What do mythological beasts and imaginary creatures have to do with the Mongol conquest?
Emirati Underground
With Israelis ready to flock to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Katie Wachsberger spoke to the National Library about the cutting edge of culture in the UAE
A Sufi Journey to Jerusalem
A seventeenth century travelogue by a famous Sufi mystic describes a strange and surprising image of Ottoman Palestine
Mawlid al-Nabi: The Birth of the Prophet of Islam
A look at the miraculous tales and sacred biographies of Muhammad, in honor of “Mawlid”
A Bahrain Mystery in the National Library Collection
A mysterious 80 year old document which recently surfaced in our collections emphasizes the geopolitical significance of Bahrain. But what is it doing here?
Thank You for Smoking: Abd al-Ghani Al-Nabulsi and the Ottoman Tobacco Controversy
A seventeenth-century Muslim intellectual’s staunch defense of smoking sheds light on the practice’s connection to modernity and the concept of recreation
The Mathematics of Mecca
How advanced mathematics were used for Islamic religious purposes in the Middle Ages
Abraham the Pilgrim: An Islamic Perspective
A look at the figure of Abraham the Patriarch in the Islamic tradition, with the help of manuscripts from the National Library of Israel’s Islam and Middle East Collection
The Ka‘ba of the Heart: The Hajj in Islamic Mysticism
Rumi, Ibn Arabi, and the radical Sufi conception of religion
The Hejaz Railway: The Train That Connected an Empire
These rare photos offer a glimpse of a monumental Ottoman project, designed to transport “hajj” pilgrims and unite a vast Islamic realm
