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Author Session: Liew Han Hsien (Preaching Pious Rulership in Medieval Islam)
About the Session
Join Liew Han Hsien in an author session presenting his book, Preaching Pious Rulership in Medieval Islam.
Date: Sunday, 2 August 2026
Time: 11.00 am
Venue: Wardah Books, 58 Bussorah Street, Level 2 (Stairs only)
Ticket purchase required. $5 can be used as credit to be used for book purchases only on the day.
Purchase ticket: Click here.
Notes on the book credits:
- Valid only on the day of the event
- Can only be used once
- Can be used to purchase any book at Wardah Books
- Not transferable, refundable nor redeemable for cash
About the Author
Liew Han Hsien is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at Arizona State University (United States), originally from Penang, Malaysia. His research focuses on medieval Islamic history and political thought, but he also works on Islamic theology, Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir), and Islam in Southeast Asia. Preaching Pious Rulership in Medieval Islam is his first book.
About the Book
This book studies the relationship between political thought, preaching and emotions through the writings of Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 1201), a celebrated hortatory preacher in late Abbasid Baghdad.
Through an intertextual analysis of Ibn al-Jawzi’s works in various genres, this book details how his ideal form of rulership reflected the emotional norms and pietistic moral virtues promoted in Muslim hortatory sermons. It also examines the emotional strategies deployed in his efforts to reform the rulers of his time.
In highlighting the importance of piety in Ibn al-Jawzi’s political discourses, the book points to a new reading of the history of Islamic political thought that, rather than foregrounding order and military prowess, considers competing political languages among medieval Muslim intellectuals. In doing so, it calls for the need to rethink notions of ‘politics’ and the ‘political’ when studying Islam.
Purchase book: Click here
