Ahlul Bayt Digital Library Project (DILP)
The Ahlul Bayt Digital Library Project (DILP), established in 1996, is a non-Profit Islamic organization that features work from a group of volunteers operating throughout the world. The primary objective of this project is to digitize and present quality resources related to history, law, and society of the Islamic religion and its personalities, with particular emphasis on the Twelver Shi'a Islamic school of thought.[1] These resources include important Islamic art, calligraphy, and Shi'ite primary sources in translation.[2] The out-put of the project is a website named Al-Islam which also serves non-Muslims. The website is entirely supported by individual donors.
Features
This site features hundreds of images and multimedia sources and thousands of full-length texts; new resources are added regularly. Some materials are secondary works, but many are images and primary sources in translation. Important Shi'a texts include the Nahj al-Balagha, al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya (eighty-three prayers and a treatise by Imam al-Sajjad (a)), and a Shi'a anthology with sermons and prayers on the nature of God, leadership, prayer, and spirituality. Additional sources include the text and commentary in Arabic and English of the supplication of Kumayl, a collection of thirty-three Ramadan supplications (the Islamic month of fasting), and a multilingual Qur'an database featuring two Arabic and four scholarly English translations. Supplications are different from Islamic obligatory prayers taken from the Qur'an; these are personal appeals of Imams or pious individuals, often spiritual, and can be similar in many ways to Christian prayers.[3]
Al-Islam has a concise and user-friendly introduction to Islam that welcomes newcomers with a "Beginner's Guide" and offers sections on Islamic beliefs and practices, current events and history, and sources of publications and educational materials.[4]
Even though this website is a source for many researchers and college students, the organizers claim no guarantee the absolute authenticity of all of the data published on this website.[5]
Notes
- ↑ About Us, Al-Islam official blog, Retrieved September 21, 2015
- ↑ Ahlul-Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project, George Mason University, Retrieved September 22, 2015
- ↑ Ahlul-Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project, George Mason University, Retrieved September 22, 2015
- ↑ Links to online resources, National Humanities Center, Retrieved September 22, 2015
- ↑ Centre for Intercultural Learning, Retrieved September 22, 2015