Library of Ayatollah Ha'iri
 | |
| General Information | |
|---|---|
| Founder | 'Abd al-Karim Ha'iri Yazdi |
| Established | 1930 |
| Type | Library |
| Location | Qom |
| Other names | Library of Faydiyya Seminary |
| Specifications | |
| Status | Active |
| Facilities | Manuscript and printed books • Two reading halls: public and for researchers only |
| Architecture | |
| Renovation | In different years and in 2002 by order of Ayatollah Khamenei |
Library of Ayatollah Ḥāʾirī or Library of Fayḍīyya Seminary was founded after the foundation of the Seminary of Qom by Shaykh 'Abd al-Karim Ha'iri Yazdi. In 2002, the new building of library was opened to the public.
History
Faydiyya school has originally had an important library. Baha' al-Din al-'Amili dedicated some books to it in addition to the books Shah 'Abbas had previously donated to it.
Following foundation of the Islamic Seminary of Qom by Shaykh 'Abd al-Karim Ha'iri in 1340/1921-22, its public library was also opened on Jumada II 19 of 1349/November 11,1930.
The library is located in the middle of the west of the second floor. Until 1380/1960, the location of the library did not change but only the space of library and the number of the books increased; so that, at the time of Ayatollah Burujirdi, the first phase of its expansion began and many rare books were donated to the library. The second phase of its expansion happened before the Islamic Revolution of Iran during the religious authority of Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Rida Gulpayigani when a big reading hall was added to the library. After the Islamic Revolution, many books were added to the library by the order of Imam Khomeini.
In 1995, a new building was dedicated to the library in the north east of the school by the order of Ayatollah Khamenei and it was opened in July 2002. This new building is now known as the library of Ayatollah Ha'iri.
Sections
Following the new expansion of the library by the order of Ayatollah Khamenei, some new sections were made to the library for the better access of researchers in Islamic sciences to sources including:
- Book depository of manuscripts,
- Book depository of printed books,
- Book loaning,
- Theses bank,
- Digital information bank.
Moreover, this library has two reading halls: public and for researchers only.
Number of Books and Topics
The number of books until the end of 1960s was around 5,000 volumes and until the end of 1980s reached 24,500 volumes. In 2007, the library held around 90,000 books in 25 main topics of:
- Qur'an and tafsir sciences,
- Hadith studies,
- Usul,
- Fiqh,
- Fihrist,
- Tarajim and rijal,
- Philosophy,
- Islamic theology,
- Logic,
- Morphology and syntax,
- Semantics and rheteurics,
- Du'as and supplications,
- History,
- Geography,
- Language,
- Medicine,
- Law,
- Psychology,
- Educational sciences,
- Ethics,
- Mysticism,
- Advice,
- Virtues and hardships of the Ahl al-Bayt (a),
- Poems and literature.
The library holds about 2,600 volumes of manuscripts cataloged by Reza Ustadi.
References
- The material for this article is mainly taken from کتابخانه آیتالله حائری in Farsi WikiShia.