Somalispot book club?

[MI]

Reading fiction is a waste of time. An hour reading fiction is like an hour playing a video game.

Books like Farenheit, 1984 or Brave New World are a little different because they have informative aspects but it's better as a general rule to avoid fiction. Fiction is like movies and video games.

Agreed. But wasting time isn’t haram nor is reading books purely as an exercise in consumerist entertainment either.

 

[Omar del Sur]

He had some beliefs that ventured into the occult but that isn’t the primary purpose or content of his work as the piece you suggested we read instead by Mr. Crowley.

By the way, Do you only read works by Muslim authors? Mashallah sheikhul Islam Omar der sul, your piety surpasses the sahabaah themselves in this regard.

Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't recommend or mention any book by Crowley. I was pointing out that Crowley and Evola are in the same category. Evola was an occultist. Evola literally wrote books on witchcraft.

"Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola (/ɛˈvoʊlə/; Italian: [ˈɛːvola];[1] 19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974), better known as Julius Evola, was an Italian philosopher, poet, painter, antisemitic conspiracy theorist,[2][3] esotericist, and occultist."

Julius Evola - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I'm not in favor of promoting occultism to 15-year-old SomaliSpotters.

I would rather something wholesome like 40 hadith of Imam Nawawi. Not Evola or Aleister Crowley.

No, I don't only read books by Muslim writers.

I recently ordered this book

If people want, I guess we could read about the international Jewish-Masonic conspiracy.

 

[Omar del Sur]

Agreed. But wasting time isn’t haram nor is reading books purely as an exercise in consumerist entertainment either.

Why promote wasting time?

 

[MI]

Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't recommend or mention any book by Crowley. I was pointing out that Crowley and Evola are in the same category. Evola was an occultist. Evola literally wrote books on witchcraft.

"Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola (/ɛˈvoʊlə/; Italian: [ˈɛːvola];[1] 19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974), better known as Julius Evola, was an Italian philosopher, poet, painter, antisemitic conspiracy theorist,[2][3] esotericist, and occultist."

Julius Evola - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I'm not in favor of promoting occultism to 15-year-old SomaliSpotters.

I would rather something wholesome like 40 hadith of Imam Nawawi. Not Evola or Aleister Crowley.

No, I don't only read books by Muslim writers.

I recently ordered this book

If people want, I guess we could read about the international Jewish-Masonic conspiracy.

They’re not in the same category at all. Just because he had some kooky ideas in this or that direction doesn’t mean you can categorically dismiss his work. Isaac Newton mostly worked on his occult studies (& probably considered it more important than his scientific work) and his heterodox Christian beliefs. Does he also fall into that category?

Isaac Newton's occult studies - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

But I’m not obstinately set on reading something by specifically Evola. We can read ‘The reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times’ by Rene Guenon (a Muslim you’ll be pleased to hear) or ‘Decline of the West’ by Oswald Spengler. Alternatively we can read Heidegger or Kierkegaard. I feel that reading a bit of continental philosophy would do us good in this anglophile world. The biggest reason I wanted to hear your thoughts on Evola is that he is possibly the most ‘anti-liberal’ thinker I know of. Just reading him can make someone question the fundamental presuppositions modernity has one adapt without thinking, and it does a service onto combating the myopia that categorizes people today.

I’ll add Plato’s Republic in the poll tomorrow, and the book you just suggested.

 

[MI]

Why promote wasting time?

Brother, you are wasting time arguing about wasting time. Plus, even reading a vapid and insubstantial book and then discussing it with others can have a positive effect on ones communication skills, reading comprehension, increasing ones vocabularic capacity and so on.

 

[Omar del Sur]

Brother, you are wasting time arguing about wasting time. Plus, even reading a vapid and insubstantial book and then discussing it with others can have a positive effect on ones communication skills, reading comprehension, increasing ones vocabularic capacity and so on.

If I'm wasting time, I'm wasting a couple minutes. A novel takes like twenty hours.

 

[Omar del Sur]

They’re not in the same category at all. Just because he had some kooky ideas in this or that direction doesn’t mean you can categorically dismiss his work. Isaac Newton mostly worked on his occult studies (& probably considered it more important than his scientific work) and his heterodox Christian beliefs. Does he also fall into that category?

Isaac Newton's occult studies - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

But I’m not obstinately set on reading something by specifically Evola. We can read ‘The reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times’ by Rene Guenon (a Muslim you’ll be pleased to hear) or ‘Decline of the West’ by Oswald Spengler. Alternatively we can read Heidegger or Kierkegaard. I feel that reading a bit of continental philosophy would do us good in this anglophile world. The biggest reason I wanted to hear your thoughts on Evola is that he is possibly the most ‘anti-liberal’ thinker I know of. Just reading him can make someone question the fundamental presuppositions modernity has one adapt without thinking, and it does a service onto combating the myopia that categorizes people today.

I’ll add Plato’s Republic in the poll tomorrow, and the book you just suggested.

Guenon and Evola are basically the same thing.

Guenon was a "Muslim" who was also in favor of Catholicism.

These people were basically like Hindus. They were universalists. They believed in throwing all the religions into a blender.

If we promote Evola/Guenon/Schuon, this would encourage people to mix Islam, Hinduism, paganism and a bunch of other random religions.

Now don't get me wrong- they were also conservative intellectuals. That is true. If you just want to read them for the conservative social commentary, I don't really care. But I'm staunchly opposed to encouraging people to read them. They were in favor of mixing Islam, Hinduism, paganism, etc.

Perennialism is not promoting Islam. Perennialism is basically the same ideology as Hinduism.

I'm not saying that the books in the book club must specifically be Islamic books (although that is preferable) but I think we should exclude books that are contrary to Islam and also that are not suitable for the people in general, such as Heidegger, Plato and Spengler)

I mean, for example, we could do a book that discusses history. And I say Heidegger, Plato and Spengler are not suitable for the people in general for a few reasons-

as for Heidegger- I think Heidegger was into paganism and I think his stuff was based on paganism. But even putting that to the side- Being and Time (I have two copies plus a commentary) is not suitable for a general public. Being and Time is a notoriously difficult book, like the Phenomenology of Spirit by Hegel or Critique of Pure Reason by Kant. It's inappropriate imo because the book is super difficult to understand and I think it's too difficult to recommend to a general audience. I'm not insulting the general public- anyone who has read Being and Time knows what I'm talking about. I've read Plato's Republic and some of Spengler's Decline of the West.

The issue I have with Decline of the West is it is very, very long. It's two thick volumes. I don't really have a problem with the content but I think it's too long. I don't think the book club will all be able to read it.

Plato's Republic I think is not as long but I think it is too long as well. I don't really have a problem with the content (as far as people reading it) but I think it's too long.

I don't really care if people read the Republic but I've read the book and I despise Plato's Republic. The man was a commie. I've been accusing Plato of being a Communist for years. The book is like an ancient version of Communism. It's also a blueprint for the New World Order.

My view is that the book should be non-fiction, something the people in general can agree on, not something super difficult (like Being and Time), not too long and not contrary to Islam.

 

[Omar del Sur]

If people are interested in philosophy- why not Incoherence of the Philosophers by Al-Ghazali? The whole book is kind of long and complicated but we could do portions at a time (I suppose we could do the same with Plato's Republic or Decline of the West by Spengler but I honestly hate Plato's Republic because of its ideology and Decline of the West is super long but I'm way more sympathetic to Spengler... I would much rather do Al-Ghazali.... I don't think Plato would be worth it..... I'd be willing to go with Spengler, though, if people wanted to read Spengler but I think his book is like twice the length of the one by Al-Ghazali)

 

[Omar del Sur]

also, if people seriously want to read stuff like the "Freemasonry and Judaism" book- I would recommend instead the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. the Protocols is very short and easy to read.

 

[MI]

Guenon and Evola are basically the same thing.

Guenon was a "Muslim" who was also in favor of Catholicism.

These people were basically like Hindus. They were universalists. They believed in throwing all the religions into a blender.

If we promote Evola/Guenon/Schuon, this would encourage people to mix Islam, Hinduism, paganism and a bunch of other random religions.

Now don't get me wrong- they were also conservative intellectuals. That is true. If you just want to read them for the conservative social commentary, I don't really care. But I'm staunchly opposed to encouraging people to read them. They were in favor of mixing Islam, Hinduism, paganism, etc.

Perennialism is not promoting Islam. Perennialism is basically the same ideology as Hinduism.

I'm not saying that the books in the book club must specifically be Islamic books (although that is preferable) but I think we should exclude books that are contrary to Islam and also that are not suitable for the people in general, such as Heidegger, Plato and Spengler)

I mean, for example, we could do a book that discusses history. And I say Heidegger, Plato and Spengler are not suitable for the people in general for a few reasons-

as for Heidegger- I think Heidegger was into paganism and I think his stuff was based on paganism. But even putting that to the side- Being and Time (I have two copies plus a commentary) is not suitable for a general public. Being and Time is a notoriously difficult book, like the Phenomenology of Spirit by Hegel or Critique of Pure Reason by Kant. It's inappropriate imo because the book is super difficult to understand and I think it's too difficult to recommend to a general audience. I'm not insulting the general public- anyone who has read Being and Time knows what I'm talking about. I've read Plato's Republic and some of Spengler's Decline of the West.

The issue I have with Decline of the West is it is very, very long. It's two thick volumes. I don't really have a problem with the content but I think it's too long. I don't think the book club will all be able to read it.

Plato's Republic I think is not as long but I think it is too long as well. I don't really have a problem with the content (as far as people reading it) but I think it's too long.

I don't really care if people read the Republic but I've read the book and I despise Plato's Republic. The man was a commie. I've been accusing Plato of being a Communist for years. The book is like an ancient version of Communism. It's also a blueprint for the New World Order.

My view is that the book should be non-fiction, something the people in general can agree on, not something super difficult (like Being and Time), not too long and not contrary to Islam.

I think your critiques of my suggestions are on target they’re not really suitable for this book club. Except your critique of Plato’s Republic but I’ll spare you my objections.

O.K I think I’ve got it, something that is anti-liberal, non-fiction, philosophical but not cumbersome-to-read, what about ‘The Prince’ by Niccolo Machiavelli?

If people are interested in philosophy- why not Incoherence of the Philosophers by Al-Ghazali? The whole book is kind of long and complicated but we could do portions at a time (I suppose we could do the same with Plato's Republic or Decline of the West by Spengler but I honestly hate Plato's Republic because of its ideology and Decline of the West is super long but I'm way more sympathetic to Spengler... I would much rather do Al-Ghazali.... I don't think Plato would be worth it..... I'd be willing to go with Spengler, though, if people wanted to read Spengler but I think his book is like twice the length of the one by Al-Ghazali)

Why not? How about you tag the people in this thread who’ve shown interest in the book club and make a poll with all the suggestions thus far? (I dunno how to make a poll)

 

[Omar del Sur]

I think your critiques of my suggestions are on target they’re not really suitable for this book club. Except your critique of Plato’s Republic but I’ll spare you my objections.

O.K I think I’ve got it, something that is anti-liberal, non-fiction, philosophical but not cumbersome-to-read, what about ‘The Prince’ by Niccolo Machiavelli?



Why not? How about you tag the people in this thread who’ve shown interest in the book club and make a poll with all the suggestions thus far? (I dunno how to make a poll)

I made a post discussing Machiavelli in 2018.

What books are you currently reading?

I've heard A LOT about how great this book is, I guess I'll give it a go now.

www.somalispot.com

Another from this year

Machiavelli

What do you think of Machiavelli and amoral politics? Do good ends justify the means taken to achieve them? :sass2:

www.somalispot.com

(btw the previews don't show my posts)

I propose the books pictured above.

I think an Islamic book would be good.

Insha'Allah we would all be rewarded by Allah for encouraging each other to study the Dīn. Also, most here are Muslim. Almost all of us can agree on Islam.

EDIT: btw if the book club chooses one of these and anyone can't afford a copy then I will upload a PDF myself insha'Allah.

(also- I recommend the 40 hadith. we could go one hadith at a time.)

 

[Hodan from HR]

@Omar del Sur it won't be easy to anaylse and argue against hadith. Most of us are muslims but we are not alims and can unintentionally say something that is considered sinful in the religion.


Both of you have made good points but before this turns to a paradox of choice situation lol, lets narrow down the options. What do you guys think if we vote for The prince by Niccolo Machiavelli and Incoherence of the Philosophers by Imam Al-Ghazali for now?


for The Prince.

for Incoherence of the Philosphers.

 

[Distant1]

You guys want to commit to reading a book a week (or two weeks if you prefer) & then we come back here to discuss our thoughts? Hard rule: No two weeks in a row of fiction (otherwise it will devolve into us reading Harry Potter or some dumb multi-volume sci-fi novel, I’ve seen it happen) Perhaps we can alternate between fiction and non-fiction every week? I’ll start it by nominating either Metaphysics of War by Julius Evola or Dune by Frank Herbert. Let me know if that sounds fun to you guys!

Something smart and non-fiction

 

[MI]

Something smart and non-fiction

I was thinking the ‘Gallic Wars’ by Julius Caesar but it’s too late to add it in now... maybe next time. Go vote in the poll though there’s a few that meet your specifications still.

 

[Omar del Sur]

I vote for Gallic Wars.

 

[Distant1]

I was thinking the ‘Gallic Wars’ by Julius Caesar but it’s too late to add it in now... maybe next time. Go vote in the poll though there’s a few that meet your specifications still.

Why something so old? why not something within 30years?

 

[MI]

Why something so old? why not something within 30years?

Old stuff is the best imo. You can enjoy an entirely different perspective than your own because it’s so far removed in time. Helps you recontextualize things in the modern day. Plus, I like history.

 

[Hodan from HR]

@MI Did you make another bookclub thread?
I am just seeing the featured thread.
I voted.


Thanks for the tag

 

[SOULSEARCHING]

So what book is everyone reading?

 

[Invader]

Let's start reading Fahrenheit 451, I've never read the book before but from what I've seen based off of this video it seems really good



great graphics from this channel

Macbeth is better