The Islamic Civilisation Book Club 2024

About the Book Club

Wardah Books is hosting a regular book club called The Islamic Civilisation Book Club. The book club aims to promote systematic, serious reading about Islamic Civilisation; and to introduce the scope and depth of Islamic Civilisation.

The book club is chaired by Dr Md Mubarak Habib Md. For some subjects and texts, there will be guest chairs. For participants in the book club, the pace of reading is one book in about 5 weeks. The book club is open to everyone. The book club is not a class, it’s a purposeful conversation amongst readers who are all reading the same book. All books for the book club are available at Wardah Books.

Unless otherwise stated

All sessions are held in-person at Wardah Books

On scheduled Sundays at 10:30am (Singapore)

No registration required

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Sessions

Pre-reading Session

The chair introduces the text, places the text within its field of study, introduces and explains key terms to look out for in the text, introduces the author, and provides guidance on reading the text. Participants will then proceed to read the book over the next 5 weeks or until the Post-reading Session.

Reading (five weeks)

Some pointers for active reading for book club:

Take notes.
Write questions or discussion points to raise later in the Post-reading Session.
Plan your time and read consistently. Complete the text before the start of the Post-reading Session.

Post-reading Session

The chair summarises the main ideas of the text and leads a discussion among participants.

Subjects and Texts for 2024

A. Epistemology [Completed]

The Quranic Narrative: The Journey of Life as Told in the Qur’an by Louay M. Safi

Pre-Reading Session: 19 May 2024, Sunday, 10:30am
Post-Reading Session: 7 July 2024, Sunday, 10:30am

Discussion Themes for The Quranic Narrative: The Journey of Life as Told in the Qur’an:

Spirit: What is the connection between the human spirit and the Divine
Faith: How is faith strengthened through knowledge?
Inner Peace: With regard to achieving inner peace, what is the nature of the struggle between Divine Will and human will?
Community Peace: How do we extend individual inner peace to community peace?
Universal Peace: How does our understanding of the Quran contribute towards universal peace?
Eternal Peace: Death is the gate towards eternal peace. How do we prepare for it?

Purchase book: Click here.

B. Tradition and Modernity [Completed]

Islam in Liberalism by Joseph A. Massad

Pre-Reading Session: 14 July 2024, Sunday, 10:30am
Post-Reading Session: 1 September 2024, Sunday, 10:30am

Discussion Themes for Islam in Liberalism

Reform: Problems with the ‘Islam Needs a Reformation’ thesis
Western Hegemony: With ‘culture wars’ and the ‘Palestine issue’, is Western hegemony unravelling?
Feminism and Women’s Rights: Western champions rescuing ‘brown women’ and sites of contestation

Purchase book: Click here.