The house of the great scholar Abderrahman Ibn Khaldun, in the Medina of Tunis, will be restored and transformed into a museum dedicated to this great scholar of thought and his exceptional work, with the support of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, in the United Arab Emirates.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on Thursday at the Cité de la Culture in Tunis, in the presence of the Minister of Cultural Affairs, Hayet Ketat Guermazi, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, Abdul Rahman bin Mohammad Nasser Al Qwais.
The Minister mentioned “a first partnership with the UAE Centre for the restoration of Ibn Khaldun’s home which will be transformed into a museum.
For his part, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre said that this new partnership “is part of other initiatives of the Centre to preserve the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity in the Arab region.
The Centre has entered into this new partnership with the Tunisian side based on “the symbolism of this monument of Islamic Arab history, in which the great scholar was born and raised,” the UAE official said.
He also stressed the importance of Ibn Khaldun who “is one of the Arab scholars who are the pride of the Islamic civilisation”.La maison d’Ibn Khaldoun se trouve dans la rue de Torbet El Bey, pas loin de la mosquée Zitouna, au coeur de la Médina de Tunis qui est classée au patrimoine de l’Unesco.
The building, which is still well preserved, consists of a ground floor and an upper floor which are built around an open courtyard. Its walls are covered with squares and porcelain, decorative motifs that were, at the time, the preserve of the wealthy classes.
The Ministry of Cultural Affairs wants to transform the house into a cultural and historical museum that includes works by Ibn Khaldun-Leopard, including his works and biographical books on his life and literary career.
In 2019, an agreement on the restoration and preservation of the house of the great scholar Abderrahman Ibn Khaldun was signed in Tunis between the National Heritage Institute (INP) and the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO). The Ministry announced that “the restoration work will be carried out with a donation of 700,000 dollars from ISESCO”.
The initiative to restore Ibn Khaldun’s house was announced by the Director General of Isesco during the closing ceremony of the “Tunis Capital of Islamic Culture 2019” event, held on December 17 at the Cité de la Culture.
This agreement also provided for “the restoration and safeguarding of the house of Ibn Khaldun with a view to its transformation into a museum”.
The initiative with the Emirati side is part of the same strategy in the Arab region to protect and preserve the heritage in the countries of the Islamic world.
Ibn Khaldun ( May 27, 1332 – March 17, 1406) was an Arab philosopher, historian, economist and sociologist born in Tunis during the Hafsid period.
This scholar spent most of his life in the family home in Tourbet el Bey, and studied at the local school in Masjed el Qoba, and then at the great Zitouna Mosque.
This descendant of a large Andalusian family lived in Egypt for almost 25 years, where he died at the age of 74.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse