An Introduction to
The Department of The Islamic Sciences Thesaurus of
The Center of Islamic Studies and Researches

In The Name Of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful

Introduction:

The present age is the time of the rapid development of sciences and explosion of information. So, it is necessary to have an instant access to the information and in this way it must be avoided from extortion and also it should not take a lot of time to find the subjects.

Today, the methods such as the use of summarization and selected information is more common than using the detailed essays and long and compound words or phrases so that the researchers can not only be familiar with the latest information but save their time and access easily the desired scientific subjects.

The thesaurus is the best way to gather the information and to organize them properly; and particularly if they are categorized by using the computer and an orderly structure of thesaurus is used, it will increase the speed and accuracy of the computer and also it will prevent the decrease of the desired information and the researchers will access them more quickly and properly.

Among the most famous thesauruses in the world are: Unesco Thesaurus (including different editions) regarding the scientific and technical information, Thesaurus of Eric regarding the education, the persian cultural thesauruses (called ASFA) regarding the fields of culture, education, communications, economy, sociology, geography, psychology, librarianship, information,..., and the Thesaurus of the Information Excange System (called Nema) , which is the translation of Spains Thesaurus, are the most famous persian thesauruses.

According to the development of the Islamic sciences, the need for compilation of a thesaurus in different fields of Islamic sciences was certainly obvious. So the center of the Islamic Studies and Researches of the Islamic Propagation Office took the first step in this way and started to compile this great project.

So far, the compilation of the thesauruses of the Quranic sciences, Islamic philosophy and the principles of jurisprudence (fiqh) have been finished and are now available for the researchers. the thesauruses of theology, logic, the sciences of tradition (Hadith), Islamic ethics and jurisprudence (Fiqh) are under compilation and they will be presented very soon. To support the thesauruses in all eight fields, some short and useful information have been collected that will prepare the way for the compilation of the lexicon.

Definition of the term

The term is a word or phrase that must convey a fully precise and limited meaning in certain cases or it must relate to the science, technique or a particular field. Not only the relations of the terms are registered in a thesaurus but also it is tried to make relations between all the available terms.

Definition of the thesaurus

Thesaurus is a set of standard, selected and systematic term among which are semantic and hierarchical relations. A thesaurus can present a subject or a course along with its main, minor and related aspects in a systematic way to save and retrieve the information and documents or for other purposes. From a structural viewpoint, the collection of the terms of a thesaurus that are controlled and organized are in a specific field including the maximum information but the least losses.

The main goals of the Department of the Islamic Sciences Thesaurus

- Preparation of a scheme in the field of the Islamic sciences to present both the logical relations between the cencepts of the terms and a general description of the structure of the terms

- Preparation of the standard terms in the field of the Islamic knowledge in order to equalize the entries of both the saving and retrieval systems of information

- Preparation of a system of references among the synonyms and quasi-sysnonyms for the use of a unique term from the set of synonyms,... in the network of the terms

- Preparation of a directory for the researchers, index-providers and users to select a correct term while searching the subjects of the Islamic sciences and knowledge

The Applied Goals of the Thesaurus of the Islamic Sciences

- Preparing an organized structure of the words applied in different courses of the Islmic sciences to have an easy, correct and coordinated selection of indexes and marking boundaries to their applied position

- A way of saving ard retrieving the information in every scientific field

- A structured and controlled indexing language that can be used in the past-coordinate indexing system within the Islamic sciences information

- Facilitating the use of the computer by preparing a logic and systematic language for the subject of the desired science

- Controlling the synonyms and quasi-synonyms, determining the authorized terms, specifying the extent of the meanings of the terms to prepare arrangement and accurancy in indexing the Islamic sciences

- Helping the researchers who are researching in a specific field as a reference, source or means

The Qualities of the Thesaurus of the Islamic Sciences

- The first thesaurus in the Islamic sciences in the cultural field of Arab and farsi speakers

- Preparation and presentation of the general structure of each branch of the Islamic sciences according to the well-known viewpoints and goals of information

- Helping the researchers to fulfill and complete their theses, essays and books

- Using the descriptive and systematic displays in teaching for the use of professors and scholars in both understanding and explaining by using the semantic relations among the terms

- Preparing and arranging the specialized libraries on the base of the descriptive and systematic displays which are certainly much better and more applicable than the current classification methods and can be considered as the best pattern for other purposes

- Practicability to classify the information of the sources and citations by the use of the software application and an easy and simple access to the desired contents

- Setting the semantic relations among the Islamic terms and words which are usually shown by the use of the synonyms, hierarchical (general-individual relations, whole-part relations, concept and evidence) and associative relations

The set of the terms of each course is shown systematically and from superordintor to subordinator and by preserving all the primary, secondary and associative aspects in such a way that all of the superordination and subordination terms and their logic subclasses, are presented from a unique and gereral viewpoint so that the main and minor positions of all terms are determined in a gereral structure along with the available relations among them. There is no term unless its relations with the other terms has been clarified.

- The selective terms, i.e. the common terms in particular courses of the Islamie sciences, and the discarded terms are not mentioned; but if necessary, they are referred to the common or preferred terms.

- The thesaurus of the Islamic sciences can be expanded much more and it is not considered as a closed or finished work. Its form and size may change according to the development of the knowledges.

- The thesaurus of the Islamic sciences has been arranged in alphabetical, tree-shaped and systematic structures each of which has a particular use.

A Brief Glance at the Department of the Islamic Sciences Thesaurus

The thesaurus department of the Islamic sciences consists of some pillars and slso eight research gruops that are introduced as follows:

Pillars:

- The chief of the research department of the thesaurus of the Islamic sciences

- The scientific council of the thesaurus department of the Islamic sciences

- The council of the Executive planning

- The specialized committees

- Education and supervision

The research groups:

1. The research group of the Quranic sciences

2. The research group of the Islamic philosophy

3. The research group of the Principles or jurisprudence (Fiqh)

4. The research group of the Islamic theology

5. The research group of the Islamic ethics

6. The research group of the sciences of tradition (Hadith)

7. The research group of logic

8. The research group of jurisprudence (Fiqh)

The Research Group of the Quranic Sciences

Thesaurus:

Its first edition was published in one volume including 581 pages in 1996 by the scientific council of the thesaurus department and with the cooperation of the researchers and advisory scholars.

It includes 4151 terms that have been gathered by referring to more than 200 books. This set has been arranged in three alphabetical, systematic and hierarchical sections.

Citation:

For supporting the thesaurus and presenting some brief and userful information, and also preparing the way for the compilation of the lexicon of the Quranic sciences, about 2600 applicable and common terms were selected, for each of which some citation cards were prepared by the consultation with relevant scholars. Meanwhile, all terms in the thesaurus have been cited to the sources whose addresses have come under each term. More than 200 sources have been referred and addressed in the project and all of them have the citaion identification in a specific form.

- The set of citations will be published in the form of the lexicon of the Quranic sciences including 1000 pages.

- For more information and accurate access to the particular parts of the texts, the main books of the Quranic books, in addition to the citations, are being indexed so that the texts can be accessed by the terms.

The Research Group of the Islamic Philosophy

Thesaurus:

The first edition of this work was published in two volumes including 1289 pages in 1997 by the scientific council of the thesaurus department and cooperation of the researchers and advisory scholars.

It includes 21000 terms that have been gathered by referring to more than 122 books. This set has been arranged in two alphabetical and systematic sections.

Citation:

For supporting the thesaurus and presenting some brief and useful information, and also prepating the way for the compilation of the lexicom of the Islamic philosophy, about 2000 applicable and common terms were selected, that will be cited to the sources whose addresses have come under each term.

More than 120 sources have been referred and addressed in the project and all of them have the citation identification in a spesific form. It must be noted that so far the citations of 1000 terms have been prepared.

The Research Group of Principles of Jurisprudence (Fiqh)

Thesaurus:

The first edition of the work was published in one volume including 405 pages in 1999 by the research group of the principles of jurisprudence and cooperation of the advisory scholars. It includes 5394 terms that have been gathered by referring to more than 150 books. This set has been arranged in three alphabetical, systematic and hierarchical sections.

Citation:

For supporting the thesaurus and presenting some brief and useful information and also preparing the way for the compilation of the lexicon of the principles of jurisprudence (Fiqh), about 3000 appilcable and common terms were selected for all of which the citation cards have been prepared and will be produced as a software program up to the end of 2003.

Meanwhile, all terms in the thesaurus are cited to the sources whose addresses have come under each term. More than 190 books were referred and addressed in the project and all of them have been prepared with the citation identification in a specific form. The set of the documents of the principles of jurisprudence (Fiqh) will be published in 2004.

The Research Group of the Islamic Theology

Thesaurus:

This research was accomplished by the research group of the Islamic theology and cooperation of the advisory scholars and has been ready for publication. It includes more than 15000 terms, which were gathered by referring to about 120 books in the field of theology, and is arranged in three alphabetical, systematic and descriptive sections.

Citation:

For supporting the thesaurus and presenting some brief and useful information and also preparing the way for the compilation of the lxicon of the Islamic theology, about 4000 applicable and common terms are under work and research and %40 of the whole terms have been cited.

More than 120 sources were referred and addressed in the project, and all of them have been prepared with the citation indentification in a specific form.

The Research Group of the Islamic Ethics

Thesaurus:

This work was started in the second half of 1997 and about %90 of the project has been finished so far. It includes 4000 terms that have been gathered by referring to about 175 sources. It will be produced in a software progam up to the end of 2003 and also published at the same time.

Citation:

For supporting the thesaurus and presenting some brief and useful information and also preparing the way for the compilation of the lexicon of the Islamic ethics, the citation of more than 2000 terms has been started and all of the sources, selected for the thesaurus or citation, have been prepared with a complete list as an index in specefic cards which now consists of about 5000 ones.

The Research Group of the Sciences of Tradition (Hadith)

Thesaurus:

It has been started at the end of 1997 and about 30000 terms and 8000 citations are under study and research. So far about %80 of compilation of the thesaurus and about %50 of citations have been accomplished by referring to more than 80 books.

The thesaurus and the citation will be produced in the software programs up to the end of 2003 and 2004, respectively. For an easy access to the texts and sources of all resources, which have been used for preparing the citations the terms, a complete list as an index has been prepared in specific cards which now include about 3000 ones.

The Research Group of Logic

Thesaurus:

This project was started in the second half of 1997 and about %95 of the work including more than 6500 terms has been fulfilled by referring to the relevant resources.

For supporting the thesaurus and presenting some brief and useful information and also preparing the way forthe compilation of the lexicon of the logic, citation of 3500 terms is now under way and about %50 of the terms have been cited so far.

For all sources which are used for the thesaurus or citation, there has been prepared a complete list as an index in specific cards which now include about 3000 ones.

The Research Group of Jurisprudence (Fiqh)

Thesaurus:

This project was started from the beginning of 1998 and about 30000 terms from 10000 citations are under the way of the project. By referring to 200 books, about 25 parts of the thesaurus of jurisprudence including 4000 terms have been finished.

It must be mentioned that the compilation of the thesaurus of the Islamic mysticism will be started in the near future by the thesaurus department.

The Group of Collected Works and Common Affairs

While compiling the specialized thesauruses, there were some keywords that couldn't be put distinctly in one of the available thesauruses. On the other hand and while indexing, there were also some other words, that couldn't be considered among the specialized terms in the field of the Islamic sciences. Therefore, such terms had to be specified and organized so that the index-providers can use the distinct and controlled terms and organized information. Such terms were classified in the following sections:

1. The common terms

2. The proper nouns

3. The corporate body I (the names of the legal personalities)

4. The corporate body II (the names of countries, provisions, cities, ...)

To support the indexing of the press (from 1989 to 1996) and the set of the works of the marty Ayatullah Motahhari, the grand leader Ayatullah Khamenei (d), Ayatullah Hazzanzadeh Amoli, Ayatullah Jawadi Amoli and the late Falsafi and also to continue the indexing of the magazines of the Propagation Office of the Islamic Seminary of Qom and saving and retrieving the information by the computer system along with indexing them, the required terms were studied and approved by a certain group after the suggestion of the index-providers and then they were gradually arranged and edited in the form of written texts. Finally and in 1996, its last edition was fulfilled with the following qualities:
 

Common terms	The proper nouns and the names of common personalities
No. of preferred terms: 6134	No. of the main entries: 18718
No. of non-preferred terms: 5117	No. of references: 5430
Footnotes: 181

Corporate body I	Corporate body II
No. of preferred terms: 3500	No. of preferred terms: 4641
No. of non-preferred terms: 1400	No. of non-preferred terms: 382
Footnotes: 500

It must be noted that the kind of relation in the above cases is the synonym one.