MADRID: Darul Makhtutat, tasked with the preservation of ancient Arabic and Islamic manuscripts, held a ceremony in the Spanish Andalusian city of Granada to award Kuwaiti researcher Dr Abdullah Al-Ghunaim in recognition of his achievements and works. Dr Al-Ghunaim, currently the president of the Centre for Research and Studies on Kuwait, is a former Kuwait University professor who assumed the role of College of Arts dean, former education minister and former Institute of Arabic Manuscripts director at the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation.
He has also written many publications, mostly specializing in historical mapping. Darul Makhtutat, based in Istanbul, was launched in November under the sponsorship of a Kuwaiti charity in cooperation with the Faculty of Andalusian Studies in Granada, with the aim of the preservation of Arab and Islamic heritage.
In his acceptance speech, Dr Al-Ghunaim said he was sincerely thankful and appreciative for the honoring, describing the historic city of Granada, established by the Muslim Umayyad dynasty, as a “fragrant land.” Granada, he said, introduced to the world the renowned Andalusian explorer Abu Hamid Al-Gharnati and Ibn Said Al-Maghribi, a historian, geographer and poet famed for his book, “Geography”, among many others, both of whom lived between the 11th and 13th centuries. – KUNA
