The Director of Balai Khazanah Islam Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Dr. Awang Haji Mohammed Hussain bin Pehin Penyurat Haji Awang Ahmad, who is also the Co-Chair of the Working Committee for the Persidangan Antarabangsa Manuskrip Islam 2025, in his welcoming remarks during the opening ceremony of the Persidangan Antarabangsa Manuskrip Islam 2025, spoke on the theme of the conference, which was chosen to highlight the significance of Islamic manuscripts as an intellectual treasure and a premier source, as well as authentic proof of the contributions made by Muslim scholars and intellectuals—not only to the religion of Islam, but also to the development of world civilization.
Speaking about Islamic manuscripts, he said that most people would typically imagine that these manuscripts are found only in Middle Eastern countries. However, the actual fact is that Islamic manuscripts, as currently known, can be found in nearly 60 countries around the world.
Even more interesting, he added, is that one category of Islamic manuscripts is Jawi manuscripts, written and produced by Malay Muslim scholars—many of whom had traveled beyond the Malay Archipelago to pursue religious knowledge, particularly to Makkah, Madinah, and Egypt.
"These Jawi manuscripts authored by Malay scholars are not only found in Southeast Asia, but also scattered across the globe—in more than 20 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Vatican, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, South Africa, Japan, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, and also Australia,” he explained.
He further stated that the number of Jawi manuscripts located outside the Malay Archipelago is not small—it may well reach 10,000 manuscripts or more. Most of these have not yet been inventoried, let alone studied, and this clearly opens up vast research opportunities to uncover the knowledge and information contained within them.
