[A blog piece from my friend, Ibrahim Tahir from Wardah Books. Read on...]
Minutes before closing time at Wardah on a Saturday evening, in walks a young man who seemed to me to be in his late teens. He scans the books on our shelves, pausing now and again at some of the more exotic titles: his expression was one of bemusement. Ah, it’s a familiar feeling for any bookseller – my selection is being sized up. Judgement is not for in coming. He finally turns to me and says, “Why do you have all these books?” Needless to say, I was puzzled, and my momentary silence must have successfully communicated this. “Why do you have books on philosophy, Islamic science, Islamic art … and all of that,” he elaborated, waving at the ‘Sufi’ section.
“Because this is a bookshop and this is our selection of books we think are good and are worth reading,” was my reply.
“But you don’t need all of this because the Qur’an has everything.”
