Usul is a new project aiming to evolve the way Islamic Research is conducted today. It builds on top of digital libraries like Al-Maktaba Al-Shamela and OpenITI. Usul is focused on two key initiatives:
- Search and AI: incorporate state-of-the-art technologies in search and artificial intelligence to allow researchers to quickly navigate and find sources. Our AI capabilities enable users to traverse large quantities of text to find precise answers and quotes. Search and AI are available on Usul today.
- Universal Corpus: build the largest corpus of Islamic texts so that virtually any text is accessible on Usul. The most common challenge researchers face is that the texts they work on are not available in digital libraries, forcing them to rely on PDF files that often don’t support searching. We’ve already cataloged over 3,000 texts and are continuously working on adding more texts to Usul.
Despite being a non-profit, we build fast and operate like a startup. Here’s a timeline of Usul from inception:
- Jan 2024: Usul founded
- Apr 2024: Usul v1 launched (searching, reading, OpenITI integration)
- Nov 2024: Usul v2 launched (AI, vector search, Shamela integration)
- Mid 2025: Usul v3 planned (user accounts, private notes, collections)
Usul is the first project of Seemorg Foundation, a 501(c)3 pending non-profit aiming to bring AI and latest technology to Islamic Research. Please reach out if you’d like to donate or support our work.