Desperately Seeking Paradise

Download or read book Desperately Seeking Paradise written by Ziauddin Sardar and published by Granta Publications. This book was released on 2012-03-22 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “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

Download or read book Balti Britain written by Ziauddin Sardar and published by Granta Books. This book was released on 2012-03-22 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sardar travels to Asian communities throughout the UK to tell the history of Asians in Britain - from the arrival of the first Indian in 1614, to the young extremists in Walthamstow mosque in 2006. He interweaves throughout an illuminating account of his own life, describing his carefree childhood in Pakistan, his family's emigration to racist 1950s Britain, and his adulthood straddling two cultures. Along the way he asks: are arranged marriages a good thing? Does the term 'Asian' obscure more than it conveys? Do vindaloo and balti actually exist? And is multiculturalism an impossible dream?

Download or read book A Person of Pakistani Origins written by Ziauddin Sardar and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-01 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does it mean to be a Pakistani? Can it mean more than one thing? And what do others think it means? Ziauddin Sardar explores what makes a Pakistani, and whether it's something one wants or ought to be. Reflecting on his culture and heritage through tales of the Pakistanis in his life, A Person of Pakistani Origins is a whirlwind tour of dueling poets, Bollywood films, a bookish auntie who harbors feminist urges, and a vanishing uncle who reappears miles away. Thoughtful and generously laced with humor, this book delves deep into Pakistan's eclectic culture, and the humble insanity of everyday life for a person of Pakistani origins. Sardar richly celebrates the importance of where we come from, and of who we become.

Download or read book Reading the Qur'an written by Ziauddin Sardar and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-02 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "First published in the United Kingdom by C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 2010"--T.p. verso.

Download or read book Postmodernism and The Other written by Ziauddin Sardar and published by Pluto Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Postmodernism has often been presented as a new theory of liberation that promotes pluralism and gives representation to the marginalised peoples of the non-west and 'other' cultures.In this major assessment of postmodernism from a non-western perspective, Ziauddin Sardar offers a radical critique of this view. Covering the salient spheres of postmodernism - from architecture, film, television and pop music, to philosophy, consumer lifestyles and new age religions - Sardar reveals that postmodernism in fact operates to further marginalise the reality of the non-west and confound its aspirations.By tracing postmodernism's roots in colonialism and modernity, Sardar demonstrates that the dominant contemporary intellectual fashion, peddling an insidiously oppressive and subtle revisionism, is the most comprehensive onslaught on the non-west ever experienced. In stern retort, the author offers ways in which the peoples of the non-west can counter the postmodern assault and survive with their identities, histories and cultures intact.

Download or read book Rethinking Reform in Higher Education written by Ziauddin Sardar and published by International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). This book was released on 2017-08-02 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Reform in Higher Education in Muslim Societies is in sum a paradigm shift in perspective driven by important considerations including the aims of education itself. It may require reforming existing disciplines, inventing new ones, as well as working in conjunction with current knowledge(s) and discourses by taking effective account of the ethical, spiritual norms of Muslim society, the guiding principles that it operates under, which in turn mark the underlying basis of its makeup and spiritual identity. Rather than creating divisions, reform of Higher Education in Muslim Societies recognizes the plurality and diversity of the modern networked world, and seeks to replace sterile and uniform approaches to knowledge with a broader and more creative understanding of reality as lived on different soils and different cultures. Moderation, balance and effective communication are paramount features of the underlying philosophy.

Download or read book The No-nonsense Guide to Islam written by Ziauddin Sardar and published by New Internationalist. This book was released on 2007 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A balanced portrayal of |real Islam|, looking beyond the common perceptions and polemical debates. It shows what Islam has achieved and shows why a better understanding of Muslims is needed throughout the world. But it also explains why Islam needs to make itself more relevant by showing it can create a tolerant and peaceful society, and explores the steps for reform. A plain-speaking, independent view that informs current debates and puts modern developments into the context of the history of Islam and its people.