The book tells stories and tales of tolerance in the UAE community

 The National Archives inaugurates “Their Memory Our History” on its platform on the first Abu Dhabi Book Day

The National Archives inaugurated the book (Their Memory Our History), one of its most important and most recent publications, in its platform in which it participates in the first days of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair in its current edition. It enriches the memory of the homeland with the exploits of the fathers and grandfathers, and the customs and traditions of the people of the Emirates and their traditions in their local dialect, so that it remains a source of sustenance for the younger generations and proof of belonging to the homeland and loyalty to its wise leadership.

The National Archives platform witnessed, in the presence of His Excellency Majid Al Muhairi, Executive Director of the National Archives, some directors of departments in the National Archives, and some experts and specialists in the field of oral history at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. And the elderly who recounted some anecdotes, stories and events that indicate the tolerance of Emirati society. 

The National Archives records oral narrations from the nation’s memory - in facts, events and lifestyles - as a treasure for generations, and records them in order to preserve the UAE’s ancient heritage of customs and traditions, the traces of fathers and ancestors, enriching cultural development, and consolidating the national identity. The National Archives keeps more than 900 audio-recorded interviews. The picture is of the elderly as they tell what their memories store, and the book contains interviews with the first generation who lived through the pre-union stage documenting the oral memory of the voices of the centenarians whose memory is a historical reference that forms a rich information base that informs young people of historical events and lifestyles for each region of the state United Arab Emirates.

His Excellency Dr. Abdullah Mohammed Al-Raisi, Director General of the National Archives, said in the introduction to this book: The history of any nation is a repository for its works and ideas, a container for its hopes, and a reference for its glory and glory... In the newly emerging United Arab Emirates compared to other countries, it was necessary to resort to narrators Stories and events from those who lived through the events before and after the union, in order to document its history from the mouths of its children; The eyewitness is more reliable than the hearing witness. That is why the National Archives had to rush to these narrators to write down an important aspect of its history.

And Dr. Al-Raisi adds: In "Their Memory Our History" there are pages from the interviews of the first generation in the field of oral history, this history that Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan - may God bless his soul - gave him attention and care.

And Dr. Al-Raisi continues in an introduction to the book: The concerned National Archives recorded and transcribed the interview, then wrote it down in an easy and clear Arabic language, while preserving the words and terminology used in Emirati society, and explaining and interpreting them in the footnotes of the pages. Thus, it was possible to obtain fragments of history in addition to a glossary of colloquial terms used by the people of the Emirates in their daily lives and intellectual production of poems, proverbs, stories and novels.

And since oral history is one of the important sources of the nation that is concerned with its history, the National Archives has been interested in collecting and preserving it and making it available to researchers so that they can look at events from a modern perspective and reflect on social issues and shed light on them. It contains new and useful information.

The book tells a number of stories and anecdotes that show the tolerance and solidarity of Emirati society in the past, and the complementarity between men and women in it.

The book also shows the interest of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan - may God rest his soul in peace - in the people of society, his keenness on their advancement and comfort, and the efforts he made in order to improve the human being and build the place.

It is worth noting that the book (Their Memory Our History) is distinguished by its documented oral narratives derived from the memory of the fathers regarding the Emirati man and his experience, and the impact of political and economic changes on him. official, and completely unknown to current generations.

In view of the documented information contained in the book, it is considered a historical source on which researchers rely, and it will have its importance in the scientific and academic community because of the documented historical information it contains.