Desperately Seeking Paradise

Journeys of a Sceptical Muslim

Ziauddin Sardar

• Publisher: Granta Books
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9781862077553
• eBook ISBN:
  9781847086839
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies

"A curious, often amusing travelogue of [Sardar's] quest for understanding and the Muslims he has encountered along his journeys."— Publishers Weekly
 
Ziauddin Sardar, one of the foremost Muslim intellectuals in Britain, learned the Koran at his mother's knee in Pakistan. As a young student in London he set out to grasp the meaning of his religion, and, hopefully, to find "paradise," his quest leading him throughout the Muslim world, from Iran to China to Turkey. Along the way he accepts that he may never reach paradise—but it's the journey that's important. At a time when the view of Islam in the West is so often distorted and simplistic, Desperately Seeking Paradise—self-mocking, frank and passionate—is essential reading.
 
"Intoxicating . . . upon finishing the book, I turned back and started reading it all over again."—Kamila Shamise, New Statesman
 
"At once and earnest and humorous, light-hearted and profound, this is a book that displays a sustained capacity for self-questioning of a kind that has few parallels in the liberal West."— The Independent
 
"This challenging book not only acts as a guide for Muslims but provides insight and clarification for those outside the Islamic faith."— Financial Times
 
"The only funny book I've read about Islam."— Mail on Sunday

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Chapter 1 : PARADISE AWAKENED
• Chapter 2 : THE BROTHERHOOD OF SALVATION
• Chapter 3 : A TALL FRUIT-BEARING TREE
• Chapter 4 : THE MYSTERIES OF MYSTICISM
• Chapter 5 : THE CRADLE OF PARADISE
• Chapter 6 : PRESIDENTS AND PEASANTS
• Chapter 7 : SAVING MECCA
• Chapter 8 : LEAVING SAUDI ARABIA
• Chapter 9 : THE HEAVENLY REVOLUTION
• Chapter 10 : THE INQUIRY YEARS
• Chapter 11 : THE LAWS OF HEAVEN
• Chapter 12 : THE DELIGHTS OF SECULARISM
• Chapter 13 : THE SATANIC VERSES
• Chapter 14 : MULTICULTURALISM, THEN AND NOW
• Conclusion : GOING UP, OR GOING DOWN? 
• Index
• A, B, C
• D, E, F
• G, H, I
• J, K, L
• M, N, O
• P, Q, R
• S, T, U
• V, W, X
• Y, Z
• About the Author
• Copyright
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