National Day of Sierra Leone

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27th April: National Day of Sierra Leone

A brief about Sierra Leone’s Islamic written heritage

Sierra Leone - The road from Kenema to Kailahun District. Photo by Lindsay Stark via Wikimedia Commons

Among the 106 countries included in the “World Survey of Islamic Manuscripts” (the flagship project undertaken by Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation between the years 1989 – 1994) was Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone’s Islamic written heritage was surveyed in 1992, by Baba Yunus Muhammad.

This survey brought to light a wealth of information about the Country’s collections of Islamic manuscripts, by indicating: the cities and libraries that hold these manuscripts, the approximate number of manuscripts within each collection, the subjects and languages in which they are written, the conditions in which they are and whether they have been catalogued and studied, the particular significant manuscripts which they contain, etc.

According to this Survey, Sierra Leone has just over 750 manuscripts, held in 13 libraries (private and institutional). These libraries have mostly been established between 1900 – 1999, and their collections vary between 4 and 145 manuscripts.

Sierra Leone- Traditional clothing. Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Source note:
This information was published in the following book:
“World Survey of Islamic Manuscripts” (English version), 1997-2002, Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, London, UK, Vol. 3, pp. 65-76.

Please note that some of the images used in this online version might not be part of the published version of this article within the respective book.

Disclaimer:
The data figures, the names, and other details are overall reflecting those of the time when the Survey was conducted.

Important note:
The Foundation is striving to update these details in progress; and, Your help in this regard would be much appreciated.

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