The Week of Al-Furqan's Activities, organised on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation

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“25 Years Serving the Islamic Written Heritage”

The year 2013 ended on a truly historic note, as Al-Furqan Foundation celebrated its 25th Anniversary.
Friends, family, scholars and supporters from all around the world came to London during the last week of November to join the Foundation in celebrating a quarter of a century of dedication and excellence in preserving the Islamic Written Heritage. It was a busy, lively and exciting week of events.

Part of the conference: “Editing Islamic Manuscripts on Social Sciences and Humanities”

The celebrations began on 26th November, with a two-day conference on manuscripts, under the title “Editing Islamic Manuscripts on Social Sciences and Humanities”. The conference featured keynote speakers addressing and fostering debate on a variety of themes from social sciences and humanities, including problems and challenges faced in the editing process, methodologies and further research and work.

BMA House

On the evening of 28th November, the Foundation held its formal 25th Anniversary celebration gala evening at the prestigious BMA House in Bloomsbury, London. The evening’s programme featured exhibitions, live musical performances, keynote speeches by friends of the Foundation and leaders and an elegant dinner and reception. The guests were honoured by the presence of the Founder and Chairman of Al-Furqan, His Excellency Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, who spoke fondly and with humility about the accomplishments of Al-Furqan since its inception. His Excellency expressed deep appreciation to all those, whose support and contributions helped the Foundation grow and prosper into a truly pioneering institution of cultural and intellectual heritage. The guests were also treated to a short documentary film tribute to the Foundation’s esteemed founder, which followed the evolution of the Foundation, its Centres and its many ground-breaking projects, and which included contributions and testimonials from many renowned scholars and leaders.

During the evening event, all the members of Al-Furqan's International Advisory Board and Board of Experts were recognised in acknowledgment of their efforts and continuous support in achieving the Foundation’s message, and whose contributions over the years have been key to the success of the Foundation. The recipients of plaques, awarded by His Excellency were:

Manuscripts CentreMakkah & Madinah CentreMaqasid Centre
Prof Dr Ekmeleddin IhsanoğluSheikh Dr Abdu-l-Wahab abu SulaimanProf Dr Mohammed Salim al-Awa
Prof Dr Abdu-l-Hadi al-TaziProf Dr Abbas Saleh TashkandyProf Dr Issam al-Basheer
Prof Dr Muhammad Adnan al-BakheetProf Asim Hamdan AliSheikh Abdullah Farraj al-Shareef
Prof Dr Ibrahim ChabbouhDr Mohammed Abdu-l-Karim bin ObaidDr Hasan Jaber
Prof Dr Abdullah Yusuf al-GhunaimDr Mi’raj Nawab Mirza
Prof Dr Enes KarićDr Adnan Mohammed al-Shareef
in absentia:in absentia:in absentia:
Prof Dr Nasir al-Din al-AsadProf Abdu-l-Malik bin Duhaysh (رحمه الله)Sheikh Dr Mohammed al-Habeb bin al-Khojah (رحمه الله)
Prof Dr Sayed Hossein NasrProf Abdu-l-Lateef bin Abdullah bin DuhayshSheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi
Prof Dr Sayed Waheed al-DinProf Ghazi bin Obaid MadaniSheikh Abdullah bin Bayah
Prof Dr Iraj Afshar (رحمه الله)Dr Omar Hasan FalatahDr Sayid Hadi Khasroshahi
Prof Dr Muhammad Haitham al-KhayatDr Abdu-l-Rahman Sulaiman al-MazeniSheikh Mohammed Mukhtar al-Salami
Dr Abdullah Saleh Ahmed ShawooshProf Dr Ahmad al-Raisouni
Dr Yusuf Ahmed HawalahProf Dr Kamal Imam
Prof Dr Sayfuddin Abdu-l-Fattah
Dr Abdullah Fad’aq
Dr Ibrahim al-Bayyoumi Ghanem
Sali Shahsivari -on behalf of the Al-Furqan employees- handing H.E. a certificate of gratitude and appreciation

A number of non-members of the boards were also recognised by the Foundation for their outstanding contributions over the years. Recipients of these plaques were: Prof Dr Ayman Fouad Sayyid Dr Jasser Auda. In absentia: Prof Dr Qasim al-Samarrai Prof Jeffrey Roper.
Furthermore, in acknowledgment of their long service, loyalty, work and effort, four of the staff members of Al-Furqan were recognised:
1. Magdalene Coulson
2. Sue Nockall
3. Mohamed Drioueche
4. Karima Benaicha


The 25th Anniversary celebrations concluded with a four-day specialised training course, organised by the Centre for the Study of Islamic Manuscripts, in partnership with the Islamic Cultural Centre & the London Central Mosque Trust and the UK Board of Shariah Councils, under the title “The Objectives of Shari’ah: The Principles and Concepts”. Record-breaking attendance at the training course made it one of the most energetic, diverse and stimulating to date. The in-depth training course built awareness and understanding among participants in a range of aspects of the study of the objectives of shari’ah, including Legal Theory, Jurisprudence, Islamic Thought and Ethics, as well as addressing topics of approach, methodology and the obstacles facing today’s scholars. The course featured, among its guest speakers ,leaders in the field from around the world.

Al-Maqasid training course “The Objectives of Shari’ah: The Principles and Concepts”

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