The Library of the Sufi Brotherhood al-Nāṣiriyya in Tamgrūt, Morocco: The Formation, Organization, and Profile of an Early Modern Library [Die Bibliothek der Sufi-Bruderschaft al-Nāṣiriyya in Tamgrūt, Marokko: Die Entstehung, Organisation und das Profil einer frühneuzeitlichen Bibliothek]

Kraneiß, Natalie

Research article (journal) | Peer reviewed

Abstract

Research into the history of libraries as institutions in the Islamicate world, rather than as reservoirs of the oldest and rarest manuscripts, has been gaining momentum in recent years. However, libraries in the western part of the Islamicate world have not yet received sufficient attention. The library of the Sufi brotherhood al-Nāṣiriyya in Tamgrūt is an outstanding example that was founded in the mid-seventeenth century on the edge of the Sahara in southern Morocco. There, Maḥammad b. Nāṣir al-Darʿī (d. 1085/1674) and his son Aḥmad b. Nāṣir “al-Khalīfa” al-Darʿī (d. 1129/1717) established a centre of knowledge that quickly became well-known, far beyond Morocco’s borders, for its imposing library, which still houses an impressive collection of 4,777 manuscripts today. This paper traces the history of the library from its founding to its closure during French colonial rule and its reopening after Moroccan independence. It considers the library as a physical structure and an organization, as well as how it functioned as a fundamental part of higher education in the Sufi lodge. Then, I present the results of a statistical analysis of Ḥamīd Laḥmar’s six-volume catalogue published in 2013. Through this analysis, which focuses on 873 manuscripts from the collection that were dated and copied by identified copyists before 1720, I construct a profile of the library that highlights how research into such institutions can help correct long-held assumptions about the intellectual history of the Islamicate world in the early modern period.

Details about the publication

JournalJournal of Islamic Manuscripts
Volume16
Issue1
Page range40-73
StatusPublished
Release year2025 (04/03/2025)
Language in which the publication is writtenEnglish
DOI10.1163/1878464X-01601003
KeywordsBibliotheksgeschichte; Marokko; al-Nāṣiriyya, Frühe Neuzeit

Authors from the University of Münster

Kraneiß, Natalie
Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies