Al Maktaba Shamela

You can search for words regardless of diacritics (tashkeel) or spelling variations. Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) and proximity search (find "Qadr" within 5 words of "Laylat") are standard.

Shamela works best when you search without diacritics. For example, searching for محمد (no vowels) will find all instances of Muḥammad, Muḥammadan, etc.

While Shamela is a miracle of technology, it is not a substitute for a teacher. The software cannot distinguish between a Sahih (authentic) Hadith and a Mawdu’ (fabricated) one unless you know how to read the chain. Likewise, it won’t tell you if a fatwa has been abrogated or is specific to a certain context.

Rule of thumb: Use Shamela to find the source. Use a scholar to understand it.

Before 2005, if you wanted to compare what Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim said about a single verse, you needed a physical library and a week. Today, Shamela does it in 5 seconds. al maktaba shamela

It is, without exaggeration, one of the most important tools for Islamic scholarship in the 21st century. Whether you are a graduate student writing a thesis, a khatib preparing a Friday sermon, or just a curious reader, Al-Maktaba Al-Shamela belongs on your digital bookshelf.

Have you used Shamela before? What’s your favorite feature—or your biggest frustration with it? Let me know in the comments below.

Al-Maktaba al-Shamela (المكتبة الشاملة), often simply called "Shamela," is widely considered the gold standard for digital Islamic libraries. It is an essential software tool for students of knowledge, researchers, and scholars.

Here is a detailed review broken down by features, pros, and cons. You can search for words regardless of diacritics

The project began in the early 2000s as a response to the high cost and inaccessibility of printed Islamic books. The first versions were rudimentary: a few hundred books in an unstable interface. However, the team behind Al Maktaba Shamela (often credited to the "Bawaba al-Islam" forum community) adopted a Wikipedia-like philosophy: open collaboration.

By 2010, the library had crossed 3,000 titles. By 2015, with the launch of Shamela.ws, anyone with an internet browser could access the full library for free. The web version eliminated the need for downloads and allowed mobile access.

Today, the Shamela Library contains over 12,000 unique titles, with a dedicated team verifying and adding new books weekly. The project remains entirely non-profit and ad-free.

At its core, Shamela is a free, downloadable software (available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS) that hosts over 12,000+ Islamic books in a single, searchable database. It covers virtually every classical discipline:

Beyond simple word search, Shamela supports:

This is powerful for long-form research like tracing a concept across centuries.