Libraries in the Muslim World: Challenges & Opportunities
By
Mian Muhammad Ramzan
Senior Manager
Information Services Department
Riphah International University, Islamabad (PAKISTAN)
ABSRACT: Libraries are the beating heart of an educational / research in institution. Shelby Foote says “A university is just a group of buildings gathered around the library” In order to maintain steady and balanced progress in scientific research, Muslim world needs to improve Libraries and learning resource centeres.It is an entire need to reshape the ways of collecting preserving and disseminating knowledge because libraries and information source centers are the backbone of research activities. Availability of right information at the right time to the right user is the core objective of any library and reference centre.
Main objective of this paper is to realize importance and condition of the libraries in Muslim world. The problems / challenges faced by academic / research libraries are also focused. The problems discussed are as lack of funding for libraries, untrained library professionals, absence of competent personnel in top managerial positions, Lack of knowledge of information technology, inadequate finance / physical facilities , lack of cooperative programs, unavailability of professional associations, explosion of information, Standard automation / digitization software, searching problems in cyber space, different formats of digital multilingual intellectual property. This paper will provide the solution and the future plan to face these challenges and to meet the needs of researchers, scholars and information seekers. This paper will be based on observations, experience of the author or review of the literature and discussions with senior library / information professionals, researchers. Recommendations including the cooperative purchase of scientific resources, preservations of library heritage, consortium for resource sharing among the research institutes, ODD(online delivery of document), ILL(inter library loan), among the Muslim world, FULLOIC( Federation of University Libraries of Islamic States),Common Information Gateway for libraries of the Muslim world (OPAC),Standard citation style , Impact factor for journals published in the Muslim world, Indexing & abstracting service, Common Initiative for open Digital Archives, Competition for Scientific publications to enhance research culture among the Muslim world. This paper will provide a food for thought to improve research libraries to promote the research culture in the Muslim world.
Key words:
Muslim world, Scientific research, knowledge management, Digitization, Digital libraries, Digital archives, preservation, consortium, Federation, FULOIC, Cooperative purchase, Inter library Loan, Resource sharing, Information explosion, Information portal, Open Public Access Catalogue (OPAC),Literary Heritage.
Methodology: This paper is based on personal experience of the author, literature review and discussions with senior library professionals and educationists to identify challenges and opportunities facing by research /university libraries.
Introduction: The Muslim world comprises upon sixty two Countries (62) from which 57 countries are the member of Organization of Islamic Countries OIC. Total population of the World is 6.5 Billion and the Muslim population is 1.4 Billion. In other words every fourth person on this earth is Muslim. This human capital is a great blessing/asset if materialized for the development of the Muslim society.
The Muslim world is much enriched with fertile agricultural lands and highest mountains. Mostly Muslim areas are gifted with four seasons, summer, winter, autumn and spring due to that all type of golden crops and fruits are grown in these Countries.
The Muslim world is blessed with rivers and oceans. All important water ways used as trade route are under the control of the Muslim states. The Muslim world is also enriched with natural resources jute 90%, Rubber 70%, Arabic Gum 85%, spices 95%, Date oil 65%, Cotton 35%, Tin 51%is being produced from the Muslim world.
Besides this crude iron, natural gas, copper, coal, and chromate, uranium, gold, silver and natural salt is being produced from these Muslim countries. Having 7th nuclear power and all these natural resources, the Muslim word is very backward in education.
Islam is the only religion that is based on knowledge. In first Revelation, Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) was advised by Allah Almighty “Read (O Prophet,) in the name of your Rub, Who created. Created man from a clot of congealed blood. Read: and your Lord is Most Generous, Who taught knowledge by the pen: taught man what he did not know”. 1 In Sorah Al-Rehman: Allah Says, “The most merciful (Allah) has taught this Qur’an. He it is Who created man and taught him speech. 2 .Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) taught his ummat to get knowledge with out any gender discrimination. Hazrat Muhammad says, “Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim” ( Saheeh Sunan Ibn Maajah). 3
Education is the key to development and progress. The Muslims are backward and dependent on other nations because Muslim Ummah is backward in education and away from knowledge. In the climax era of the Islamic civilization Spain and Baghdad were centers of knowledge for the whole world. Now the situation is totally revese.The Muslim world’s share in education is 1922 universities out of 17716 of the world.4
The basic reason of this educational decline is three fourth of 62 the Muslims countries are spending only 4% of their total budget on education. “The public spending on education in the 57 Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) countries is one of the lowest in the world.”5
This is the era of science and Technology. “Muslim world is spending only 0.5% of total GNP on scientific development. There is only one scientist out of 1 million populations”6
In the past the books written by the Muslim authors like Ibn e Sina, Ibn Al Hashim, Jabber bin Hayan, were taught as text books in Europe for centuries and centuries . Now a day there is not a single title written by the Muslim authors that is included as text books for Health, Engineering and other sciences. The following table about scientific publications is enough to show the efficiency / interest of Muslim world universities towards science and technology:
Scientifically productive countries
Table 1/7
Rank / Country / 10-yr Publications / Top discipline1 / Turkey / 82,407 / Surgery
2 / Egypt / 27,723 / Applied Mathematics
3 / Iran / 19,114 / Chemistry
4 / Saudi Arabia / 17,472 / Gen - Internal Medicine
5 / Malaysia / 10,674 / Crystallography
6 / Morocco / 10,113 / Physical Chemistry
7 / Nigeria / 9,105 / Food Science & Technology
8 / Pakistan / 7,832 / Plant Sciences
9 / Jordan / 6,384 / Chemical Engineering
10 / Kuwait / 5,930 / Gen - Internal Medicine
Most productive universities in OIC
Table 2/7
Rank / University / Country / Publications1 / University Hacettepe / Turkey / 8,979
2 / University Istanbul / Turkey / 6,488
3 / Ankara University / Turkey / 5,982
4 / Cairo University / Egypt / 4,977
5 / Kuwait University / Kuwait / 4,495
6 / King Saud University / Saudi Arabia / 4,336
7 / Middle Eastern Technical U. / Turkey / 4,215
8 / Gazi University / Turkey / 3,652
9 / Istabul Technical U. / Turkey / 3,452
10 / Ege University / Turkey / 3,336
11 / King Fahd University / Saudi Arabia / 3,323
12 / Ains Shams University / Egypt / 3,129
13 / University Malaya / Malaysia / 2,862
14 / National Research Center / Egypt / 2,651
15 / Alexandria University / Egypt / 2,628
16 / American University Beirut / Lebanon / 2,568
17 / Atatürk University / Turkey / 2,535
18 / United Arab Emirates U. / UAE / 2,478
19 / Mansoura University / Egypt / 2,439
20 / King Faisal Research Center / Saudi Arabia / 2,434
21 / University Sains Malaysia / Malaysia / 2,402
22 / Dokuz Eylul University / Turkey / 2,389
23 / Uzbek Academy of Science / Uzbekistan / 2,169
24 / Cukurova University / Turkey / 2,026
25 / University of Tehran / Iran / 1,962
Libraries in the Muslim world:
Libraries are the Beating Heart of research institutions. The libraries are the focal point of the intellectual life and the Custodians of the world brain. The literary heritage available in the libraries is the best indicator for fall and rise of the nations because information /knowledge always come from rulers to public.
History tells us that,It was the time when Muslim world was known by its universities and libraries. Undlus (Spain), Iraq, Syria and Egypt were the centers of knowledge for the whole whole world.
Now our libraries are also backward because we are very poor in our intellectual property. Our libraries are full of publications came from non Muslims authors / publishers especially in the field of science and technology. That is why, we are totally dependant upon others.
According to the known scholar S. A. Maududi, researchers are the driven force of universe. He said,
“The universe is just like a runaway train and its drivers are thinkers and researcher who steers its engine to reach the destination. This train always travels as drivers want.
Seated passengers are forced to follow the entire rout either they wish or not. If there is a passenger who is not willing to move with the train, he can’t do anything except to comply with. He may be able to change the direction of his seat but not the train. He will have to occupy the engine to move the train according to his wish”.8
Education is the first priority of advanced nations. They are using universities /libraries as weapon and devising diplomatic strategies to maintain their supremacy all over the world.
The following recommendations by the advisory group on public diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim world of the US Government to change the mind of Muslim community are enough to understand the importance of libraries and their use as public opinion instrument.
· “Additional professional staff for public diplomacy dedicated to issues of the Arab and Muslim world is urgently needed. The professional level of fluency in the local languages and the level of knowledge about Arab and Muslim societies must be dramatically enhanced.
· Given the strategic importance of information technologies, a greater portion of the budget should be earmarked to tap the resources of the internet and other communication technologies more effectively.
· Programs in support of English language training, a critical instrument of outreach, education, and job opportunity, must be expanded and supported by increased funding and human resources.
· A major new initiative, the American knowledge library, should be launched. It involves translating thousands of the best Americans books in many fields of education into local languages and making them available to libraries, American Studies Centers, Universities, and American Corners”. 9
Universities and libraries are used as weapon to implement the culture and to change the mind to achieve set goals.Recently US government has shifted its information centers (USIS) into universities.
Six(6) centers are working in different universities at Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Muzzafarabad, FJU Rawalpindi, Karachi and at National Library of Pakistan as Lincoln Corners to mend the mind set by injecting its policies as required by the US government.
Universities / Libraries of the Muslim World:
No reliable source is available that can indicate the exact position of library/ universities in Islamic states. Information given in following reputable sources is varied:
Source Universities
1. http://en.wikipedia.org 1919
- Muslim world Almanac 2008: The definitive reference 401
of Muslim world.-Karachi; Research and documentation
Society, 2008 p1-402
3 The Europa World of Learning 2008: 636
58th Edition (Hardback) - Rutledge
An approximate number of the universities in the Muslim world are 1922 and libraries are more than 2000 in different Islamic states. Exact data about the libraries resources and information professional is not available anywhere. Country wise detail of population and universities is as under: 10-70
S.No / Country / Population / Universities1 / Indonesia / 231,627,000 / 117
2 / Pakistan / 163,707,000 / 132
3 / Bangladesh / 158,665,000 / 90
4 / Nigeria / 148,093,000 / 91
5 / Egypt / 75,498,000 / 50
6 / Turkey / 71,751,100 / 111
7 / Iran / 70,495,782 / 249
8 / Sudan / 38,560,000 / 45
9 / Algeria / 33,858,000 / 16
10 / Morocco / 31,224,000 / 16
11 / Uganda / 30,884,000 / 35
12 / Iraq / 28,993,000 / 53
13 / Uzbekistan / 27,372,000 / 06
14 / Malaysia / 27,170,000 / 63
15 / Afghanistan / 27,145,000 / 43
16 / Saudi Arabia / 24,735,000 / 54
17 / Yemen / 22,389,000 / 12
18 / Mozambique / 21,397,000 / 16
19 / Syria / 19,929,000 / 15
20 / Côte d'Ivoire / 19,262,000 / 04
21 / Cameroon / 18,549,000 / 11
22 / Kazakhstan / 15,422,000 / 72
23 / Burkina Faso / 14,784,000 / 04
24 / Niger / 14,226,000 / 01
25 / Senegal / 12,379,000 / 06
26 / Mali / 12,337,000 / 01
27 / Chad / 10,781,000 / 02
28 / Tunisia / 10,327,000 / 16
29 / Guinea / 9,370,000 / 01
30 / Benin / 9,033,000 / 05
31 / Somalia / 8,699,000 / 32
32 / Azerbaijan / 8,467,000 / 21
33 / Tajikistan / 6,736,000 / 19
34 / Togo / 6,585,000 / 02
35 / Libya / 6,160,000 / 49
36 / Jordan / 5,924,000 / 49
37 / Sierra Leone / 5,866,000 / 33
38 / Kyrgyzstan / 5,317,000 / 33
39 / Turkmenistan / 4,965,000 / 03
40 / United Arab Emirates / 4,380,000 / 39
41 / Lebanon / 4,099,000 / 44
42 / Palestinian Authority / 4,017,000 / 17
43 / Albania / 3,190,000 / 47
44 / Mauritania / 3,124,000 / 08
45 / Kuwait / 2,851,000 / 07
46 / Oman / 2,595,000 / 21
47 / Gambia / 1,709,000 / 01
48 / Guinea-Bissau / 1,695,000 / 01
49 / Gabon / 1,331,000 / 03
50 / Qatar / 841,000 / 10
51 / Djibouti / 833,000 / 01
52 / Bahrain / 760,168 / 19
53 / Guyana / 738,000 / 02
54 / Comoros / 682,000 / 01
55 / Suriname / 458,000 / 06
56 / Brunei / 390,000 / 10
57 / Maldives / 306,000 / 02
58 / Bosnia / 23
59 / Eritrea / 09
60 / Ethiopia / 52
61 / Tanzania / 20
62 / Central African Republic / 01
Total / 1,468,119,824 / 1922
Table # 03