with one job: to preserve the Islamic
cultural heritage and to reflect the real image of Islamic civilization.
This
place called IRCICA or The Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture
was built in 1980. One of their latest projects and publications,
in
cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), is a very rare and valuable book called The Fifth Book
of Culture and Knowledge in Islam.
Professor
Dr Ekmeleddin Ihsanolu, the Director General of IRCICA, talked to IslamOnline.
net about this new book and other activities of the center.
IOL:
What is the relationship between your center and UNESCO? Is there any kind of
partnership between you? Are you trying to cooperate with other famous
organizations?
Dr.
Ihsanolu: The Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture, IRCICA, is
the subsidiary research centre of the Organization of the Islamic Conference,
working in the field of culture, scholarly research and preservation of cultural
heritage. It has 57 member states and takes into consideration the numerous
areas of mutual interest for studies and international activities.
Although
it was not explicitly mentioned among the IRCICA's main objectives contained in
its establishment statute, from the beginning of its activities in 1980, the
centre gave priority to setting up a large-scale library as a prerequisite for
achieving its objectives. The library would serve as a repository of knowledge
and information in all fields of Islamic culture and civilization and meet the
research needs of the centre, as well as of scholars, students, cultural
institutions, university departments and all other interested parties.
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IRCICA
adopted a multidisciplinary method for producing the
Fifth Book of Culture and Knowledge in Islam
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There
is a working relationship between IRCICA and UNESCO, which has been going on for
two decades now. A Memorandum of Understanding, formalizing the cooperation
between the two institutions, was signed on 8 June 1996, following the visit of the Director General of UNESCO to us at
IRCICA in 1995. This agreement was expanded last December during the visit of
the Assistant Director General of UNESCO to IRCICA.
The
IRCICA-UNESCO Memorandum of Understanding takes into consideration the active
cooperation
that already exists in areas related to Islamic culture, arts and crafts. It
underlines the contribution IRCICA makes towards establishing better worldwide
understanding of Islamic civilization: reflecting the image of Islamic culture
as a part of world civilization, and bridging the gap between cultures. It draws
the framework to facilitate the implementation of joint projects by the two
parties, which took concrete form with several IRCICA activities.
We
are cooperating with numerous other international and regional organizations on
all continents in the fields of academic research, arts, architecture,
publishing, etc. One example would be the International Union for the History
and Philosophy of Science, of which I am the current President.
IOL:
What method did you use for producing the Fifth Book of Culture and Knowledge
in Islam? What is the difference between this book and other books in your
center?
Dr.
Ihsanolu: We adopted a multidisciplinary method aimed at highlighting, on one
hand, the diversity and richness of Islamic culture and its multiplicity that
stems from its expansion across continents. On the other hand, and at the same
time, reflecting the essential ideas and principles that unite these variances
and nuances.
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IRCICA
is in an enormous and unique building in Istanbul
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By
the way, this is not primarily a publication of our centre; it is the outcome of
a UNESCO project. Because Islamic culture has not been examined and explained in
this way and with this methodology until now, this is the first book of its
kind; there are no comparable books in IRCICA or in any other organization.
IOL:
What are your views for spreading and presenting the book to the whole world?
Will the book be translated into any other languages apart from English?
Dr.
Ihsanolu: Most publications of our center are in English and Turkish. It would
be extremely valuable to introduce this book worldwide so it will be necessary
to translate it into other languages, for example, Arabic, Turkish, German, and
we will try to work on that. We made a big presentation party
for the book at UNESCO in October 2003.
IOL:
What do you think of the saying that “there is no way for the Muslims to get
into the world except through presenting their arts”?
Dr. Ihsanolu: Not only arts, but also sciences and numerous other achievements
of Muslims in various fields have contributed in building the universal
civilization and we try to do so through our job at the center.
IOL:
Do you see a real boom in the research field or there is a setback in it?
Dr.
Ihsanolu: Yes, I can see that there
is a developing academic interest in this field and several previously
unexplored areas are more and more coming into focus.
IOL:
Tell us about the team who worked with you on the book; their cultural, social
and religious backgrounds, and their nationalities?
Dr.
Ihsanolu: The project, since it began in 1987, enlisted the contributions of 37
authors from 17 countries. All are scholars and specialists chosen on account of
their authority in their respective fields.
IOL:
What are the contents of the book?
Dr.
Ihsanolu: The book consists of six divisions; the first one is about the
languages of Islam such as Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Malawi and the language of the European Muslims.
The
second division is on the different forms of literature, like the Arabic,
Persian, and Turkish literature. The third one is about philosophy in Islam, the
fourth about Sufism and the fifth about the human sciences. The sixth division
revolves around artistic creation such as the arts of writing, music, singing
and the old crafts.
IOL:
There are many efforts these days to preserve the Islamic cultural heritage, as
there are so many stolen documents and manuscripts, what about the efforts of
the centre in this regard?
Dr.
Ihsanolu: Our centre carries out a number of projects of various types to
preserve the Islamic cultural heritage.
It
addresses the tangible—written, architectural and artistic—as well as the
intangible oral traditions and heritage. It undertakes missions relating to
assessment and documentation, as well as restoration and reconstruction.
Our
projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for example, involved both theoretical architectural studies
of planning and design as well as actual reconstruction work.
IOL: There is a difference between how others see us and how we see ourselves.
Tell us about your experience in this book, a work targeting others.
Dr.
Ihsanolu: The aim of this book is actually to reduce the difference between
these two approaches, since looking at oneself sometimes involves
self-glorification, while others…, looking at us may involve suspicion,
mistrust or condescendence. Even though they may be due to subjective reasons,
both approaches are of a rather emotional nature. Therefore, what we tried to do
in this project was to base the whole work on historical facts, objective
criteria, balanced reflections and purely objective presentations far from
cultural biases.
For
further information visit:
*
Fairoz
Mustafa,
is a journalist based in Cairo, Egypt .
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