Abstract
Public Libraries were first introduced by the Greeks. Libraries are considered Masters of the Masters. The word Library is derived from the Latin word liber, meaning book, whereas bibliotheca is a Greek word for library used in German and Roman languages. Public Libraries in the Muslim world were known by various names like Bayt al-Hikmah, Khizanat al-Hikmah, or Dar al-Hikmah, or Dar al- ‘ilm, Dar al-Kutub, Khizanat al-Kutub and Bayt al-Kutub, kitab-khana (Iran), kutuphane (Turkey). First Arab library was founded by Umayyad Caliph Muawiyah ibn abi Sufiyan (602-680) in Damascus. Much of the book industry revolved around the mosque. Most of the small libraries were part of the mosques, whose primary purpose was copying of books from Greek, Pahlavi, Syriac and Sanskrit into Arabic. Lectures, debates and discussions on a wide range of religious, scientific and philosophical issues of the day were debated at mosques. In this article 31 libraries of the Muslim World, from medieval to contemporary; have been described in an abridged way. Libraries of Tunis, Baghdad, Cairo, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Samarkand, Bukhara, Afghanistan, Islamic Spain, Mughal India, Ottoman Empire, Pakistan, Senegal, Mali and India, have been described in detail. At the end, a brief description of virtual libraries has been given
