Morocco’s religious affairs ministry launched an online platform holding over 10,000 holy scriptures

Rabat: Morocco’s Islamic affairs ministry, the country’s highest religious authority, launched an online platform that holds more than 10,000 Hadith, scripts comprising preachings from the Prophet Mohammed. In line with instructions the ministry is said to have received from Morocco’s King, Mohammed VI, the platform is available through the “hadithm6.com” and “hadithm6.ma” portals. An app is also available on Play Store and App Store.

The “Mohammed VI for Hadith Acharif” now contains the largest online inventory for Hadith put together by the ministry. The platform aims to allow the general public access to the holy scriptures and to identify their authenticity.

Speaking after the launching of the platform, the Minister of Endowment and Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Taoufiq, said that the establishment of the platform is of significant religious and scientific value as it will offer the general public access to invaluable religious information.

Knowledge of Islam implies learning the Quran, the minister said. “Verily, it is We who sent down the Quran, and it is We who are guardians,” Taoufiq said, quoting Sura al-Hijr 15-9.

The minister underscored the importance of studying the Sunnah, which comprises the preaching and practices of the Prophet Mohammed. The Sunnah is the second source of references on religious matters for Muslims and Muslim scholars alike. It includes, among other things, the words, actions, or practices of the Prophet Mohammed, according to the minister. Taoufiq then pointed out the importance of verifying the authenticity of each Hadith.

The “Mohammed VI for Hadith Acharif” platform contains a Q&A section to enhance interaction with users, the minister explained, adding that users who submit religious inquiries through the platform will receive answers via emails within 24 hours.

(www.moroccoworldnews.com)

Madina: Madina’s Quba Mosque , the first place of worship built by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), will increase ten-fold in size, Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has announced. The structure will undergo the largest development in its history expanding to 50,000 square meters. The project aims to increase the mosque’s capacity to 66,000 worshipers. Its current praying area is 5,000 square meters, with the building and facilities taking up 13,500 square meters. It has a total capacity for 20,000 worshipers.

Quba Mosque is located 5 kilometers south of the Prophet’s Mosque. It was the first place of worship in the history of Islam and constructed in 1 A.H. It is believed that Prophet Mohammed (saws) used to frequently pray in Quba Mosque, especially on Saturdays. He also urged his companions to do so. (Arab News)

LONDON: Google has finished the mammoth project of digitizing 40,000 Malian manuscripts smuggled to safety from Timbuktu, preserving the historic documents and making their knowledge publicly available. The priceless manuscripts date back to the 11th century and were rescued after Islamist militant groups took control of large areas of northern Mali in 2012.

Timbuktu, once was a center of academia, culture and Islamic thought, now faces a continuing threat from violent insurgents. The city hosted a library with contacts across the Middle East and the Mediterranean, with texts covering mathematics, medicine, astronomy and Islamic anti-war polemics, as well as scripts written in Hebrew. The manuscripts are written on a range of parchment, from Italian paper to goat, sheep and even fish skin. In a sign of the country’s central role in the gold trade, some are adorned with gold leaf. With the completion of the nine-year digital project, the manuscripts have been uploaded to the website Mali Magic and can be viewed by anyone.

Timbuktu was briefly held by insurgents in 2016, and the extremists have posed a constant threat to Mali’s cultural heritage since the onset of their terrorist campaign.

An archaeological emergency was declared by the International Council of Museums in 2016 after reports that vast quantities of Malian treasures, including manuscripts, terracotta statues from the Niger valley and jewelry, were being looted and sold on the black market. Librarians in Timbuktu were assisted by Google to digitize the texts once the city was made safe and they were returned there.

Just a few hundred of the tens of thousands of texts were lost to a fire started by the insurgents, according to Abdel Kader Haidara, the librarian behind the smuggling operation.

“It’s been said that all the history of Africa is oral. We have more than 400,000 manuscripts here written uniquely by the hands of Africans. It’s a true Renaissance,” he said.
(Arab News)

RIYADH: The Islamic financial industry in Saudi Arabia has a prominent position in the world, with nearly SR3 trillion ($799.7 billion) of total assets, the Saudi Central Bank Deputy Governor for Research and International Affairs, Fahad Abdullah Al-Dossari, said.

This represents approximately 28 percent of the total Islamic financial assets globally, making the Kingdom the first in the world, according to the Islamic Financial Services Board report issued in 2021, Al-Dossari said in a seminar on April 25.

An official from the Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA, pointed out that the Islamic financial industry has witnessed an evident quantitative growth in the size of its assets and its spread at the international level, Saudi Press Agency reported.

Its assets amounted to about $2.7 trillion, according to the IFSB report, achieving annual growth of more than 10 percent, he said.
(https://arab.news/ydm7k)