By Sobhy Mujahid, IOL Correspondent

CAIRO, May 22, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – In one of the biggest e-projects in the Muslim world, Al-Azhar has launched a long-awaited Web site featuring digital copies of its huge and rare library.

“The project enables Internet users worldwide to have access to the 42,000 manuscripts and 128,000 books of Al-Azhar’s library, Egypt's second biggest library after the Bibliotheca Alexandrina,” Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohamed Sayyid Tantawi told the launch ceremony on Saturday, May 21.

The five-million-dollar project offers digital translations, in different languages, of Al-Azhar’s manuscripts, some dating back 1400 years, in tandem with Al-Azhar's Faculty of Languages and Translation.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Karam, the Executive Director of the Dubai Knowledge Village and Manager of the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Information Technology Education Project, said the digital library is the biggest scanning project worldwide.

“So far, the project has scanned nearly 14,000 scripts including 900,000 pages,” he noted.

The project was launched in April 2000 under the patronage of Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Defense Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Islamic Voice

Sheikh Tantawi said the mega-project will serve as the Islamic voice, presenting the world with the true image of Islam and its merciful tenets.

“The Web site will be the gateway for peoples from across the globe to learn more about the Islamic heritage and civilization.

“It will also offers the possibility of getting answers to religious questions or fatwas (edicts) through e-mails,” he added.

Al-Azhar, which means the “most flourishing and resplendent,” is the highest seat of learning in the Sunni Muslim world.

It was named after Fatima Al-Zahraa, daughter of prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who gave rise to the Fatimid dynasty which governed Egypt from 969 to 1171 CE.

The first courses at Al-Azhar were given in 975 CE and the first college was built 13 years later.

Al-Azhar first admitted women students in 1961, albeit in separate classes. Also in 1961, subjects in engineering and medicine were added to classes on Shari’ah, the Noble Qur’an and the intricacies of Arabic language.