The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) held an academic lecture on Monday, 22 June 2026, at its headquarters in Rabat, as part of its “Global Thinkers at ICESCO” series, titled “Manuscript Terminology in the East and West.” The lecture was delivered by Dr. Ahmed Chaouki Binebine, Curator of the Hassania Royal Library in Morocco, in the presence of a number of experts and researchers specializing in manuscripts from the Arab world.

The lecture began with an address by Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, delivered on his behalf by Dr. Abdelillah Benarafa, Deputy Director-General, wherein he emphasized that manuscript heritage is a significant part of Arab and Islamic civilization, being the most enduring and comprehensive repository of knowledge from previous civilizations, and the richest in subject matter.

He also highlighted the numerous connections between Arabic manuscripts and those written in other languages, noting that Western philologists played a significant early role in studying manuscripts and defining their terminology, alongside valuable Arab contributions that helped shape the lexicon of codicology.

During the lecture, moderated by Dr. Idham Hanash, Director of the Calligraphy and Manuscripts Center at ICESCO, Dr. Binebine explained that the preparation of the “Dictionary of Arabic Manuscript Terminology: A Codicological Lexicon,” which he co-authored with Dr. Mustapha Toubi, was based on an inductive approach aimed at reviving neglected manuscript terminology. He described manuscripts as one of the key elements of tangible heritage and a living memory preserving the Ummah’s connection to its scientific and cultural past.

The speaker traced the development of manuscript terminology in both Western and Eastern contexts, reviewing scholars’ contributions to advancing manuscript concepts in Arab and non-Arab settings. He noted that the first project to compile a dictionary of manuscript terminology in the Western world dates back to 1953.

Dr. Binebine also addressed Arabic manuscript terminology, highlighting that early scholarly attention to terminology was initially linked to the vocabulary of the Holy Quran and the Prophetic Hadith as well as their interpretation. The need for new lexicons only emerged later, as knowledge expanded and Islamic society evolved.

The meeting concluded with scholarly discussions on the importance of unifying manuscript terminology, strengthening codicological studies in the Islamic world, and enhancing cooperation among specialized institutions to preserve, catalogue and restore manuscripts, making them accessible to researchers.