Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat al-Madina al-Munawwara wa Dawruhu fi Khidmat al-Sira al-Nabawiyya

Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat al-Madina al-Munawwara wa Dawruhu fi Khidmat al-Sira al-Nabawiyya (The Medina Research and Studies Center and Its Role in Serving the Prophetic Biography) is an institutional study and report authored by Dr. Abd al-Basit Abd al-Razzaq Badr, the Director General of the Medina Research and Studies Center (Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat al-Madina al-Munawwara) Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …+1. The book outlines the center's institutional background, organizational structure, research programs, and specialized initiatives dedicated to documenting the history of Medina and the Prophetic biography (al-Sira al-Nabawiyya) Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …+1.

Background and Establishment of the Center

The author introduces the work by highlighting the enduring historical and religious stature of Medina since the Prophet’s migration, noting the vast literary heritage composed about the city across generations Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …+1. To preserve this heritage, assemble widely scattered manuscripts, and produce critically verified research, Prince Abd al-Majid ibn Abd al-Aziz, then the governor of the Medina Province, founded the Medina Research and Studies Center in 1418 AH as a perpetual charitable endowment (waqf) Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …. The land for the center was registered in the Grand Sharia Court of Medina on 28 Muharram 1418 AH, with Prince Abd al-Majid serving as its inaugural board chairman until he was succeeded by Prince Muqrin ibn Abd al-Aziz Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat ….

Structure and General Programs

The book details the administrative and research apparatus of the center, which consists of a Board of Directors, a Scientific Council, specialized scientific departments, and administrative bodies Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …+1. Its primary academic branches include:

• The Department of Research and Translation Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat ….
• The Information Database Department, supported by a specialized library and computing facilities Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat ….
• The Department of Manuscripts and Documents, focused on collecting, indexing, and editing historical texts Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat ….
• A public specialized research library Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat ….

The treatise surveys the center's wider scholarly output, including the critical editing of historical texts such as Majd al-Din al-Fayruzabadi's al-Maghanim al-Mutaba fi Ma'alim Taba in four volumes, as well as works by Ibn al-Najjar and Ibn Asakir Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …+1. It highlights projects such as cataloging 1,828 manuscripts and treatises across 1,180 titles from the historical Bashir Agha Library, digitizing 59 manuscripts, and archiving an estimated 100,000 Ottoman archival documents related to Medina, with over 60,000 entered into electronic systems Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …+3. Additional undertakings include multimedia applications, documentary films, scale models of Medina's urban development, and digital information portals such as the MadinahNet network Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …+2.

Service to the Prophetic Biography

The core section of the text focuses on the center's methodology and projects regarding the Prophetic biography Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …+1. Rather than simply recompiling classical narrations, the center adopted a field-documentation approach (al-tawthiq al-maydani), correlating historical accounts with the physical topography, geography, and terrain of Medina Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …. Narrations are evaluated hierarchically, drawing primarily from the Quran, authentic Hadith collections, early Sira works, history, and biographical literature Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …:

• Battle Documentation: The project commenced with a comprehensive field study of the Battle of Uhud (Ghazwat Uhud) to resolve disputed details and correct popular misconceptions, followed by the second phase documenting the Battle of the Trench (Ghazwat al-Khandaq) Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …+1.
• Digital Programs and Encyclopedias: The development of the Medina in the Prophetic Era software, covering events, images, maps, and socioeconomic data; the Encyclopedia of the Prophet's Mosque; and interactive software illustrating the architectural development of the Prophet's Mosque across history, released in Arabic, English, Turkish, and Urdu Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …+1.
• Cartography and Databases: The construction of detailed maps using satellite imagery and historical texts to delineate tribal settlements and landmarks during the Prophetic era, as well as the path of the Prophet’s migration from Quba into the center of Medina Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …. The work also notes al-Hafidha, a digital archive containing extracted Sira narratives and biographical records of the Prophet and his Companions Markaz Buhuth wa Dirasat …+1.