Research Catalog

Title

Desperately seeking paradise : journeys of a sceptical Muslim / Ziauddin Sardar.

Author

Sardar, Ziauddin.

Publication

London : Granta Books, 2005.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

354 p.; 20 cm.

Summary

Raised in Pakistan, Ziauddin Sardar learned the Qur'an at his mother’s knee. As a young student in London, he embarked on a quest to grasp the meaning and contemporary relevance of his religion and, hopefully, to find “paradise.” After experimenting with the mystical branch of Islam, Sufism, and with classical Islam, he set off on extensive travels through the Muslim world. Along the way, he came to accept that he might never reach paradise, realizing that it’s the journey that’s important. At a time when the Western view of Islam is so often distorted and over-simplified, Desperately Seeking Paradise is essential reading.

Subject

• Sardar, Ziauddin > Travel > Islamic countries
• Muslims > Great Britain > Biography
• Islam > Essence, genius, nature
• Islamic countries > Description and travel

Genre/Form

Biographies

Note

• Originally published: 2004.
• Includes index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

1. Paradise awakened -- 2. The brotherhood of salvation -- 3. A tall fruit-bearing tree -- 4. The mysteries of mysticism -- 5. The cradle of paradise -- 6. Presidents and peasants -- 7. Saving Mecca -- 8. Leaving Saudi Arabia -- 9. The heavenly revolution -- 10. The Inquiry years -- 11. The laws of heaven -- 12. The delights of secularism -- 13. The satanic verses -- 14. Multiculturalism, then and now -- Conclusion : going up, or going down?

ISBN

186207755X (pbk.)

OCLC

• 58456037
• SCSB-10078338

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library