Bait al Hikmat ( ur, Trans. ''House of Wisdom'') is the main academic library at the

Hamdard University Hamdard University ( ur, ) is a private research university with campuses in Karachi and Islamabad, Pakistan.Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. It opened in December 1989 and is named after the famous library, House of Wisdom, in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

. The library houses over half a million modern volumes as well as thousands of ancient manuscripts, millions of clippings, translations of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

in over 60 languages, A.V. Cassettes, as well as Postage Stamps, Coins and Photographs of Hamdard University/Foundation Activities. It is the largest library of Pakistan.

History

After laying the foundation-stone of Madinat al-Hikmah, the city of Education, Science and Culture on 15 December 1983 at Bund Murad, twenty seven Kilometre from Karachi, the foundation-stone of

Hamdard University Hamdard University ( ur, ) is a private research university with campuses in Karachi and Islamabad, Pakistan.President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

. It was established by Hakim Mohammed Said, the founder of Madinat al-Hikmah, a humanitarian and a philanthropist. After the completion of the Bait al-Hikmah, the first major and most important institution of Madinat al-Hikmah, Hakim Said invited

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Ghulam Ishaq Khan Ghulam Ishaq Khan ( ur, غلام اسحاق خان; 20 January 1915 – 27 October 2006), was a Pakistani bureaucrat who served as the seventh president of Pakistan, elected in 1988 following Zia's death until his resignation in 1993. He wa ...

to inaugurate the library on 11 December 1989. Bait al-Hikmah library reflects the memory of the first Bait al-Hikmah (House of Wisdom) established in Baghdad by Khalifa Abu Jafar al-Mansur between 135 and 158 A.H (714–737 CE). Later it was developed by Caliph Harun al-Rashid and Caliph Mamoon Rashid during the 14th century. The present Bait al-Hikmah symbolises a wooded transfusion to the Muslim's traditional love for learning and scholarship.

Facilities

The Bait al-Hikmah as a Central Library and Center for Academic Research possesses all requisite modern library equipment and facilities as well as a qualified staff. It is used by students, faculties, researchers, scholars and freelancers nationally and internationally. The library is fully computerised. Bait al-Hikmah Library has large collection of books and journals on different subjects and in different languages, covering Science and Technology,

Medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

, Management Sciences, Indo-Pakistan History, Islam and Religion, Traditional/Alternative Systems of Medicine,

Social Sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

and Jurisprudence besides Urdu, English, Arabic and Persian Literature, as well as departmental specialised libraries of the Hamdard University at College of Medicine, College of Eastern Medicine, Institute of Management Sciences, Institute of Education and Social Sciences, Institute of Information Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Faculty of Legal studies which meet the needs of their students and teachers to a considerable extent. Hakim Said collected significant Islamic manuscripts from around the world and gave them to the Bait al-Hikmah. The Manuscripts section of Bait al-Hikmah library houses old and rare, centuries-old hand-written manuscripts of the

. The periodical section has 2,255 Journals (current), and about 28,010 bound volumes of journals (back issues). The clipping section has more than 3.68 million clippings on over 1,300 subjects. BaitalHikmah4

Hamdard Foundation Pakistan has published more than 250 research publications in collaboration with Bait al-Hikmah and is publishing four International Standard Journals: Hamdard Sehat, Hamdard Medicus, Hamdard Islamicus and the Journal of Pakistan Historical Society. Through the publication of these International Standard Journals, Bait al-Hikmah has established an international exchange relationship with all the leading institutions, organization, universities and libraries of the world. In exchange of these Journals Bait al-Hikmah is also receiving thousands of periodicals and books. The library has many facilities available, like microfilms and microfiche,

photocopying A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers ...

telefax Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (the latter short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer o ...

telex The telex network is a station-to-station switched network of teleprinters similar to a telephone network, using telegraph-grade connecting circuits for two-way text-based messages. Telex was a major method of sending written messages electroni ...

, e-mail and internet. Projector for films and slides, study rooms and special cubicles and sections for local and foreign research scholars and students are also available. It has an auditorium with a capacity of 350 persons and a Simultaneous Interpretation System (SIS) in five languages, and it has a board room for holding high level meetings and also equipped with facilities for meetings and seminars. At present Bait al-Hikmah Library has more than 477 thousand books, 1,700+ manuscripts and more than three-and-a-half million clippings.

References

{{Authority control Library buildings completed in 1989 Academic libraries in Pakistan Libraries in Karachi Hamdard University

History

Facilities

See also

References