Sharjah: His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has stressed the importance of caring for ancient manuscripts in all fields, because of their great benefits for new generations in knowing their heritage.
Sheikh Sultan said that the House of Manuscripts in Sharjah will be open to everyone, and everything it needs will be taken care of in terms of scientific material and financial independence so that it will be one of the institutions for spreading and disseminating knowledge from Sharjah.
This came in a speech delivered by Sheikh Sultan on Thursday during his visit to the House of Manuscripts in Sharjah.
During the visit, he discussed the importance of the house in working on many cultural and scientific goals, the most important of which is collecting manuscripts and providing them to academic researchers, students and the general public.
Large donations
In his speech, Sheikh Sultan praised the efforts of Abdulrahman bin Mohamed Al Owais, in donating a large number of rare manuscripts to the house.
He also extended thanks and appreciation to Al Qasimia University for its great efforts in the field of manuscripts, and to the Sharjah Islamic Bank for the collection of rare manuscripts donated to the house.
Sheikh Sultan highlighted the efforts of the House of Manuscripts, which include a quarterly magazine that works to publish all news of the house and introduce the documents and manuscripts received.
He pointed out that the House of Manuscripts will work to spread knowledge to everyone, by facilitating access of the manuscripts to researchers, as electronic copies will be available for review, scientific research and self-education, unlike many international houses.
Private collections
Sheikh Sultan expressed his pride in all the educational, cultural and historical institutions in the emirate, pointing out that most of the assets in them are his private collections, and calling on everyone to visit the House of Manuscripts and benefit from its collections.
During his tour of the house, Sheikh Sultan viewed a group of diverse manuscripts in fields related to Islamic history and the Holy Quran from different eras, which he had presented to the house.
Sheikh Sultan also reviewed another group of manuscripts and documents that the Sharjah Islamic Bank presented to the house.
Decree of establishment
Before the tour, Dr. Mansour bin Nassar, chairman of the Sharjah Government Legal Department, read out the Emiri Decree issued by Sheikh Sultan regarding the establishment and organisation of the House of Manuscripts in Sharjah.
The event witnessed the presence of Abdulrahman bin Mohamed Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention, Dr. Khalifa Musabeh Al Teneiji, chairman of Holy Quran Academy in Sharjah, Dr. Mansour bin Nassar, chairman of Sharjah Government Legal Department, Jamal Salem Al Turaifi, president of Al Qasimia University, Mohammed Abdullah, CEO of Sharjah Islamic Bank, Mohammed Hassan Khalaf, director general of Sharjah Broadcasting Authority, and a number of directors of scientific and academic institutions.
