About the Library
The İSAM Library was established in 1984 to collect the publications needed for the preparation of the Diyanet Encyclopedia of Islam and to make them available to the scientific world. In the library, which works with modern methods in order to carry out both the Diyanet Encyclopedia of Islam and other research and publication activities in a quick and structured manner, books and periodicals published on Islamic culture, history, and civilization are regularly monitored and procured, and made available to researchers.
The İSAM Library is a unique and exemplary specialized library in its field with its collections, in-library reader services, and online support for academics outside Istanbul. It houses a large documentation unit consisting of approximately 20,000 document files and a unique and comprehensive collection in the fields of religious sciences, social sciences, and classical arts, enriched by years of collective labor and accumulation. The collection includes works by: Ziyad Ebüzziya, Orhan Şaik Gökyay, Nejat Göyünç, Hilmi Oflaz, Nihat M. Çetin, Yavuz Argıt, Albert Hourani, Jacques Waardenburg, Kemal Beydilli, Kasım Küfrevî, the Nuhoğlu Family, Kathleen R.F. Burril, İlber Ortaylı, Fethi Gemuhluoğlu, Suphi Saatçi, Turgut Akpınar, Baykan Sezer, Mahmut Şakiroğlu, Melda Özata, Nihat Keklik, Bilge Seyidoğlu, Cahit Öztelli, Ömer Sezgin, Mehmet Zeki Aydın, and Stanford Shaw/Ezel Kural Shaw. In addition to these, many private collections are available, including the collections of: Rüçhan Arık/Oluş Arık, İnci Enginün, Aynur Durukan, Asım Gültekin, Timur Kocaoğlu and Fakhr al-Dīn Qabāve, Yusuf İzzeddin Efendi, Hüseyin Hilmi Paşa, Kemal Batanay, Muḥammad b. Tāwīt al-Ṭanjī, Cüneyd Kosal, and Halil Sahillioğlu. The Küfrevî Collection, which contains the first editions of Arabic, Ottoman, English, and Persian basic sources on Islam, is one of the special collections in the İSAM Library.
The library offers a wide range of resources to the reader, with sālnāmas (official Ottoman annals), pamphlets, Ottoman journals, registries, and manuscripts.
The İSAM Library also has the richest archive of Turkish music sheets in the country. The online databases can be accessed free of charge and unlimitedly without the need for membership within İSAM. Content can be searched in online databases, with full text access.
The Theology Theses Database, which includes ongoing studies, prevents repetition in the selection of thesis topics.
The İSAM Library is a library that has succeeded in establishing an emotional and rational bond with its researchers thanks to its comprehensive and distinguished collection, efficient working space, and academic environment that offers the opportunity to exchange ideas on scientific issues.
Located on the İSAM campus in Üsküdar, Istanbul, the library, in addition to its collection and peaceful working environment, offers all kinds of facilities for the basic needs and comfort of researchers (tea, food, photocopying, a large garden, and more) with the understanding of the foundation tradition.