Libraries

The British Library's collection of Arabic printed books was formed partly from the former British Museum Library (which became the British Library in 1973), and partly from the India Office Library. The India Office was set up in 1858 to oversee the administration of the Provinces of British India (today Bangladesh, Burma, India, and Pakistan), as well as Aden and other British territories around the Indian Ocean. It closed in 1947 with the independence of India and Pakistan. The India Office library originated in 1798 as the East India Company's library which was taken over by the India Office in 1867.

Module 1: Religion and Law
The Qu'ran, traditions (Hadith), tafsir, theology, commentaries on religious texts, religious teaching and practice, biographies of religious figures; law, fiqh and statutes, fatwas and rulings

Module 2: Sciences, History, and Geography
Natural history, medicine, physiology, other science, classical sciences, philosophy, logic, politics, ethics, mathematics, arithmetic, geometry, mechanics, astrology, chemistry; history, early caliphs and conquests, modern history, genealogy, biographies; geography and travel, regional geography, and topography

Module 3: Periodicals, Literature, Grammar, Language, Catalogues and General Works
Periodicals, folktales, pre-Islamic literature (Antar, Bani Hilal, Imru'l qays), Islamic poetry and prose (al-Burdah), poetry and prose (maqamat), Kalilah wa-dimnah, Luqman, proverbs and sayings, Thousand and one nights, later literature, poetry and prose, general literature; language and lexicography, dictionaries, grammar, syntax, rhetoric, 'ilm al-bayan, catalogues, manuscript catalogues, etc.