Introducing the library of the Islamic centre of Hamburg: a unique library in the centre of Europe

Imam Ali (peace be upon him) stated:

الكتب بساطين العُلماء

Books are gardens and prairies of scientist.

Most of the Muslims of Europe, especially Germany, are familiar with the Islamic centre of Hamburg and maybe, some of them have been able to visit this centre and its mosque several times andhave attended its various programs and have asked their religious questions.                                

Apart from its long existence and its interesting location beside the beautiful lake ”Elstar”, its’ fascinating building as the reflection of eastern architecture and art has attracted tourists to visit the Islamic centre of Hamburg as part of their sightseeing of the city.                                                                                       

The library at the Islamic centre of Hamburg is located on the top floor of the new building. The library is not only used for study, but it is also used for small meetings. The length of this library is 220 metres.                   

There is a rather large dome on the top of the library and its outer is covered by copper cover and its inner is covered by special cloth cover. The surface of the dome is decorated beautifully and painted by Iranian artists.

The design of various squares of Al-Mehvar that depict the sacred names “Allah” and ”Muhammad” (peace of Allah be upon him and his descendants) is one of the unique works of Iranian design.

The bottom  of this dome is covered with blue tiles that are written with the verses of Quran with the Solth handwriting and these tiles have been made in the traditional tile company of Gohar Shad in the holy city of Mashhad. The beautiful hall of the library is used for the classes of painting for teenagers, movie shows and some celebrations. The books in the library are about Islam and it includes reference books and books related to the Islamic sciences such as jurisprudence, jurisprudence principles, Quran, Hadiths, the biography of Imams, gnosticism, languages, Arabic literature, the history of Iran and so forth.  The way of the classification of this library is on the basis of LC. At the present, this series includes 6810 titles and 10288 volumes of book. The library presents its services to clients on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday days from 10 until 3.  There are also other books of the centre of Hamburg in the part of Latin library that are in the Islamic academy’s hall and it includes 3000 books.

Furthermore, people interested in the books of this library can study them there or borrow their favourite books for two weeks after registering.  It should be mentioned that some of these include the donating notes of dear authors in addition to precious inscriptions in the library of the Islamic Centre of Hamburg such as late Ayatollah Al-Ozma Seyed Mohsen Hakim and late Ayatollah Taleghani that has donated his books with his own handwriting. In addition, the personal library of late professor, Faltvr, according to his order, it has been granted to the Islamic Centre of Hamburg, has enriched the Islamic books (whether they are written in Farsi, Arabic and German Languages).                                                                                                            

The opening of the library for children and teenagers in the large library of the Islamic Centre of Hamburg

Scientists, sociologists and psychologists that intend to increase the level of knowledge and public awareness and to expand culture and art in each society believe that the growth of culture, especially the culture of studying, should start from childhood. Hence, the Islamic centre of Hamburg is attempting to build a library for children and teenagers and with the establishment of the library related to children and teenagers section within large library of this centre, to present books and audio and visual CDs in Persian, German Arabic and … in a comfortable and quiet atmosphere, it will give services to children that are interested in studying.

The library is open on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday days from 10 A.M until 3 P.M.

Some books of the library for children and teenagers have been donated. Hence, donating books and other educational means to this section can enrich it for our dear children.

The account of Islamic centre of Hamburg:

The owner of the account: Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg

The name of the bank: Hamburger Sparkasse

The account number : 1022229502

The code of the bank: 20050550

IBAN: DE10200505501022229502

BIC: HASPDEHHXXX