Al-Aqsa Library

The al-Aqsa Library ( ), also known as the al-Aqsa Mosque Library ( ), is the assemblage of books in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound () in Jerusalem.

Locations

The library has two components: (Several photos of the buildings from the outside) The main library: west of al-Aqsa Mosque (al-Qibli). The al-Khutniyya Library: south of al-Aqsa Mosque.

Both locations are only accessible from within the compound.

Main library

The main al-Aqsa library is a general library. It is in a building immediately west of al-Aqsa Mosque (al-Qibli Mosque), inside the compound's south wall. This structure went by many names: the "White Mosque" (The spelling Khutniyah is on pp. 17 and 36 (also al-Khutni for the sheik).) and (, )An 1865 map with the label Al Baka'at al Baidha (bottom center) because of its stones' color. the "Women’s Mosque" ( ), ( "women's musalla") and "women's hall" because of its former use by women. [page number N/A in the limited preview] the "Templars' Armory", because of its use before as a hall or monastic quarters or refectory or armory by the Templars, who might have it constructed in the 1160s. After 1193 (during the Ayyubid dynasty), a mihrab was installed in the south wall. the "mosque of Abu Bekr" ():such as on this 1888 map: possibly a misnomer by 19th-century Europeans.

Its entrance faces the courtyard with the Dome of Yusuf Agha. To its west is the southern section of the Islamic Museum and the al-Fakhariyya Minaret.

In 1922, the Supreme Muslim Council established the (al-Aqsa Mosque's House of Books, ). In 1923, books dispersed throughout the compound were gathered in the an-Naḥawiyya Dome. After inactivity from 1948 to 1976, the library was revived in 1977; books were moved from the Islamic Museum to the Ashrafiyya Madrasa, and then in 2000 to the Women's Mosque.

Al-Khutniyya Library

The al-Khutniyya Library (also al-Khutaniyya. See also: preview at archive.org (free account needed). and al-Khataniyya) () is a manuscript library. It shares its name with a former zawiya and madrasa, which was named after a scholar, Sheikh al-Khutnī/al-Khatanī ().

It is inside Old al-Aqsa in the remains of the Fatimid-era fortification tower on top of the now-sealed Double Gate. The library is in a (wall projection) attached to the compound's south wall, at . (The 1st photo shows how the al-Khutniyya Library is in a structure outside of the al-Aqsa Compound's south wall.) Its access is via a tunnel under the al-Aqsa Mosque (al-Qibli Mosque). The tunnel's only entryway/exit is before the mosque's portico, facing north.

This library began in 1998 as the initiative of a mosque volunteer, Marwan Nashashibi (1934-2014), and his wife, Um Adnan. Its collection has texts on jurisprudence, hadiths, hagiography, Sufism and other topics.

Services

Its director (chief librarian) is often also the director (head curator) of the Islamic Museum. [pages are unnumbered in the preview]

It has about 20,000 books, notably on Islamic archaeology. Books are mostly in Arabic and English, with some in French. It has about 2,000 titles of Arabic manuscripts, from the 5th century to the Ottoman period. Only researchers have access to the manuscripts. It also has a large number of Palestinian newspapers and magazines, many dating to the early 20th century.

It has a department dedicated to children and youths in the main library.

Al-Aqsa Library

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