Perspectives on the Methodologies of Critical Editing of Arabic Manuscripts

Professor Bashar Awad Marouf

Bashar Awad Marouf was born on 4 September 1940 in Alazamiyah, Baghdad, where he attended primary and secondary school. He graduated from the Department of History at the Faculty of Arts in 1964, followed by a Masters in 1967, and then a PhD in 1976 from Baghdad University, receiving his professorship in 1981.

Professor Marouf taught at the Faculty of Sharī‘ah, Baghdad University, from 1967 to 1970, then the Faculty of Arts from 1970 to 1988. He then founded and headed the Islamic University in Baghdad from 1989 to 1992. In late 1992, he moved to Jordan, and in the period 1992 to 2012, taught at Amman University, Al-Balqa Applied University, the World Islamic Sciences and Education University, and the Jordanian University. Subsequently, he served as adviser to HRH Prince Ali bin Nayef Al-Hashemi in the Hashemite Royal Court from 2012 to 2017.

Professor Marouf was elected as member of a number of distinguished bodies, namely the Iraqi Science Academy (al-Majma‘ al-‘Ilmī al-‘Irāqī) in 1985, the Jordanian Arabic Language Academy (Majma‘ al-Lughah al-‘Arabiyyah al-Urdunī) in 1988, the Royal Academy (al-Majma‘ al-Malakī) in 1988, and the Arabic Language Academy in Damascus (Majma‘ al-Lughah al-‘Arabiyyah bi Dimashq) in 2002. Professor Marouf has also been garlanded with numerous prizes and awards, most recently, the international King Faisal Prize in Islamic Studies for 2018CE/1439AH.

He has authored numerous books, 18 titles in total—most prominently, “the Classified and Verified Musnad (al-Musnad al-muṣanaf al-mu‘allal)” comprising 41 volumes, and critically edited 38 books, adding up to more than 230 volumes.