Maktabah Shamelah Guide: Download, Install & Use the Islamic Library
How to download, install and use al-Maktabah al-Shāmilah (Shamela) — the free Arabic Islamic library with 29,000+ books — on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android.
Al-Maktabah al-Shāmilah (المكتبة الشاملة) is the largest free digital library of Arabic Islamic literature ever assembled. With over 29,000 books covering tafsīr, hadith, fiqh, language, history, biography, and more — all fully searchable — it is an indispensable tool for anyone studying the Islamic sciences.
This guide covers everything you need: downloading the right edition, setting up your system, installing the software, and making the most of the library’s powerful features. Whether you’re a student, researcher, or curious reader, you’ll be up and running in under an hour.
Table of contents
- Quick summary
- What Shamelah includes
- Before you install: enabling Arabic on Windows
- Choose your edition
- Installation
- How to use Shamelah
- Mac and Linux
- iPhone and iPad
- Android
- Updates and support
- Common issues
Quick summary
| What it is | Desktop software giving you a searchable library of 29,000+ Arabic Islamic texts |
| Cost | Completely free |
| Best on | Windows (full experience). Mac is limited. Mobile via the official app |
| Setup time | 30–60 minutes including the download (~20 GB for the Golden edition) |
| Who needs it | Students of Islamic sciences, Arabic readers, researchers, and teachers |
What Shamelah includes
Shamelah houses books across the full breadth of the Islamic sciences, all in Arabic, organised into searchable categories. The standard edition contains over 17,400 books; the Golden edition expands this to 29,000+.
Every book comes with a full index, and many titles include identity cards for the author, making it easy to place a work in its scholarly context. You can open multiple books simultaneously, cross-reference texts, and link commentaries (Sharḥ) to their source texts (Matn) at the click of a button.
Search capabilities
The search engine is where Shamelah truly shines. You can:
- Search across the entire library or limit your search to specific books or categories
- Use AND / OR logic to find passages containing multiple terms
- Search within comments and footnotes, not just the main text
- Toggle Hamza variants on or off (so searching أمر also returns امر and إمر)
- Strip or include Tashkīl (vowel marks) to widen or narrow results
- Search by book title or author name
Customisation
Shamelah lets you adjust fonts, text size, colours, and the background image for each layer (main text, comments, headings), useful for long reading sessions. You can also bookmark locations, add your own notes, and manage a personalised reading list.
Before you install: enabling Arabic on Windows
Shamelah is an Arabic application and requires your Windows system locale to be set to Arabic to display text correctly. This is a one-time change. Your other applications and documents will continue to work in English exactly as before.
You need to do this on Windows. Mac and mobile users can skip this section.
Windows 10 Pro
- Settings → Time & Language → Language → scroll to Preferred Languages → Add a language → select Arabic (Saudi Arabia) → enable Add all optional features
- Control Panel → Clock and Region → Region → Administrative tab → Change System Locale → select Arabic (Saudi Arabia) → OK → Restart your PC
Windows 10 Home / Standard
- Settings → Time & Language → Region & Language → change the region to Saudi Arabia → add Arabic (Saudi Arabia)
- Control Panel → Clock, Language and Region → Region → Administrative → Change System Locale → select Arabic (Saudi Arabia) → OK → Restart your PC
After restarting, your system is ready to install Shamelah.
If you prefer a visual walkthrough, this short video covers the Windows 11 locale setup step by step:
Choose your edition
There are two main editions. Choose based on how much coverage you need:
| Edition | Books | Compressed size | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (v3.64) | 17,400+ | Smaller (~4 GB) | Most users — comprehensive for virtually any research |
| Golden | 29,000+ | ~20 GB | Serious researchers needing the most exhaustive coverage |
If you’re just starting out, the Standard edition is the right choice. The Golden edition is for those who need access to rare and specialist texts beyond the standard corpus.
Standard edition (17,400+ books)
Download the latest official version directly from the Shamelah website:
Alternatively, an archived version is available at:
Download via Internet Archive (RAR / Torrent)
Golden edition (29,000+ books)
The Golden Shamela Library is an expanded, community-maintained edition with over 29,000 books (~20 GB compressed).
| Format | Link |
|---|---|
| Single RAR file (19.7 GB) | Download from MediaFire |
| Split into 14 parts (Telegram) | Files 1–14 |
For ongoing updates and new releases, join the Golden Shamela Telegram group.
This video walks through the full Golden edition download and setup:
Installation — the important step
⚠️ Critical: Once you have downloaded all the files for Golden Shamela, decompress the FIRST file only using WinRAR. The software will automatically handle the remaining parts. Do not extract each file individually — this is the most common mistake.
Once extracted, run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts. The installation will place Shamelah in your Program Files and create a desktop shortcut.
This video covers the full setup process for the Standard Edition including how to update your books after installation:
How to use Shamelah
Once installed, here is how to get the most from the library.
Opening and navigating the library
When you launch Shamelah, you’ll see the main library browser on the left and a reading pane on the right. Books are arranged by category. Click any category to expand it and browse the titles within. Double-click a title to open it in the reading pane.
You can open multiple books at once using the tabbed interface at the top of the reading pane, making it easy to cross-reference texts side by side.
Basic search
Click the Search (بحث) button in the toolbar. Type your term in Arabic and press Enter. Results are shown with the surrounding passage for context. Click any result to jump straight to that location in the book.
To search within a specific book rather than the whole library, open that book first and then use the Search within book option.
Advanced search tips
- Use quotation marks around a phrase to search for exact word sequences
- Enable the Hamza flexibility option if your search returns fewer results than expected. Arabic texts vary in how Hamza is written
- Use the AND (و) operator to find passages that contain two different terms together, useful for narrowing down to specific discussions
- Search in comments and footnotes separately if the main text search doesn’t surface what you need. Many important scholarly discussions live in the margins
Bookmarks and notes
Right-click any passage and select Bookmark (إشارة مرجعية) to save your place. All bookmarks are saved in the Bookmarks panel on the left sidebar, organised by book. You can add a personal note to each bookmark, useful for tracking your research.
Linking Sharḥ with Matn
One of Shamelah’s most powerful features is the ability to link a commentary (Sharḥ) to its source text (Matn), so they scroll in sync. Open both books, then go to Tools → Link Books and select the pair. As you move through the Matn, the Sharḥ will automatically navigate to the corresponding passage.
Customising the display
Go to Settings → Display to adjust fonts, text sizes, and colours. For extended reading, many users prefer a warm off-white background with the main text in dark navy, the same contrast ratio you find in printed books.
For a full visual walkthrough of the library’s features, this comprehensive guide covers everything from search to navigation:
Mac and Linux
macOS — Shamelah is now officially supported on macOS natively! Download it directly from shamela.ws/page/download.
Alternative options:
- موسوعة أسفار (Asfar Encyclopaedia) — available on the Mac App Store
- مكتبة القرطاس (Al-Qirtas Library) — free download for macOS
Linux — An official Linux version is now available. Download it directly from shamela.ws/page/download.
iPhone and iPad
The official Shamelah app is available on the App Store and offers a streamlined version of the library optimised for mobile:
The app is a much smaller download than the desktop edition and works without any system locale changes. It supports search, bookmarks, and reading — ideal for using Shamelah on the go.
Android
The official Android app is available on Google Play:
Updates and support
For official program updates and new releases, check shamela.ws/page/download periodically.
For the Golden edition, the Telegram group is the most active community. New editions, fixes, and announcements are posted there first.
Common issues
The text shows as boxes or question marks Your Windows system locale has not been set to Arabic. Follow the steps in the Before you install section, restart your PC, and then try again.
Setup fails partway through This is almost always caused by extracting more than just the first file. Delete all downloaded files, re-download them, and extract only file #1 with WinRAR.
It’s running slowly The Golden edition is large. Make sure you have sufficient free disk space (at least 25 GB recommended) and run Shamelah from your internal SSD rather than a USB drive or external hard disk.
My antivirus is flagging the download Some antivirus software flags the Golden installer due to its non-standard multi-part packaging, not because it contains anything harmful. If you prefer a fully signed installer, use the official Shamela download instead.
The app on iPhone/Android doesn’t have all the books The mobile apps contain a curated selection of the library. For the full 17,400+ or 29,000+ book collection, the desktop version on Windows is the best option.
If you find this guide useful, share it with anyone who would benefit. Al-Maktabah al-Shāmilah opens the door to a vast inheritance of Islamic scholarship. May Allāh bless every researcher who uses it in seeking beneficial knowledge.
