Desperately Seeking Paradise

Desperately Seeking Paradise

Author: Ziauddin Sardar

Publisher: Granta Publications

Published: 2012-03-22

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 1847086837

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“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


Balti Britain

Balti Britain

Author: Ziauddin Sardar

Publisher: Granta Books

Published: 2012-03-22

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1847086845

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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?


A Person of Pakistani Origins

A Person of Pakistani Origins

Author: Ziauddin Sardar

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-09-01

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1787381102

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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.


Postmodernism and The Other

Postmodernism and The Other

Author: Ziauddin Sardar

Publisher: Pluto Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780745307497

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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.


Rethinking Reform in Higher Education

Rethinking Reform in Higher Education

Author: Ziauddin Sardar

Publisher: International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT)

Published: 2017-08-02

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 1565647262

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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.


My East is Your West

My East is Your West

Author: Gujral Foundation

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2016-04-12

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 9789351361824

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The exhibition My East is Your West, was a collateral event of the 56th Venice Biennale. It was commissioned by The Gujral Foundation. It united for the first time, at the Biennale, the historically conflicting nations of India and Pakistan in a space shared by artists from both countries. Shilpa Gupta (Mumbai) and Rashid Rana (Lahore) presented a new series of works at the Palazzo Benzon, situated in the centre of Venice on the Grand Canal. This presentation provided a unique platform for artists from South Asia to enter into a dialogue through the arts, representing the Indian subcontinent as one region.


The No-nonsense Guide to Islam

The No-nonsense Guide to Islam

Author: Ziauddin Sardar

Publisher: New Internationalist

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 143

ISBN-13: 1904456618

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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.


Barbaric Others

Barbaric Others

Author: Merryl Wyn Davies

Publisher: Pluto Press (UK)

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13:

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A book about the convenient myopia which, through the ages, has allowed - and continues to allow - the West to see other peoples as subjects, infidels, even savages. The authors begin by setting Columbus' travels in context and revealing the extent to which his voyage of discovery mirrored the colonial anxieties of the times. This is an account of Eurocentricity in its most potent forms - from the medieval view of demons and demigods, to the colonial perception that those who were not like us were somehow less than human, existing only to be used like any other commodity.


Elusive Hope

Elusive Hope

Author: M. L. Tyndall

Publisher: Barbour Books

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781616265977

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Their friends are in search of a Southern utopia. But Hayden is seeking revenge--relentlessly. And Magnolia is seeking a way out--desperately. Falling in love was never part of their plans. . . .


How Do You Know?

How Do You Know?

Author: Ziauddin Sardar

Publisher: Pluto Press (UK)

Published: 2006-05-20

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13:

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Outstanding contributors include Pierre Macherey, Charles Wolfe, Alex Callinicos and Judith Revel