Prof. Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman is a man of avocation. To one side, he is a great bibliophilic and at another side, he is a philanthropist, a scholar of repute and an expert in Islamic/Unani Medicine. He established his personal library-cum-museum in early 60s. After the establishment of Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine & Sciences (IAMMS) in 2000 AD, this Library and museum have become a part of IAMMS (Trust).
The library of IAMMS at present houses over 15000 books and back volumes of journals and has access to over hundreds of medical journals. Thesis, Institutional Reports, Staff Publications, CD ROMs, Video Cassettes are the other resources available to all Scientific Community. The library has initiated the digitization activities. It has plans to digitize its collection and introduce enhanced electronic information services in the coming years. The library has also one of the most precious and valuable collections of manuscripts, special numbers of magazine, paintings, postal stamps, coins and specimens of oriental calligraphy. The collection is now being raised. Many scholars and generous contributors are now furnishing the library with books, periodicals and rare novelties.
The Library has several thousand books in many languages like Arabic/ Persian/ Urdu/ Sanskrit/ Hindi/ and English, on a variety of subjects like History of Medicine and Sciences, Unani/ Islamic Medicine, Ilmul Advia (Pharmacology), Religion, Urdu Literature with special reference to Ghalib, Aligarh and Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, besides thousands of bound volumes of periodicals. The library consists of over 500 manuscripts. Most of the manuscripts are very rare and some are unique.
The Library of Ibn Sinā Academy of Medieval Medicine & Sciences is the only library from India, which is listed in the Directory of History of Medicine Collections, US Department of Health and Human Services, National Library of Medicine, NIH, USA
The Academy will be composed of Fellows and Life Members of an Individuals and an Institution.
Abu Ali Ibn Sina is a well-known personality among the physicians of Unani medicine and scientists of physical sciences since medieval times. To commemorate and to institutionalize an academy named after him, Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine & Sciences was founded on March 1, 2000. The Academy has been registered under Indian Trusts Act, 1882 and was formally inaugurated on April 20, 2001. Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India gave accreditation to the academy in 2004 and promoted it as ‘Centre of Excellence’ in 2008. The Academy is now a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit organization with multiple aims and objectives.
