The First Training Course on cataloguing, organised by Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation in co-operation with Cairo University, took place between 3rd January and 8th February 1994, in Cairo, Egypt.
H.E. addressing dignitaries and participants during the opening session of the training course
The course was held in the Central Library at Cairo University and was inaugurated by the chairman of Al-Furqan, H.E. Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, and the president of Cairo University, Professor Mufid Shihab.
The participants of the Cairo course accompanying HE Sheikh Yamani at the graduation ceremony. On HE's right is Dr. Mohammed Al-Siba’i, Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Cairo University
The course ran for almost six weeks. 16 students from 14 countries from the Middle East, Africa and India attended this course. All the participants were employed in libraries which hold Islamic manuscripts. The course was widely covered by the Egyptian media and hailed as the first attempt to formalise the training of cataloguers of Islamic manuscripts.