Latest Renovation Update:
Salaam
Dear Reader,
Wardah Books is located in a grand century-old conservation shophouse that used to be the home and offices of Qadhi Haji Ali bin Mohamed Said Saleh. If the walls could speak, there is much they would tell us about the history and heritage of Muslims in Kampong Gelam and indeed of Singapore.
How many nikaah were conducted here, how many tearful divorces were concluded, how many married couples were counselled? Elder residents have told us that Qadhi Haji Ali, being the de-facto religious head during colonial times, used to declare the start of Ramadan and the eve of Eid from the front steps of this building. News would travel far and fast to all the kampongs of the island, all from this grand old dame at 58 Bussorah Street. It is our privilege to be the current occupants.
The building's roof and ceiling is in need of repair and rejuvenation. While repair work is underway, Wardah Books will relocate temporarily nearby at 263 Beach Road (between Epigram Bookshop and Fika Swedish Cafe) for just under two months. (Click here for Google Maps directions)
We will be fully operational – inshaAllah – at 263 Beach Road from 18 November 2021 to mid January 2022.
We will be taking this opportunity to fit the 58 Bussorah Street premises with custom shelves on the ground floor, design a new dedicated children's section, and create a larger space upstairs with armchairs for readers – something long overdue.
We will also throw open the three full-height French windows on the second floor to let the gorgeous afternoon light stream in as it did before when we first moved in the building in 2004.
We're excited to show this to all to you, dear reader. Together, we pray, we will come home to 58 Bussorah Street by the middle of January 2022, just a few weeks shy of our 20th anniversary on 15 February.
We thank you, dear reader, for your support all these years and for helping us build a community of readers, giving life to the heritage of learning and knowledge right here, at our home in Kampong Gelam.
May Allah make things easy for us, and may we be ever grateful for all His blessings.
With gratitude,
The Booksellers of Wardah Books
