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Desperately Seeking Paradise: Journeys Of A Sceptical Muslim
Raised in Pakistan, Ziauddin Sardar learned the Koran 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.
354 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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About the author
Ziauddin Sardar
199 books153 followersZiauddin Sardar has written or edited 45 books over a period of 30 years, many with his long-time co-author Merryl Wyn Davies. Recent titles include Balti Britain: a Journey Through the British Asian Experience (Granta, 2008); and How Do You Know: Reading Ziauddin Sardar on Islam, Science and Cultural Relations (Pluto, 2006). The first volume of his memoirs is Desperately Seeking Paradise: Journeys of a Sceptical Muslim (Granta, 2006). His recent television work includes a 90-minute documentary for the BBC in 2006 called 'Battle for Islam'. Sardar's online work includes a year-long blog on the Qur'an published in 2008 by The Guardian newspaper.
Sardar is a Visiting Professor of Postcolonial Studies in the Department of Arts Policy and Management at City University London and is Editor of the forecasting and planning journal, Futures. He is also a member of the UK Commission on Equality and Human Rights. His journalism appears most often in The Guardian and The Observer, as well as the UK weekly magazine, New Statesman. In the 1980s, he was among the founders of Inquiry, a magazine of ideas and policy focusing on Muslim countries. His early career includes working as a science correspondent for Nature and New Scientist magazines and as a reporter for London Weekend Television.
>>(from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziauddin... )<<
--
*You can know more from his own site:
http://www.ziauddinsardar.com/Biograp...
Sardar is a Visiting Professor of Postcolonial Studies in the Department of Arts Policy and Management at City University London and is Editor of the forecasting and planning journal, Futures. He is also a member of the UK Commission on Equality and Human Rights. His journalism appears most often in The Guardian and The Observer, as well as the UK weekly magazine, New Statesman. In the 1980s, he was among the founders of Inquiry, a magazine of ideas and policy focusing on Muslim countries. His early career includes working as a science correspondent for Nature and New Scientist magazines and as a reporter for London Weekend Television.
>>(from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziauddin... )<<
--
*You can know more from his own site:
http://www.ziauddinsardar.com/Biograp...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
June 11, 2007
So I really do not give a five-star rating to anything except for Amnesty International reports, but I think that this book really deserves it. It also deserves to be read by everyone, Muslim, non-Muslim, fundementalist and Islamophobe. Even if you are not even in the slightest interested in Islam or world politics or the plight of the intellectuals, read it simply for the subtle humor and humanity of the author. As a bonus this book may also give you further strength to struggle against oppression no matter what framework you ascribe to.
March 17, 2011
Dalam sebuah seminar motivasi, sang motivator mengajukan pertanyaan yang membuat hati saya mengkeret. Apa yang membuatmu yakin bahwa kamu akan masuk surga? memangnya apa yang telah kamu lakukan sehingga kamu layak diberi surgaNya?
Sejak kecil, kita sudah dijejali informasi bahwa "tujuan utama" hidup manusia adalah menuju surga. Hidup yang cuma sebentar harus dimanfaatkan sebaik-baiknya agar kitak tak melenceng dari tujuan utama tersebut. "Satu-satunya" cara untuk menggapai surga adalah "melalui jalan yang benar dan lurus" yang kelak disebut agama. Dengan memeluk agama, kita bisa menggapai surga; tempat yang penuh wewangian, senantiasa dinaungi kesejukan, dan penuh kedamaian. Terasa sangat mudah dan sederhana.
Tapi selalu saja, praktek tak semudah teori.
Dimulai dari "memilih jalan yang benar dan lurus". Ada begitu banyak agama di dunia ini. Ratusan bahkan mungkin ribuan jika aliran kepercayaan diperhitungkan. Jika jalan yang lurus cuma satu, bagaimana kita bisa memastikan bahwa jalan yang kita tempuh adalah yang benar dan merupakan jalan yang lurus dan terpilih? Jika Tuhan itu satu, mengapa Dia terlihat ingin disembah dengan banyak cara? Tuhan amat gemar bermain dadu, Dia membiarkan jalan menuju surga teramat banyak namun hanya satu sisi mata dadu yang akan keluar dari kocokan.
Tampak egois dan senang menebak-nebak. Untung saja Tuhan masih bermurah hati. Dia menurunkan nabi dan bersabda memberi petunjuk melalui kitab suci. Ketika klaim bahwa jalan yang telah dipilih adalah jalan yang benar, ini tak lantas menjadikannya semakin mudah. Ternyata jalan yang "tepat" itu memiliki cabang, dipenuhi dengan sekte dan aliran penafsiran, jalan yang "tepat" tak pernah mulus dan tak benar-benar lurus. Bagaimana kita bisa yakin bahwa jalan dan "aliran" yang kita pilih lah jalan yang benar menuju surgaNya?
Tuhan Yang Satu. Surga Yang Satu. Kebenaran Yang Satu. Jalan Yang Berjutaan.
Maka, hidup yang singkat ini diisi dengan "pencarian kebenaran yang hakiki" yang melelhakan dan merisaukan. Klaim bahwa "jalan yang saya tempuh adalah jalan paling benar" tak bisa dijadikan acuan. Berapa banyak petualang yang tewas tersesat karena dia yakin bahwa buku petunjuk yang dibacanya yang kemudian diolah informasinya berdasarkan pemahamannnya malah menjerumuskannya pada medan berbahaya? Semuanya dipersulit dengan kenyataan bahwa "pencarian langit" terbentur kendala bahwa manusia "menjejak bumi". Agama yang menjanjikan kebahagiaan "di hari depan" mengalami benturan realitas sosial, politik, ekonomi "di hari ini". Tak heran, pencarian langit menimbulkan dampak beragam. Ada yang menyerah dan memutuskan tak memperdulikan mana jalan yang benar, ada yang berkeyakinan buta dan fanatik bahwa jalan yang dia tempuh adalah yang benar meski jurang menganga di depannya, ada yang kutu loncat bolak-balik mencobai jalan satu-satu yang kemudian sudah terlalu terlambat untuk berjalan di jalan yang benar. Ada yang cuma untung-untungan memilih jalan yang benar seperti pada Pascal's Wager. Tuhan senang bermain dadu.
Ziauddin Sardar, mungkin merupakan salah satu intelektual muslim modern terbesar saat ini, menjawab proses "pencarian kebenaran" itu dengan cara yang menarik. Dia start melangkah dengan membawa skeptisme yang besar di kepalanya. Tak hanya skeptik tentang jalan yang orang lain tempuh, tapi dia juga skeptik terhadap jalan yang dia sendiri tempuh.
Kisah tentang pencarian memang selalu menarik bagi saya. Sebut saja Road to Mecca (Muhammad Asad) yang klasik; Through the Narrow Gate: A Memoir of Spiritual Discovery, The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness (Karen Armstrong), Struggling to Surrender: Some Impressions of an American Convert to Islam (Jeffrey Lang, sebenernya dia nulis banyak buku yang bertema "pencarian jati diri", contoh lain yang direkomendasikan adalah Even Angels Ask: A Journey to Islam in America, dll) hingga yang terakhir saya baca, Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation (Eboo Patel).
Dibandingkan buku-buku sejenis itu, buku Ziauddin Sardar ini lebih dekat ke bukunya Eboo Patel. sama-sama anak "imigran" dari Asia Selatan (Patel India, Sardar Pakistan), hidup di era modern yang sama-sama dijejali buadaya pop yang menggelisahkan dan menghapus apapun yang bernama "norma". Selain "pencarian kebenaran", mereka juga harus bertahan dari krisis identitas saat benturan peradaban dan kebudayaan yang mengalir dalam darah mereka bergesekan dengan kebudayaan asing di sekitar mereka. Meski tentu saja ada perbedaan jelas antara Patel dan Sardar, Sardar hidup di satu generasi yang lebih tua di atas Patel. Dan Sardar mengalami pergolakan pemikiran yang lebih serius (maklum, beliau kan calon intelektual muslim modern, hehehe)
Di buku Sardar, kita bakal melihat betapa tajamnya pemikiran Sardar dalam hal mengomentari segala hal yang berkaitan dg agamanya. Sardar membahas dan mengkritisi agama yang bukan sebagai "jalan menuju langit" saja tetapi juga sebagai "jalan menjejak di bumi".
Sardar membuka buku ini dengan kisah mesjid kaum imigran di Inggris--kumuh, tersembunyi, menjadi tempat tinggal sementara kaum perantauan, terbelenggu identitas para perantaunya. Dengan lugas, Sardar mengkritisi gerakan Jamaah Tabligh yang sempat dia ikuti, sebuah gerakan Islam yang "menyerukan umat Islam agar kembali ke ajaran yang murni dan aktif menyebarkan kebaikan" namun sangat jomplang saat berinteraksi sosial. Sebagai gerakan yang "murni sesuai ajaran Nabi", JT tidak menawarkan solusi terhadap kemiskinan, dunia politik, dsb. JT seolah cuma punya misi: jangan libatkan diri kita ke dalam permasalahan sosial yg kompleks agar tetap suci, itulah satu-satunya cara agar kita menuju surga. Mereka selamat dari kepedihan di dunia ini melalui kilau kepuasan dan ketenangan total. Meski aktif berdakwah, JT menghindari politik (mereka selalu golput di setiap pemilu). Surga cuma ada di langit.
Sardar, gelisah menghadapi kenyataan ini. Sardar berpendapat bahwa agama juga harus membuat "surga" di bumi. Kalau dunia menjadi lebih baik, maka kita akan lebih mengharagi surga di akhirat. Agama bukan saja harus menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan personal, tapi juga harus menjawab tantangan-tantangan sosial.
Sikap skeptisme sekaligus kritis yang diperlihatkan Sardar terhadap gerakan Islam tak hanya terhadap JT, tapi juga akan mempertemukannya dengan gerakan "revolusi" Ikhwanul Muslim hingga "totalisme vertikal"-nya Sufi, yang menjadi bab paling menarik dalam buku ini.
Ada juga bab pandangan Sardar tentang sejarah Islam mulai dari sejarah Islam, perang salib, Osama bin Laden, Salman Rusdhie hingga Saddam Hussein. Dengan jenial, Sardar memandang konflik "abadi" Suni vs Syiah yang tak terelakan. Gaya penceritaan Sardar yang bak novel biografi menjadikan semua hal di atas menjadi sangat runut, terang, terasa emosional namun tetap jernih dan bernas.
Sardar sadar, bahwa kalau dia "cuma mengkritik" doang, dia bakal sama "jeleknya" dg yang dikritik. Maka, secara aktif, dia berikrar untuk tidak diam dan menjadi solusi dan konsisten untuk mencari kebenaran. Lewat buku ini, Sardar membuka pikiran picik kita bahwa "surga seolah tak ingin diketemukan". Membuka wawasan, mencerahkan iman dan menantang secara intelektual, Sardar menyeru untuk menciptakan "surga" di bumi, menghapus sikap inferior yang membelenggu kaum muslim, dan menjadi solusi bagi perkembangan zaman.
A must read book for every muslim who searching paradise and for every other person who wants to have a closer look at islam and its struggles.
PS:
Ada sebuah hadist terkenal yang menyatakan betapa mudahnya masuk surga. Suatu hari, seorang Arab Badui yang belum lama masuk Islam datang kepada RasululLah Saw. Ia dengan terus-terang meminta izin untuk sementara menjalankan kewajiban-kewajiban Islam yang pokok saja, tidak lebih dan tidak kurang. Beberapa Sahabat Nabi menunjukkan kekurang-senangannya karena menilai si Badui enggan mengamalkan yang sunnah. Tapi dengan tersenyum, Nabi Saw. mengiyakan permintaan orang Badui tersebut. Bahkan beliau bersabda: “Dia akan masuk surga kalau memang benar apa yang dikatakannya.”
Sayangnya, penafsiran hadist ini banyak disalahfahami. Seolah dengan hanya melaksanakan kewajiban pokok ajaran agama, maka otomatis kita masuk surga tanpa perlu menjadi solusi sosial. Surga, mungkin bisa digapai dengan semudah itu. Tapi, apa anda mau masuk surga sendirian?
Sejak kecil, kita sudah dijejali informasi bahwa "tujuan utama" hidup manusia adalah menuju surga. Hidup yang cuma sebentar harus dimanfaatkan sebaik-baiknya agar kitak tak melenceng dari tujuan utama tersebut. "Satu-satunya" cara untuk menggapai surga adalah "melalui jalan yang benar dan lurus" yang kelak disebut agama. Dengan memeluk agama, kita bisa menggapai surga; tempat yang penuh wewangian, senantiasa dinaungi kesejukan, dan penuh kedamaian. Terasa sangat mudah dan sederhana.
Tapi selalu saja, praktek tak semudah teori.
Dimulai dari "memilih jalan yang benar dan lurus". Ada begitu banyak agama di dunia ini. Ratusan bahkan mungkin ribuan jika aliran kepercayaan diperhitungkan. Jika jalan yang lurus cuma satu, bagaimana kita bisa memastikan bahwa jalan yang kita tempuh adalah yang benar dan merupakan jalan yang lurus dan terpilih? Jika Tuhan itu satu, mengapa Dia terlihat ingin disembah dengan banyak cara? Tuhan amat gemar bermain dadu, Dia membiarkan jalan menuju surga teramat banyak namun hanya satu sisi mata dadu yang akan keluar dari kocokan.
Tampak egois dan senang menebak-nebak. Untung saja Tuhan masih bermurah hati. Dia menurunkan nabi dan bersabda memberi petunjuk melalui kitab suci. Ketika klaim bahwa jalan yang telah dipilih adalah jalan yang benar, ini tak lantas menjadikannya semakin mudah. Ternyata jalan yang "tepat" itu memiliki cabang, dipenuhi dengan sekte dan aliran penafsiran, jalan yang "tepat" tak pernah mulus dan tak benar-benar lurus. Bagaimana kita bisa yakin bahwa jalan dan "aliran" yang kita pilih lah jalan yang benar menuju surgaNya?
Tuhan Yang Satu. Surga Yang Satu. Kebenaran Yang Satu. Jalan Yang Berjutaan.
Maka, hidup yang singkat ini diisi dengan "pencarian kebenaran yang hakiki" yang melelhakan dan merisaukan. Klaim bahwa "jalan yang saya tempuh adalah jalan paling benar" tak bisa dijadikan acuan. Berapa banyak petualang yang tewas tersesat karena dia yakin bahwa buku petunjuk yang dibacanya yang kemudian diolah informasinya berdasarkan pemahamannnya malah menjerumuskannya pada medan berbahaya? Semuanya dipersulit dengan kenyataan bahwa "pencarian langit" terbentur kendala bahwa manusia "menjejak bumi". Agama yang menjanjikan kebahagiaan "di hari depan" mengalami benturan realitas sosial, politik, ekonomi "di hari ini". Tak heran, pencarian langit menimbulkan dampak beragam. Ada yang menyerah dan memutuskan tak memperdulikan mana jalan yang benar, ada yang berkeyakinan buta dan fanatik bahwa jalan yang dia tempuh adalah yang benar meski jurang menganga di depannya, ada yang kutu loncat bolak-balik mencobai jalan satu-satu yang kemudian sudah terlalu terlambat untuk berjalan di jalan yang benar. Ada yang cuma untung-untungan memilih jalan yang benar seperti pada Pascal's Wager. Tuhan senang bermain dadu.
Ziauddin Sardar, mungkin merupakan salah satu intelektual muslim modern terbesar saat ini, menjawab proses "pencarian kebenaran" itu dengan cara yang menarik. Dia start melangkah dengan membawa skeptisme yang besar di kepalanya. Tak hanya skeptik tentang jalan yang orang lain tempuh, tapi dia juga skeptik terhadap jalan yang dia sendiri tempuh.
Kisah tentang pencarian memang selalu menarik bagi saya. Sebut saja Road to Mecca (Muhammad Asad) yang klasik; Through the Narrow Gate: A Memoir of Spiritual Discovery, The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness (Karen Armstrong), Struggling to Surrender: Some Impressions of an American Convert to Islam (Jeffrey Lang, sebenernya dia nulis banyak buku yang bertema "pencarian jati diri", contoh lain yang direkomendasikan adalah Even Angels Ask: A Journey to Islam in America, dll) hingga yang terakhir saya baca, Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation (Eboo Patel).
Dibandingkan buku-buku sejenis itu, buku Ziauddin Sardar ini lebih dekat ke bukunya Eboo Patel. sama-sama anak "imigran" dari Asia Selatan (Patel India, Sardar Pakistan), hidup di era modern yang sama-sama dijejali buadaya pop yang menggelisahkan dan menghapus apapun yang bernama "norma". Selain "pencarian kebenaran", mereka juga harus bertahan dari krisis identitas saat benturan peradaban dan kebudayaan yang mengalir dalam darah mereka bergesekan dengan kebudayaan asing di sekitar mereka. Meski tentu saja ada perbedaan jelas antara Patel dan Sardar, Sardar hidup di satu generasi yang lebih tua di atas Patel. Dan Sardar mengalami pergolakan pemikiran yang lebih serius (maklum, beliau kan calon intelektual muslim modern, hehehe)
Di buku Sardar, kita bakal melihat betapa tajamnya pemikiran Sardar dalam hal mengomentari segala hal yang berkaitan dg agamanya. Sardar membahas dan mengkritisi agama yang bukan sebagai "jalan menuju langit" saja tetapi juga sebagai "jalan menjejak di bumi".
Sardar membuka buku ini dengan kisah mesjid kaum imigran di Inggris--kumuh, tersembunyi, menjadi tempat tinggal sementara kaum perantauan, terbelenggu identitas para perantaunya. Dengan lugas, Sardar mengkritisi gerakan Jamaah Tabligh yang sempat dia ikuti, sebuah gerakan Islam yang "menyerukan umat Islam agar kembali ke ajaran yang murni dan aktif menyebarkan kebaikan" namun sangat jomplang saat berinteraksi sosial. Sebagai gerakan yang "murni sesuai ajaran Nabi", JT tidak menawarkan solusi terhadap kemiskinan, dunia politik, dsb. JT seolah cuma punya misi: jangan libatkan diri kita ke dalam permasalahan sosial yg kompleks agar tetap suci, itulah satu-satunya cara agar kita menuju surga. Mereka selamat dari kepedihan di dunia ini melalui kilau kepuasan dan ketenangan total. Meski aktif berdakwah, JT menghindari politik (mereka selalu golput di setiap pemilu). Surga cuma ada di langit.
Sardar, gelisah menghadapi kenyataan ini. Sardar berpendapat bahwa agama juga harus membuat "surga" di bumi. Kalau dunia menjadi lebih baik, maka kita akan lebih mengharagi surga di akhirat. Agama bukan saja harus menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan personal, tapi juga harus menjawab tantangan-tantangan sosial.
Sikap skeptisme sekaligus kritis yang diperlihatkan Sardar terhadap gerakan Islam tak hanya terhadap JT, tapi juga akan mempertemukannya dengan gerakan "revolusi" Ikhwanul Muslim hingga "totalisme vertikal"-nya Sufi, yang menjadi bab paling menarik dalam buku ini.
Ada juga bab pandangan Sardar tentang sejarah Islam mulai dari sejarah Islam, perang salib, Osama bin Laden, Salman Rusdhie hingga Saddam Hussein. Dengan jenial, Sardar memandang konflik "abadi" Suni vs Syiah yang tak terelakan. Gaya penceritaan Sardar yang bak novel biografi menjadikan semua hal di atas menjadi sangat runut, terang, terasa emosional namun tetap jernih dan bernas.
Sardar sadar, bahwa kalau dia "cuma mengkritik" doang, dia bakal sama "jeleknya" dg yang dikritik. Maka, secara aktif, dia berikrar untuk tidak diam dan menjadi solusi dan konsisten untuk mencari kebenaran. Lewat buku ini, Sardar membuka pikiran picik kita bahwa "surga seolah tak ingin diketemukan". Membuka wawasan, mencerahkan iman dan menantang secara intelektual, Sardar menyeru untuk menciptakan "surga" di bumi, menghapus sikap inferior yang membelenggu kaum muslim, dan menjadi solusi bagi perkembangan zaman.
A must read book for every muslim who searching paradise and for every other person who wants to have a closer look at islam and its struggles.
PS:
Ada sebuah hadist terkenal yang menyatakan betapa mudahnya masuk surga. Suatu hari, seorang Arab Badui yang belum lama masuk Islam datang kepada RasululLah Saw. Ia dengan terus-terang meminta izin untuk sementara menjalankan kewajiban-kewajiban Islam yang pokok saja, tidak lebih dan tidak kurang. Beberapa Sahabat Nabi menunjukkan kekurang-senangannya karena menilai si Badui enggan mengamalkan yang sunnah. Tapi dengan tersenyum, Nabi Saw. mengiyakan permintaan orang Badui tersebut. Bahkan beliau bersabda: “Dia akan masuk surga kalau memang benar apa yang dikatakannya.”
Sayangnya, penafsiran hadist ini banyak disalahfahami. Seolah dengan hanya melaksanakan kewajiban pokok ajaran agama, maka otomatis kita masuk surga tanpa perlu menjadi solusi sosial. Surga, mungkin bisa digapai dengan semudah itu. Tapi, apa anda mau masuk surga sendirian?
May 4, 2011
One of the more disappointing reads I can recall. At first there was promise that Sardar has a sense of humor, along with indications of travel throughout the muslim world. Well ... both were there, just not enough to save this book.
The author describes himself as a "muslim intellectual", which means lots (and I mean lots) of chat with other similar folks with conversations important to them at the time, but not, unfortunately, for most anyone else. If you are interested in rehashings of grant proposals for muslim-focused projects c. 1980 - then this is your book!
He does travel to Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Malaysia (his praise for the government's "granting citizenship" to non-Malays at Independence I found either disingenuous, or wildly naive, given their enshrined second class status), but here again, it's (pretty much) all about intellectualism. I wasn't expecting an Islamic Bill Bryson; the problem stems from Sardar's limited observations, as opposed to ... well ... navel gazing.
Another serious problem is that the book is quite dated; though published in 2004, most of the "action" takes place in the 70's and 80's, the Salman Rushdie affair being the most "current" discussion, and that was over a decade ago. He does mention 9/11 briefly at the end.
I really can't recommend this one for anyone, except those who might be interested in the angst of a late 20th century bicultural intellectual muslim. A better book for outsider (western) observations on travel in (the state of) the current muslim world would be Journey to the End of Islam.
The author describes himself as a "muslim intellectual", which means lots (and I mean lots) of chat with other similar folks with conversations important to them at the time, but not, unfortunately, for most anyone else. If you are interested in rehashings of grant proposals for muslim-focused projects c. 1980 - then this is your book!
He does travel to Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Malaysia (his praise for the government's "granting citizenship" to non-Malays at Independence I found either disingenuous, or wildly naive, given their enshrined second class status), but here again, it's (pretty much) all about intellectualism. I wasn't expecting an Islamic Bill Bryson; the problem stems from Sardar's limited observations, as opposed to ... well ... navel gazing.
Another serious problem is that the book is quite dated; though published in 2004, most of the "action" takes place in the 70's and 80's, the Salman Rushdie affair being the most "current" discussion, and that was over a decade ago. He does mention 9/11 briefly at the end.
I really can't recommend this one for anyone, except those who might be interested in the angst of a late 20th century bicultural intellectual muslim. A better book for outsider (western) observations on travel in (the state of) the current muslim world would be Journey to the End of Islam.
November 17, 2010
Amongst all the books I’ve read in my life, only two left me speechless, high and spellbound. The first one was Sophie’s World; the second one is this, Desperately Seeking Paradise!
As the title suggests, the concept of Paradise is being examined with an intellectual magnifying glass of a Pakistani British Muslim, Zaiuddin Sardar. Describing himself as a skeptical Muslim, Sardar decides to embark on a journey around the Middle East, Islam place of birth, as well as notions, beliefs and opinions to answer his question; what does a Paradise really mean?
Believing that Paradise-described in the Qur’an-is not merely an arrival place but also a way of reaching that place, Sardar strives, along with his companions, to find the right formula that would enable the Muslim international community of constructing such a Paradise on earth.
Throughout his journey, he puts his hands on some significant findings on why such a paradise is almost impossible to be materialized on earth. Injustice, fanaticism, oppression, intolerance…etc, are all major drawbacks before building the sought-after Paradise.
Along with the author’s utterly interesting thoughts and analysis on the Muslim Ummah’s status, a various incredibly interesting topics were being brought up. Starting from the Iranian Revolution to modernity and demolishing cultural properties in Madina and Mekka, globalization, Turkish Revolution and secularism, Muslim Brotherhood and Jamal Abdul Naser, September 11 to……endless interesting topics!
When the author titled his books a “journey”, believe me, he means it! Almost each chapter tackles a certain reflection upon a certain experience from a certain place in a certain journey! From Britain to Iran, Morocco, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, China, Pakistan, India and Malaysia! You can imagine how intoxicating the experience the reader would be put through!
In addition to the interesting topics and thoughts this book enfolds, the completely fascinating writing style of the author is no less breath-taking!
Sardar is definitely one skilled writer. The way he communicates his thoughts and the way he describes things, especially the exotic places he visited, can be considered as nothing but an astonishing talent. Lol add to this his delightful sense of humor!
Now although I have fallen for the book, I gotta say I have lots of problems with it! I disagree with the author on a considerable number of his views, some even on the critical points he discusses in the book. Plus I find the accuracy of some events mentioned to be quite questionable! Nonetheless, since the book was mind-stimulating and thought-provoking, this would overcome the displeasure I’ve experienced from some of his views.
Finally, I believe such a rich, heavy book needs to be at least read twice! It really requires time to digest the content and let it sink in!
As the title suggests, the concept of Paradise is being examined with an intellectual magnifying glass of a Pakistani British Muslim, Zaiuddin Sardar. Describing himself as a skeptical Muslim, Sardar decides to embark on a journey around the Middle East, Islam place of birth, as well as notions, beliefs and opinions to answer his question; what does a Paradise really mean?
Believing that Paradise-described in the Qur’an-is not merely an arrival place but also a way of reaching that place, Sardar strives, along with his companions, to find the right formula that would enable the Muslim international community of constructing such a Paradise on earth.
Throughout his journey, he puts his hands on some significant findings on why such a paradise is almost impossible to be materialized on earth. Injustice, fanaticism, oppression, intolerance…etc, are all major drawbacks before building the sought-after Paradise.
Along with the author’s utterly interesting thoughts and analysis on the Muslim Ummah’s status, a various incredibly interesting topics were being brought up. Starting from the Iranian Revolution to modernity and demolishing cultural properties in Madina and Mekka, globalization, Turkish Revolution and secularism, Muslim Brotherhood and Jamal Abdul Naser, September 11 to……endless interesting topics!
When the author titled his books a “journey”, believe me, he means it! Almost each chapter tackles a certain reflection upon a certain experience from a certain place in a certain journey! From Britain to Iran, Morocco, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, China, Pakistan, India and Malaysia! You can imagine how intoxicating the experience the reader would be put through!
In addition to the interesting topics and thoughts this book enfolds, the completely fascinating writing style of the author is no less breath-taking!
Sardar is definitely one skilled writer. The way he communicates his thoughts and the way he describes things, especially the exotic places he visited, can be considered as nothing but an astonishing talent. Lol add to this his delightful sense of humor!
Now although I have fallen for the book, I gotta say I have lots of problems with it! I disagree with the author on a considerable number of his views, some even on the critical points he discusses in the book. Plus I find the accuracy of some events mentioned to be quite questionable! Nonetheless, since the book was mind-stimulating and thought-provoking, this would overcome the displeasure I’ve experienced from some of his views.
Finally, I believe such a rich, heavy book needs to be at least read twice! It really requires time to digest the content and let it sink in!
November 29, 2013
I read it while I was literally searching for paradise; I was a little neglectful of my deeds and a little careless with my speech.
The search, written by Mr Sardar was funtastiq. It reflected my own confusions, reservations and longing.
A good travelling book to remind us all that there is a reason for living and a purpose to fill.
Update 2013
Having reread this, 6 years apart, I still feel the same longing I felt the first time reading it; longing for paradise, for historical magnificence, for certainty. This is a must read even if you disagree with everything Sardar stands for.
The search, written by Mr Sardar was funtastiq. It reflected my own confusions, reservations and longing.
A good travelling book to remind us all that there is a reason for living and a purpose to fill.
Update 2013
Having reread this, 6 years apart, I still feel the same longing I felt the first time reading it; longing for paradise, for historical magnificence, for certainty. This is a must read even if you disagree with everything Sardar stands for.
February 5, 2015
Extremely funny and striking book on British Muslims. The author talks about his own experiences of life in UK and other Muslim countries. Though you have to be careful when considering the definition proffered by the author of a 'sceptical Muslim' as it is contradictory I think. For how can you be sceptical and a Muslim at the same time?
August 29, 2007
unforgettable, funny, sincere, and beautiful. the "skeptic" protagonist is ultimately earnest, troubled, and measured in his traveled search for Islam, faith, and understanding. am enjoying this book immensely.
January 4, 2010
To me a painfully tragic journey, but a fulfilling one nevertheless: Sardar expressed issues with contemporary streams of Islam in ways that I always felt but could never quite express. I loved his conclusion that paradise is a journey as opposed to a destination.
August 8, 2011
I have failed.
I did not complete this book.
Finishing books I've started has always been an unwritten law for me. If I start one, I have to finish it.
It's only been recent (in the last five years or so) that I've allowed myself to not finish a book. I had conceded that my time was precious and that if I was not riveted to what I was reading ... it was OK to stop.
So, I didn't complete "Desperately Seeking Paradise." I purchased it at that great Mecca of booksellers: Powell's City of Books with the understanding that it was a memoir. What originally sold me on it was the quote on the back by James Buchan of the Guardian. He said, "Desperately Seeking Paradise draws on an old Muslim literary tradition in which a man sets out from home and friends, ostensibly to make his pilgrimage to Mecca, but really to indulge his spiritual restlessness ... add some British-Indian blokery and some slapstick, and you will have some idea of the scope and charm of Desperately Seeking Paradise. Interspersed through these adventures are meditations on episodes in Islamic history and other political and religious movements."
A memoir, right?
No. Not really. This was more an odyssey of the author's spiritual enlightenment. Which, I have to say, I don't know if he ever found. My guess is no. I stopped reading about 50 pages from the end.
I just couldn't get past the poor man's angst.
I mean. I have angst, too. Or, I used to. And I went through a soul searching time where I discovered my personal brand of spirituality, but ... it only took me a few years ... maybe a whole ten to get fully solidified in it so that I wasn't even thinking of it anymore. It was just a natural extension of me. But this guy took many decades. It was painful to slog through. No offense to him. I'm sure it was important work for him to do ... probably.
Have you ever had a friend that could never get over a wrong that was done to him or her? Or one that sat in bitter victimhood instead of moving forward and using their misfortune to make a difference? For instance, maybe a woman's sister died of leukemia and forever after runs marathons to raise money for the Foundation to research a cure. Or maybe becomes an oncologist. Those would be examples of using your anger and sadness and grief and passion towards something good. Something healthy.
Well, I had a friend once that had some of that persnickity misfortune, and he dealt with it the best he knew how. Obviously. But while I remained friends with this person, he seemed to be so immersed in his bitterness that every time we got together, "somehow" the topic of his misfortune and all the wrong that had been done to his family, his friends, and neighbors came up. It was all very dramatic. And exhausting. And I never saw him do anything about it.
I didn't fault him for talking about it. Of course you need to tell your story and get it off your chest. That's how you start to heal. And I don't fault him for being angry, or even feeling victimized. In fact, I don't fault him for anything. But I will say it was challenging to be around him for long periods of time.
While the author of this book didn't play the victim, and he definitely took every opportunity to go on adventures and work hard and help his brothers and the ummah, and he definitely tried everything in his power to make a difference, I just couldn't stomach the constant restlessness and angst. He was always so disappointed and at odds with the way Islam was being "defined" around him. It seemed to me that he kept looking for a mentor, someone that would tell him what to do to settle his soul and dissatisfaction. And -- as far as I know -- he never found one. Everyone he encountered ultimately disappointed him because of this particular "leader's" view on ... women, or revolution, or ... the best way to connect with God.
I admit that it is quite likely I have just missed the point of this book because, well, I'm not Muslim, and I'm of European descent -- different culture completely. I understand that those two things could throw off my whole perspective regarding this book. Also, and this is my bad, since I went into the book assuming it was a memoir (even though the book's category is clearly stated on the back: Religion/Politics), I was stalled a lot of time with all the history that is woven in. PLUS, (chagrin) I only speak English -- for which I fault my lack of self-discipline and our country's educational system -- and that made following all the Arabic words thrown in a little difficult. Though I must say, Sardar did a brilliant job in explaining any non-English word he included.
So with the combination of almost constant religious angst, lots and lots of non-English names, a million dates, and a book packed with flash backs upon flash backs coupled with giant leaps forward in the author's lifetime -- in the end, I just couldn't follow it. I found myself skimming the pages, and that is a sure sign for me to put the book down and try something new.
In conclusion, I recommend this book.
Yes. You heard me. I recommend this book.
He writes well, there are some charming stories/memories (I especially like the way he purchased a donkey saddle, and the tea story), and if you love history, you'll totally get off on this book.
Because that's really what it is. It's a history book. Albeit his history. But also the history of Islam.
So, if you like good writing, already know about Islam and like history .... bring it on. Read this book.
I did not complete this book.
Finishing books I've started has always been an unwritten law for me. If I start one, I have to finish it.
It's only been recent (in the last five years or so) that I've allowed myself to not finish a book. I had conceded that my time was precious and that if I was not riveted to what I was reading ... it was OK to stop.
So, I didn't complete "Desperately Seeking Paradise." I purchased it at that great Mecca of booksellers: Powell's City of Books with the understanding that it was a memoir. What originally sold me on it was the quote on the back by James Buchan of the Guardian. He said, "Desperately Seeking Paradise draws on an old Muslim literary tradition in which a man sets out from home and friends, ostensibly to make his pilgrimage to Mecca, but really to indulge his spiritual restlessness ... add some British-Indian blokery and some slapstick, and you will have some idea of the scope and charm of Desperately Seeking Paradise. Interspersed through these adventures are meditations on episodes in Islamic history and other political and religious movements."
A memoir, right?
No. Not really. This was more an odyssey of the author's spiritual enlightenment. Which, I have to say, I don't know if he ever found. My guess is no. I stopped reading about 50 pages from the end.
I just couldn't get past the poor man's angst.
I mean. I have angst, too. Or, I used to. And I went through a soul searching time where I discovered my personal brand of spirituality, but ... it only took me a few years ... maybe a whole ten to get fully solidified in it so that I wasn't even thinking of it anymore. It was just a natural extension of me. But this guy took many decades. It was painful to slog through. No offense to him. I'm sure it was important work for him to do ... probably.
Have you ever had a friend that could never get over a wrong that was done to him or her? Or one that sat in bitter victimhood instead of moving forward and using their misfortune to make a difference? For instance, maybe a woman's sister died of leukemia and forever after runs marathons to raise money for the Foundation to research a cure. Or maybe becomes an oncologist. Those would be examples of using your anger and sadness and grief and passion towards something good. Something healthy.
Well, I had a friend once that had some of that persnickity misfortune, and he dealt with it the best he knew how. Obviously. But while I remained friends with this person, he seemed to be so immersed in his bitterness that every time we got together, "somehow" the topic of his misfortune and all the wrong that had been done to his family, his friends, and neighbors came up. It was all very dramatic. And exhausting. And I never saw him do anything about it.
I didn't fault him for talking about it. Of course you need to tell your story and get it off your chest. That's how you start to heal. And I don't fault him for being angry, or even feeling victimized. In fact, I don't fault him for anything. But I will say it was challenging to be around him for long periods of time.
While the author of this book didn't play the victim, and he definitely took every opportunity to go on adventures and work hard and help his brothers and the ummah, and he definitely tried everything in his power to make a difference, I just couldn't stomach the constant restlessness and angst. He was always so disappointed and at odds with the way Islam was being "defined" around him. It seemed to me that he kept looking for a mentor, someone that would tell him what to do to settle his soul and dissatisfaction. And -- as far as I know -- he never found one. Everyone he encountered ultimately disappointed him because of this particular "leader's" view on ... women, or revolution, or ... the best way to connect with God.
I admit that it is quite likely I have just missed the point of this book because, well, I'm not Muslim, and I'm of European descent -- different culture completely. I understand that those two things could throw off my whole perspective regarding this book. Also, and this is my bad, since I went into the book assuming it was a memoir (even though the book's category is clearly stated on the back: Religion/Politics), I was stalled a lot of time with all the history that is woven in. PLUS, (chagrin) I only speak English -- for which I fault my lack of self-discipline and our country's educational system -- and that made following all the Arabic words thrown in a little difficult. Though I must say, Sardar did a brilliant job in explaining any non-English word he included.
So with the combination of almost constant religious angst, lots and lots of non-English names, a million dates, and a book packed with flash backs upon flash backs coupled with giant leaps forward in the author's lifetime -- in the end, I just couldn't follow it. I found myself skimming the pages, and that is a sure sign for me to put the book down and try something new.
In conclusion, I recommend this book.
Yes. You heard me. I recommend this book.
He writes well, there are some charming stories/memories (I especially like the way he purchased a donkey saddle, and the tea story), and if you love history, you'll totally get off on this book.
Because that's really what it is. It's a history book. Albeit his history. But also the history of Islam.
So, if you like good writing, already know about Islam and like history .... bring it on. Read this book.
December 11, 2013
I'd never came across Ziauddin Sardar before this but I'm surprised that I hadn't. This book is a semi-autobiographical account of his travels throughout the global Muslim community and his 'desperately sought' endeavors to try to improve the state of his people. It is an impulse people of all backgrounds can relate to but appears to be a book specifically geared to Muslims.
The Islam he describes as his is one that I recognize in my own life and family as well. Humanistic, intellectual, pluralistic, tolerant, aesthetically beautiful; he describes his many diverse attempts to bring this vision of Islam into reality in the modern world. This journey takes him from Iran to Malaysia to Morocco, meeting with some of the great figures of the modern world (which is pretty cool) and his vision of Islam is expounded through a series of vignettes and dialogues. It is a beautifully articulated and intellectually satisfying vision of the religion and one that would be recognized by any educated Muslim person or scholar of 'classical Islam'.
The book is for the most part well written - sometimes dazzlingly well - though the whirlwind of names and blow-by-blow descriptions of his attendance at various conferences around the world (I had no idea so many conferences on these topics were held) can become a bit tedious at times.
Recommended to all who are curious on the subject but primarily to those other Muslims who are 'desperately seeking' something which they find difficult to articulate in this era.
The Islam he describes as his is one that I recognize in my own life and family as well. Humanistic, intellectual, pluralistic, tolerant, aesthetically beautiful; he describes his many diverse attempts to bring this vision of Islam into reality in the modern world. This journey takes him from Iran to Malaysia to Morocco, meeting with some of the great figures of the modern world (which is pretty cool) and his vision of Islam is expounded through a series of vignettes and dialogues. It is a beautifully articulated and intellectually satisfying vision of the religion and one that would be recognized by any educated Muslim person or scholar of 'classical Islam'.
The book is for the most part well written - sometimes dazzlingly well - though the whirlwind of names and blow-by-blow descriptions of his attendance at various conferences around the world (I had no idea so many conferences on these topics were held) can become a bit tedious at times.
Recommended to all who are curious on the subject but primarily to those other Muslims who are 'desperately seeking' something which they find difficult to articulate in this era.
September 9, 2017
Islam is a way of life, there is no doubt about that, or is there? Have you ever questioned any of its teachings and practises, especially now with Islam being thrust in the limelight? Desperately Seeking Paradise addresses that. It questions, seeks answers and even refutes various old and current practices and beliefs and Zia Sardar is the perpetrator.
Zia presented us with various aspects of Islam but raised his doubts over the conflicting thoughts and current practices. His journeys took him across several leading Muslim nations in search for the essence of Islam. When in Baghdad, he looked into the history of the city and how it plays a part in the evolution of Sufism. He pondered upon the mysticism of its various so-called leaders and after much probing eventually found a mish-mash of personality cults and irrational dispositions which left him even more confused.
Along the way, he provided us with a unique insight into the religion that has defined his work and life. One moment he reveled in its glory. The next, he’s criticising contemporary Muslim ideas by exposing their flaws. Some cynics may even view him as idiosyncratic and eccentric but personally I find him very refreshing as his answers to his own doubts revealed even more questions. It helps too that he laced his controversial views with humour, often self-deprecating and ridiculing some of the self-proclaimed Islamists.
This book would have been dry if not for his various misadventures. One memorable incident is when he was ‘proposed’ by a Chinese Muslim girl who mistook his warm friendliness for attraction to her. She willingly offered herself to be his second wife even after him telling her he was married. Another is how he escaped from a tabligh group, a traveling group of Muslim mercenaries.
And what is a book about Islam if one does not touch on Syariah. Zia talked about this strange obsession by Islamists and governments with Syariah law, believing it could answer all kinds of problems plaguing the ummah. This obsession, he wrote, is not viable to the modern world and “lead to perceive the Syariah as a panacea, the one-stage process for delivering Muslim society from the era of neocolonialism to the paradise of Islam” (p.217).
This is a fantastic book but readers will have to know their history and facts if they do not want to feel stumped as he rambled on and on about them. His views are all controversial and frank yet one cannot dismiss his passion for Islam. He exemplifies a modern Muslim individual whose devotion to the religion does not blind him but instead drive him to seek further answers to his doubts and perhaps, just perhaps, guide him on the road towards paradise.
Zia presented us with various aspects of Islam but raised his doubts over the conflicting thoughts and current practices. His journeys took him across several leading Muslim nations in search for the essence of Islam. When in Baghdad, he looked into the history of the city and how it plays a part in the evolution of Sufism. He pondered upon the mysticism of its various so-called leaders and after much probing eventually found a mish-mash of personality cults and irrational dispositions which left him even more confused.
Along the way, he provided us with a unique insight into the religion that has defined his work and life. One moment he reveled in its glory. The next, he’s criticising contemporary Muslim ideas by exposing their flaws. Some cynics may even view him as idiosyncratic and eccentric but personally I find him very refreshing as his answers to his own doubts revealed even more questions. It helps too that he laced his controversial views with humour, often self-deprecating and ridiculing some of the self-proclaimed Islamists.
This book would have been dry if not for his various misadventures. One memorable incident is when he was ‘proposed’ by a Chinese Muslim girl who mistook his warm friendliness for attraction to her. She willingly offered herself to be his second wife even after him telling her he was married. Another is how he escaped from a tabligh group, a traveling group of Muslim mercenaries.
And what is a book about Islam if one does not touch on Syariah. Zia talked about this strange obsession by Islamists and governments with Syariah law, believing it could answer all kinds of problems plaguing the ummah. This obsession, he wrote, is not viable to the modern world and “lead to perceive the Syariah as a panacea, the one-stage process for delivering Muslim society from the era of neocolonialism to the paradise of Islam” (p.217).
This is a fantastic book but readers will have to know their history and facts if they do not want to feel stumped as he rambled on and on about them. His views are all controversial and frank yet one cannot dismiss his passion for Islam. He exemplifies a modern Muslim individual whose devotion to the religion does not blind him but instead drive him to seek further answers to his doubts and perhaps, just perhaps, guide him on the road towards paradise.
November 20, 2011
Mehhh. I have to confess I didn't finish it. I stopped around page 210, just because I couldn't take any more of the author's condescension. I was expecting this book to be full of interesting tales of personal experiences and enlightenment. Instead, we get to listen to the author recount uninteresting debates with other Muslim intellectuals, so he can essentially say, "look at me, I'm so smart, and I have smartness, and everyone else is stupid, and has stupidness!"
I give the book two stars because Sardar really is a genius at storytelling, and when he gets down to relating the experiences he had during his travels, his writing is riveting, meaningful, and funny. But then the reader must endure page after endless page of, "and then I applied for this grant, and then I went to this conference, and then I taught this simpleton the error of his ways, and then so-and-so wanted me to edit such-and-such magazine because I'M SMART AND IMPORTANT, and then I formed this institute and that institute and the other institute..."
I give the book two stars because Sardar really is a genius at storytelling, and when he gets down to relating the experiences he had during his travels, his writing is riveting, meaningful, and funny. But then the reader must endure page after endless page of, "and then I applied for this grant, and then I went to this conference, and then I taught this simpleton the error of his ways, and then so-and-so wanted me to edit such-and-such magazine because I'M SMART AND IMPORTANT, and then I formed this institute and that institute and the other institute..."
October 13, 2015
Despite his childish interpretations; Sardar used his beautiful language and immense knowledge to pass what is called "true lies". He did it in the smartest way, however; if you have the slightest idea about the history he is narrating, you will easily discover where exactly is he lying, and how he did so to justify his narrative and worldview.
Should be treated as a novel rather than an autobiography!
Should be treated as a novel rather than an autobiography!
March 3, 2017
The present-day world is reeling under the monstrosity of Islamic terror. By the term ‘world’, I don’t mean non-Muslims alone. In a sense, the Muslim community pays a far larger price for the misdeeds of a group of youths among them. The world is also astonished at the silence of moderate Muslims in condemning violence of any kind. A fundamental feature of the Orient, of which Islam sprung out in due course, is to be examined here. Individualism is deeply spurned in the East. The individual is just a cog in the society’s wheel. You have to conform to the fads and fancies currently circulating in your tribe or society. Blind obedience to medieval jurisprudence and ideas of religious association are keeping the Muslims from fully integrating themselves with the world society. For this, their individuals and communities has to ‘reclaim agency, which is the right to re-interpret their religious texts according to their time and context’. The author expresses the voice of the moderates, which the world so yearns to hear. Ziauddin Sardar is a London-based scholar of Pakistani origin, an award-winning writer and public intellectual who specializes in Muslim thought. In this book, he brings into focus the big questions facing Muslim individuals and communities and a silhouette of the suggested solutions. These solutions are not fully formed, hence the caveat ‘sceptical’ in the sub-title of the book.
Sardar’s life in Britain truly reflects that of many millions of refugees from Muslim countries who flee from their home states to escape persecution or poverty. The author, likewise, emigrated from Pakistan at a very young age. But once they take root in their adopted European homeland, they become restless at the egalitarian ideology and tolerant spirit of their new domicile, and take fantastic notions of the (laughable) supremacy of Islam into their heads. Some of them take to terrorism, while intellectuals of the writer’s genre attack the system ideologically. Such ungrateful guests eventually turn a heavy burden on Europe’s ordinary peace-loving citizens. The author joined FOSIS, an Islamic organization created for uniting Muslim students in Britain. We expect this association of youngsters to protest against injustices in the world as all ideological student groups tend to do anywhere. But not FOSIS and other Islamic organizations! Their sense of injustice is attuned to wake up only when Muslims are on the losing side. As the book amply indicates, they didn’t protest against the Vietnam war or the suppression of popular revolt in Eastern Europe. Instead, they organized rallies and seminars to remonstrate against the killing of Sayyid Qutb, the chief ideologue of the extremist Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, the occupation of Palestine in 1967 and even against Hindu – Muslim communal riots that erupted in India in 1969. A common sentiment of the Muslim refugees in Europe is the wishful longing for the (supposed) former glory of the Muslim empires and its revival. One wonders why did they leave their Muslim states behind in the first place! But Sardar quickly saw through the charades of Jamaat e-Islami of Pakistan and the Muslim Brotherhood as their ‘pre-packaged unwisdom’ repulsed him.
Unable to blend with the British society that offered his family shelter, livelihood and a future to look forward to, the author courted many religious groups like Tabligh and mystics like Sufi practitioners. But everywhere, dissolution of one’s self and total submission to the preceptor was a precondition. Such authoritarianism was couched in elegant phrases like ‘purify the soul from impurities such as cynicism and cleanse the mind of doubt and sarcasm’. Observance of religious practices was a quid pro quo with the almighty for attaining paradise. Such an outlook naturally precludes a multiplicity of teachers for one individual. If one thought differently, either he should remain silent, or create a new religious order. Such strife was fairly common from the birth of Islam itself. Three of the four rightly-guided caliphs were assassinated as also eleven out of the twelve imams of Shiism. Such feuds extended into interpretations of theology and jurisprudence as well. Imam Shafi, who was the founder of the Shafi school of thought (one among the four principal schools) was beaten to death by the followers of Imam Malik, who expounded the Maliki school of thought (also one among the four principal schools). Sufism is touted as a syncretic system more in tune with the cosmopolitan spirit of the modern world. The book hints that Sufism involves much more surrender, as one of its dictum is that ‘there is too much information in the head of young seekers. You must empty your mind of all that you know’ (p.64). Any kind of individuality is shunned and sheepish accompaniment of the master is praised as seen in the example of the author’s own brother. He became the disciple of a Sufi teacher and resigned his job as an economist on the advice of the teacher to take up the position as a carpenter in order to work with his own hands, whose worth was extolled by the spiritual guide. He accepted a wife chosen by the teacher and submitted fully to the order, finally ending up in economic ruin. However, this episode convinced the author that mysticism was deeply flawed and that Sufism does not produce a viable, equitable social order. In the wide travels Sardar had made, he came across the tomb and life story of Mulla Nasruddin Hodja and longs that Muslims everywhere need a character like him to lean against, someone who can point out the absurdities of their situation, someone they can believe and laugh with (p.82). Readers are astonished at the shortsightedness of the author here. All people, not just Muslims, need such a character as Hodja! Sardar is painfully obsessed with Muslim concerns alone. If such is the worldview of the most educated among them, one can only recoil in horror at the ideology of the uneducated bigots!
The difficult and troublesome synthesis of the westernized Muslims to their adopted homeland has long been an issue of serious repercussions in Europe, on account of the participation of such people in heinous terrorist acts. Sardar remarks that Muslims seek liberation from the tyranny of the West and such notions as modernity and secularism. For them, the West is sheer evil – moderates grudgingly tolerate it, hardliners attack it physically. Isn’t it amazing to contemplate why then did they leave their Shariah-ruled home countries to seek refuge in the West? Once their hunger is sated, their need for a shelter is met and they find a living – all with the welfare benefits provided by Western nations – the refugees change colour and longs for Shariah! The author does not have a very high opinion of Shariah, as he states that it is not god-ordained, and made draconian by its oppressive treatment of women and minorities, its emphasis on extreme punishments and its fixation with ossified jurisprudence (p.217). His firm conviction is that acquiring all the trappings of modernity merely leaves the Muslim ummah going round in circles, but getting nowhere. Sardar denounces extremism in no uncertain terms. Islamic fundamentalism is said to be the idea of a state, rather than a god-centred life and thought.
So, what is the real problem the Muslims encounter in blending seamlessly to their adopted Western societies? If you read between the lines of the book, the answer is crystal clear – an overarching superiority complex! For reasons incomprehensible to rational minds, Muslims consider their religion to be at the pinnacle of religious thought and action and looks down on others. Muslims live across national boundaries in the world, but consider themselves to belong to a supra-national assembly called ummah. We see well-settled men getting deeply troubled by minor incursions in Palestine or Chechnya, where the local Muslims suffer a reverse. Even intellectuals harbour this trans-national allegiance which obfuscates the truth that Islam is going on under a fossilized tradition and religious obscurantism. The author never mentions even a single point that affected the British society, even though he had lived there for six decades! He remembers that he is British only when he courts with trouble in Iran, Saudi Arabia or Turkey where they treated him as only a Pakistani. At the first whiff of the slightest threat, out pops the British passport and indignant cries of maltreating a British citizen! A notable feature of Muslim intellectual organizations as seen in the book is the rich source of funds originating in the Middle East that can be used for propaganda or conversions. The 1970s oil crisis had made the gulf states immensely rich. There was no dearth of resources for the author’s many experiments, flowing in from Iran or Saudi Arabia.
The book is concise summary of the social position of a Muslim intellectual in western societies. His numerous travels crisscrossing the Muslim world has helped to bring to light the dilemmas and concerns of those societies. It is a record of the constant striving of the intellectuals to find a way in which Islam can be configured for the modern world and optimizing it to interface smoothly with modernity, science and secularism. The diction is easy on the reader and the personal experiences are narrated with a hearty sense of humour. However, some inferences of the author should be thought of as taking advantage from hindsight. Sardar describes about meeting Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in the 1980s in a conference of the Afghan Mujahideen and how he was shocked by the cold light in his eyes when he shut off the avenues of compromise one by one. He was also stunned by the fanatic spirit of students in a madrassah run by the Haqqania network in Pakistan. The book is gifted with a comprehensive index.
The book is recommended.
Sardar’s life in Britain truly reflects that of many millions of refugees from Muslim countries who flee from their home states to escape persecution or poverty. The author, likewise, emigrated from Pakistan at a very young age. But once they take root in their adopted European homeland, they become restless at the egalitarian ideology and tolerant spirit of their new domicile, and take fantastic notions of the (laughable) supremacy of Islam into their heads. Some of them take to terrorism, while intellectuals of the writer’s genre attack the system ideologically. Such ungrateful guests eventually turn a heavy burden on Europe’s ordinary peace-loving citizens. The author joined FOSIS, an Islamic organization created for uniting Muslim students in Britain. We expect this association of youngsters to protest against injustices in the world as all ideological student groups tend to do anywhere. But not FOSIS and other Islamic organizations! Their sense of injustice is attuned to wake up only when Muslims are on the losing side. As the book amply indicates, they didn’t protest against the Vietnam war or the suppression of popular revolt in Eastern Europe. Instead, they organized rallies and seminars to remonstrate against the killing of Sayyid Qutb, the chief ideologue of the extremist Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, the occupation of Palestine in 1967 and even against Hindu – Muslim communal riots that erupted in India in 1969. A common sentiment of the Muslim refugees in Europe is the wishful longing for the (supposed) former glory of the Muslim empires and its revival. One wonders why did they leave their Muslim states behind in the first place! But Sardar quickly saw through the charades of Jamaat e-Islami of Pakistan and the Muslim Brotherhood as their ‘pre-packaged unwisdom’ repulsed him.
Unable to blend with the British society that offered his family shelter, livelihood and a future to look forward to, the author courted many religious groups like Tabligh and mystics like Sufi practitioners. But everywhere, dissolution of one’s self and total submission to the preceptor was a precondition. Such authoritarianism was couched in elegant phrases like ‘purify the soul from impurities such as cynicism and cleanse the mind of doubt and sarcasm’. Observance of religious practices was a quid pro quo with the almighty for attaining paradise. Such an outlook naturally precludes a multiplicity of teachers for one individual. If one thought differently, either he should remain silent, or create a new religious order. Such strife was fairly common from the birth of Islam itself. Three of the four rightly-guided caliphs were assassinated as also eleven out of the twelve imams of Shiism. Such feuds extended into interpretations of theology and jurisprudence as well. Imam Shafi, who was the founder of the Shafi school of thought (one among the four principal schools) was beaten to death by the followers of Imam Malik, who expounded the Maliki school of thought (also one among the four principal schools). Sufism is touted as a syncretic system more in tune with the cosmopolitan spirit of the modern world. The book hints that Sufism involves much more surrender, as one of its dictum is that ‘there is too much information in the head of young seekers. You must empty your mind of all that you know’ (p.64). Any kind of individuality is shunned and sheepish accompaniment of the master is praised as seen in the example of the author’s own brother. He became the disciple of a Sufi teacher and resigned his job as an economist on the advice of the teacher to take up the position as a carpenter in order to work with his own hands, whose worth was extolled by the spiritual guide. He accepted a wife chosen by the teacher and submitted fully to the order, finally ending up in economic ruin. However, this episode convinced the author that mysticism was deeply flawed and that Sufism does not produce a viable, equitable social order. In the wide travels Sardar had made, he came across the tomb and life story of Mulla Nasruddin Hodja and longs that Muslims everywhere need a character like him to lean against, someone who can point out the absurdities of their situation, someone they can believe and laugh with (p.82). Readers are astonished at the shortsightedness of the author here. All people, not just Muslims, need such a character as Hodja! Sardar is painfully obsessed with Muslim concerns alone. If such is the worldview of the most educated among them, one can only recoil in horror at the ideology of the uneducated bigots!
The difficult and troublesome synthesis of the westernized Muslims to their adopted homeland has long been an issue of serious repercussions in Europe, on account of the participation of such people in heinous terrorist acts. Sardar remarks that Muslims seek liberation from the tyranny of the West and such notions as modernity and secularism. For them, the West is sheer evil – moderates grudgingly tolerate it, hardliners attack it physically. Isn’t it amazing to contemplate why then did they leave their Shariah-ruled home countries to seek refuge in the West? Once their hunger is sated, their need for a shelter is met and they find a living – all with the welfare benefits provided by Western nations – the refugees change colour and longs for Shariah! The author does not have a very high opinion of Shariah, as he states that it is not god-ordained, and made draconian by its oppressive treatment of women and minorities, its emphasis on extreme punishments and its fixation with ossified jurisprudence (p.217). His firm conviction is that acquiring all the trappings of modernity merely leaves the Muslim ummah going round in circles, but getting nowhere. Sardar denounces extremism in no uncertain terms. Islamic fundamentalism is said to be the idea of a state, rather than a god-centred life and thought.
So, what is the real problem the Muslims encounter in blending seamlessly to their adopted Western societies? If you read between the lines of the book, the answer is crystal clear – an overarching superiority complex! For reasons incomprehensible to rational minds, Muslims consider their religion to be at the pinnacle of religious thought and action and looks down on others. Muslims live across national boundaries in the world, but consider themselves to belong to a supra-national assembly called ummah. We see well-settled men getting deeply troubled by minor incursions in Palestine or Chechnya, where the local Muslims suffer a reverse. Even intellectuals harbour this trans-national allegiance which obfuscates the truth that Islam is going on under a fossilized tradition and religious obscurantism. The author never mentions even a single point that affected the British society, even though he had lived there for six decades! He remembers that he is British only when he courts with trouble in Iran, Saudi Arabia or Turkey where they treated him as only a Pakistani. At the first whiff of the slightest threat, out pops the British passport and indignant cries of maltreating a British citizen! A notable feature of Muslim intellectual organizations as seen in the book is the rich source of funds originating in the Middle East that can be used for propaganda or conversions. The 1970s oil crisis had made the gulf states immensely rich. There was no dearth of resources for the author’s many experiments, flowing in from Iran or Saudi Arabia.
The book is concise summary of the social position of a Muslim intellectual in western societies. His numerous travels crisscrossing the Muslim world has helped to bring to light the dilemmas and concerns of those societies. It is a record of the constant striving of the intellectuals to find a way in which Islam can be configured for the modern world and optimizing it to interface smoothly with modernity, science and secularism. The diction is easy on the reader and the personal experiences are narrated with a hearty sense of humour. However, some inferences of the author should be thought of as taking advantage from hindsight. Sardar describes about meeting Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in the 1980s in a conference of the Afghan Mujahideen and how he was shocked by the cold light in his eyes when he shut off the avenues of compromise one by one. He was also stunned by the fanatic spirit of students in a madrassah run by the Haqqania network in Pakistan. The book is gifted with a comprehensive index.
The book is recommended.
August 30, 2020
هذا الكتاب يذكرني بكتاب "يومًا ما كنت إسلاميًا"، والذي قرأته في عامي الأول في الجامعة. دفقة كبيرة من المشاعر والأفكار والتجارب والمغامرات التي يتمنى المرء لو شارك فيها أو لو يقدر له أن يشارك في مثلها فيما بعد! وبالمثل يعتري المرء شعورٌ بالحزن، والضعف والتيه الذي تقبع فيه هذه الأمة جمعاء.
ضياء الدين سردار مفكر باكستاني بريطاني شبه مجهول للأسف لدى المجتمعات العربية، رغم أنه من المفكرين النادرين الذين رأيتهم مهتمين بـ"مستقبل الإسلام" عوضًا عن الدوران الفارغ في دوائر ازلية فارغة وجدالات عن الماضي والتراث. هذا الكتاب هو سيرته الذاتية الأولى (الجزء الثاني نزل في كتابٍ لاحق بعدها بعدة سنوات). يحكي سردار على مدار فصول الكتاب رحلته في التنقل والبحث عن "الجنة"، بدأت تلك الرحلة مع جماعة التبليغ والدعوة ثم الإخوان المسلمين والجماعة الإسلامية ومدرسة أسلمة المعرفة مع الفاروقي، ومرّت بالصحوة وثورة النفط السعودية وغزو أفغانستان والثورة الإيرانية وقضية سلمان رشدي وانقلابات تركيا ثم معجزة ماليزيا، وفي كل مرحلة كان حلم سردار بالفردوس الإسلامي -الذي يصر ويؤكد على حقيقته التعددية في مقابل السلطوية والفردانية- يتلاشى أمام عقليات وأفكار وعقائد التيارات المختلفة من التبليغ للإسلام السياسي للصوفية ومن ثم مع انتقاله للعمل العام صدمه واقع الوهابية والثورة الخمينية ومدارس طالبان وحقيقة العلمانية في تركيا وبريطانيا وصراع مهاتير محمد مع أنور إبراهيم، إذ كانت ماليزيا بالنسبة للكاتب ومحيطيه والذين كانوا على تواصل مباشر مع أنور إبراهيم- المرشح الأمثل للنهضة الإسلامية لتشابهها مع الأندلس تكوينًا وثقافةً (تعددية)، لتنتهي تلك القصة وتتحطم مع برجي التجارة العالميين أعقاب عملية الحادي عشر من سبتمبر، لتنتهي بعدها فصول الكتاب الذي يبحث عن مخرج للأمة (بألف ولام التعريف لدى سردار) وتبدأ فصولٌ أشد دموية وسوادًا وتخلفًا في حياة هذه الأمة وهذه المنطقة التعيسة.
قد تكون مشكلة سردار -والتي أعتقد أنه استدركها في آخر الكتاب- هي أنه لم يحدد ما يعنيه بالفردوس الإسلامي. هذا السؤال -وهذا الكتاب أيضًا- أعتقد مهمات للغاية في مرحلة ما بعد الخريف العربي، حيث كل المسلمات مهدمة وعلينا -كأفراد، فأنا ما عدت أؤمن بالحلول المؤسسية والجماعية بل بالخلاص الفردي- أن نبحث عن رحلتنا وفردوسنا الخاص؛ وهذا ما يشير سردار إليه في نهاية الكتاب حين يخلص من رحلته على مدار بضع وعشرين سنة إلى أن الفردوس الإسلامي ليس محلًا للوصول، بل طريقة للسفر.
" كل الجنات الفاشلة التي اكتشفتها خلال رحلتي كانت مؤسسة على إيمانٍ مضلل بالوصول. كل ما يملكه البشر حينها هو العيش بمجموعة من اليقينات غير القابلة للمسائلة. ولكن الرحلة نفسها، البحث عن جدول ماء لقياس مسافة الطريق كل يوم، هي وسيلة للتفكير والتساؤل. بالأخص فإن خوض الرحلة يتطلب تيقظًا وتساؤلًا وملاحظةً على الدوام، للتأكد من أننا نخوض الطريق السليم بينما يتبدل محيطنا باستمرار".
نعم، كان الإيمان الأعمى -النابع، في نظري، عن يأس ورغبة عارمة بالخلاص الفوري-، هو المشكل الذي شل العالم الإسلامي كله في رأي سردار. كانت الجماعات الدعوية كالتبليغ مهووسة بالطقوس والعبادات كسبيل لرضا الله المؤدي للخلاص، وكانت التيارات الإسلامية مؤمنة بأن الحل يكمن في "تطبيق الشريعة" -والتي يصفها سردار كما يتصورها الإسلاميون بأنها نظام عقوبات قروسطي متكلس-، كحلٍ فوري سماوي لكل أعضال الأمة وأدوائها. كان سردار يرى مع رفقاءه أن المسلمين يخلطون في الشريعة بين الأخلاق والقانون، وبين المقدس والتاريخي.
بالمثل كانت سياسات الدولة السعودية الوهابية المعتمدة على النقل الأعمى للتقنية والب��ى التحتية كحل فوري للتحديث والتمدن (في بلاد كانت لا تزال بدوية) مقابل الانبهار بالثورة الإيرانية وحلم الدولة الإسلامية الذي تحقق أخيرًا، في كل محطة كان سردار يواجه فردوسًا إما مصطنعًا، أو سلطويًا غاشمًا، أو غير واقعي و"مدروشًا".
وللأسف، فبعد 16 عامًا من نشر هذا الكتاب، وعقدٍ كامل من الدماء والانقلابات والحروب والخيانات، لا زلنا ندور في حلقة مفرغة، ولا يزال الكثيرون يفكرون كالأطفال، "ميعرفوش إن النار يح حد ما يحطوا ايدهم ويتلسعوا". بل ربما الأطفال يتعلمون بعدها أن النار يح، بينما الكبار يفضلون إعادة اكتشاف النار من جديد في كل مرة!
هذا أول كتاب أقرأه لضياء الدين سردار، وإن كنت قرأت عنه عدة مرات من قبل، لكن الرجل يظهر بوضوح -رغم أسلوبه الفظ في بعض الأحيان، والذي يفتقر للفكاهة أحيانًا أخرى- أنه صاحب همٍ ومشروع فكري يستحق الاهتمام والعناية به بشدة، ربما كونه عاش وتعلم وعاصر الحداثة الأوروبية في عقر دارها جعله يعيش جدالات ومشاكل أكبر من تلك التي تعيشها (في قعر البالوعة)، والذي قد يفسر صدمته من واقع الحركات الإسلامية وقت اختلاطه معها. هذا مفكر يطرح جانبًا مهمًا للاهتمام بالإسلام ومستقبله عوضًا عن تشنجاتنا المعتادة وجدالاتنا العقيمة الأزلية المملة. وبنهاية الكتاب كانت تتردد في أذني مقولة الشيخ الغزالي الارتجالية في أحد ندواته: ليه الإسلام دين نظيف، في أمة وسخة؟"
في الختام، قلة هي الكتب التي تجعلك تعيد التفكير في كل ما مضى، وتعيد النظر في مسلماتك، لا بدافع الشك بقدر ما هو دعوة للتقييم وإعادة التذكير بالغاية بدل الوسيلة. أعتقد أن كتابًا مثل هذا لو ترجم وانتشر قبل 2011 لكنا ربما تداركنا بعض الأخطاء، أو على الاقل لم نكن لنقع في فخ الخريف العربي وصدمته كما وقعنا.
ضياء الدين سردار مفكر باكستاني بريطاني شبه مجهول للأسف لدى المجتمعات العربية، رغم أنه من المفكرين النادرين الذين رأيتهم مهتمين بـ"مستقبل الإسلام" عوضًا عن الدوران الفارغ في دوائر ازلية فارغة وجدالات عن الماضي والتراث. هذا الكتاب هو سيرته الذاتية الأولى (الجزء الثاني نزل في كتابٍ لاحق بعدها بعدة سنوات). يحكي سردار على مدار فصول الكتاب رحلته في التنقل والبحث عن "الجنة"، بدأت تلك الرحلة مع جماعة التبليغ والدعوة ثم الإخوان المسلمين والجماعة الإسلامية ومدرسة أسلمة المعرفة مع الفاروقي، ومرّت بالصحوة وثورة النفط السعودية وغزو أفغانستان والثورة الإيرانية وقضية سلمان رشدي وانقلابات تركيا ثم معجزة ماليزيا، وفي كل مرحلة كان حلم سردار بالفردوس الإسلامي -الذي يصر ويؤكد على حقيقته التعددية في مقابل السلطوية والفردانية- يتلاشى أمام عقليات وأفكار وعقائد التيارات المختلفة من التبليغ للإسلام السياسي للصوفية ومن ثم مع انتقاله للعمل العام صدمه واقع الوهابية والثورة الخمينية ومدارس طالبان وحقيقة العلمانية في تركيا وبريطانيا وصراع مهاتير محمد مع أنور إبراهيم، إذ كانت ماليزيا بالنسبة للكاتب ومحيطيه والذين كانوا على تواصل مباشر مع أنور إبراهيم- المرشح الأمثل للنهضة الإسلامية لتشابهها مع الأندلس تكوينًا وثقافةً (تعددية)، لتنتهي تلك القصة وتتحطم مع برجي التجارة العالميين أعقاب عملية الحادي عشر من سبتمبر، لتنتهي بعدها فصول الكتاب الذي يبحث عن مخرج للأمة (بألف ولام التعريف لدى سردار) وتبدأ فصولٌ أشد دموية وسوادًا وتخلفًا في حياة هذه الأمة وهذه المنطقة التعيسة.
قد تكون مشكلة سردار -والتي أعتقد أنه استدركها في آخر الكتاب- هي أنه لم يحدد ما يعنيه بالفردوس الإسلامي. هذا السؤال -وهذا الكتاب أيضًا- أعتقد مهمات للغاية في مرحلة ما بعد الخريف العربي، حيث كل المسلمات مهدمة وعلينا -كأفراد، فأنا ما عدت أؤمن بالحلول المؤسسية والجماعية بل بالخلاص الفردي- أن نبحث عن رحلتنا وفردوسنا الخاص؛ وهذا ما يشير سردار إليه في نهاية الكتاب حين يخلص من رحلته على مدار بضع وعشرين سنة إلى أن الفردوس الإسلامي ليس محلًا للوصول، بل طريقة للسفر.
" كل الجنات الفاشلة التي اكتشفتها خلال رحلتي كانت مؤسسة على إيمانٍ مضلل بالوصول. كل ما يملكه البشر حينها هو العيش بمجموعة من اليقينات غير القابلة للمسائلة. ولكن الرحلة نفسها، البحث عن جدول ماء لقياس مسافة الطريق كل يوم، هي وسيلة للتفكير والتساؤل. بالأخص فإن خوض الرحلة يتطلب تيقظًا وتساؤلًا وملاحظةً على الدوام، للتأكد من أننا نخوض الطريق السليم بينما يتبدل محيطنا باستمرار".
نعم، كان الإيمان الأعمى -النابع، في نظري، عن يأس ورغبة عارمة بالخلاص الفوري-، هو المشكل الذي شل العالم الإسلامي كله في رأي سردار. كانت الجماعات الدعوية كالتبليغ مهووسة بالطقوس والعبادات كسبيل لرضا الله المؤدي للخلاص، وكانت التيارات الإسلامية مؤمنة بأن الحل يكمن في "تطبيق الشريعة" -والتي يصفها سردار كما يتصورها الإسلاميون بأنها نظام عقوبات قروسطي متكلس-، كحلٍ فوري سماوي لكل أعضال الأمة وأدوائها. كان سردار يرى مع رفقاءه أن المسلمين يخلطون في الشريعة بين الأخلاق والقانون، وبين المقدس والتاريخي.
بالمثل كانت سياسات الدولة السعودية الوهابية المعتمدة على النقل الأعمى للتقنية والب��ى التحتية كحل فوري للتحديث والتمدن (في بلاد كانت لا تزال بدوية) مقابل الانبهار بالثورة الإيرانية وحلم الدولة الإسلامية الذي تحقق أخيرًا، في كل محطة كان سردار يواجه فردوسًا إما مصطنعًا، أو سلطويًا غاشمًا، أو غير واقعي و"مدروشًا".
وللأسف، فبعد 16 عامًا من نشر هذا الكتاب، وعقدٍ كامل من الدماء والانقلابات والحروب والخيانات، لا زلنا ندور في حلقة مفرغة، ولا يزال الكثيرون يفكرون كالأطفال، "ميعرفوش إن النار يح حد ما يحطوا ايدهم ويتلسعوا". بل ربما الأطفال يتعلمون بعدها أن النار يح، بينما الكبار يفضلون إعادة اكتشاف النار من جديد في كل مرة!
هذا أول كتاب أقرأه لضياء الدين سردار، وإن كنت قرأت عنه عدة مرات من قبل، لكن الرجل يظهر بوضوح -رغم أسلوبه الفظ في بعض الأحيان، والذي يفتقر للفكاهة أحيانًا أخرى- أنه صاحب همٍ ومشروع فكري يستحق الاهتمام والعناية به بشدة، ربما كونه عاش وتعلم وعاصر الحداثة الأوروبية في عقر دارها جعله يعيش جدالات ومشاكل أكبر من تلك التي تعيشها (في قعر البالوعة)، والذي قد يفسر صدمته من واقع الحركات الإسلامية وقت اختلاطه معها. هذا مفكر يطرح جانبًا مهمًا للاهتمام بالإسلام ومستقبله عوضًا عن تشنجاتنا المعتادة وجدالاتنا العقيمة الأزلية المملة. وبنهاية الكتاب كانت تتردد في أذني مقولة الشيخ الغزالي الارتجالية في أحد ندواته: ليه الإسلام دين نظيف، في أمة وسخة؟"
في الختام، قلة هي الكتب التي تجعلك تعيد التفكير في كل ما مضى، وتعيد النظر في مسلماتك، لا بدافع الشك بقدر ما هو دعوة للتقييم وإعادة التذكير بالغاية بدل الوسيلة. أعتقد أن كتابًا مثل هذا لو ترجم وانتشر قبل 2011 لكنا ربما تداركنا بعض الأخطاء، أو على الاقل لم نكن لنقع في فخ الخريف العربي وصدمته كما وقعنا.
May 21, 2018
Memoir and intellectual adventures of a Muslim thinker in the West. It's well-written, the author is intelligent, well-read, and funny. Enjoyable read, especially the author's insights and funny jabs, even though it's quite gloomy in some parts. It doesn't have quite the happy ending, but leaves me interested to read more of him.
December 19, 2020
Baru baca karya Ziauddin Sardar, dan begitu takjub dengan gaya bahasa yg lugas dan berani. Konsep berpikirnya juga melawan arus, banyak tokoh kenamaan abad-21 yang diceritakan dalam buku ini.
August 15, 2017
a candid and brave account of a seeker's journey in a world that can be harshly judgmental and fraught with difference and destructive divide....many can relate to the sentiments and experiences raised by Sardar and in today's climate of Islamophobia and the Orientalist stereotype of Muslims carving out one's identity in a hostile world in anything but easy. This books speaks to that struggle and provides comfort knowing one isn't alone in the journey - one that differs for all, but one that is worth taking anyway to find that elusive paradise of heart mind and soul....
December 10, 2016
This book was recommended to me about 5 years ago, I bought it but never got around to reading it. That was a mistake. I reviewed a book on chaos theory earlier in the year and discovered that its author was the same.
Sardar is a scientist and deep intellectual. Moreover, he is a learner and a seeker, and so I felt an instant connection to him. Sardar has traveled the world and seen all sides of the umma, and desperately wishes to save it from itself. The book chronicles years in England spent learning from Muslim scholars, years spent in Saudi Arabia bemoaning the Kingdom's destruction of history and ruining the hajj by clogging it with modern pollution, and years spent watching the Muslim world turn more and more insular and backward.
Sardar's circle of intellectual scholars write articles and advise governments to seemingly no avail. He was at a meeting in Pakistan when Osama bin Laden and others in the mujahideen could not find a way to reconcile their differences, and the future was clear. They reached a ghastly depression when their fears were realized on 9/11 and afterward.
I enjoyed Sardar's observations in his travels to places like Turkey, Syria, and Iran. I learned about how much hope the umma placed in the Iranian revolution, and how bad it was when those hopes were dashed by the violent tyranny that emerged.
All along the way, Sardar explains ancient Muslim history and philosophy, illustrating the different schools of thought and what they mean for today. I learned a great deal about Islam that I never knew before. Sardar's problems with Muslim clerics today are very similar to the ones I have with evangelical pastors.
If you're an American who thinks he knows a decent amount about Islam, or has read several books on the subject, think again and afresh and read this book. Sardar believes in a pluralist Islam. It's not clear to me why he rejects Christianity. It seems to me that what he's looking for is clearly found in Jesus and the teachings of the Bible. I'd love to have a conversation with him.
This book was better than I could have imagined, and much different. Wish I had read it 5 years ago.
5 stars out of 5.
April 21, 2015
I loved this book. Perhaps it deserves five stars but as I read it a long time ago four will suffice. I was hoping that his tongue was firmly in his cheek when he kept telling us what an intellectual Muslim he is. Though I fear he meant every repeated sentence. This is my only gripe with this book, that I can remember anyway. He certainly seems to think a lot of himself. despite that I actually agree with a lot of his views. Not all of course but enough for me to really enjoy this book. Funnily enough the one bit that really sticks in my memory is when his friend becomes Muslim and she doesn't change her name. I remember the amount of people who asked (still do) what my Muslim name is when they realise I'm a revert. Yet islamically there is no need to change your name (unless it means something bad). Not to mention the hurt it must cause the parents when you do so. I suppose it irks me some Muslims know their religion so little that they think this is such a must. Especially when there is so many more important things they could be discussing with a Muslim. Ah well I digress.
I definitely recommend this book to Muslims and non Muslims. I am looking forward to reading this book again. When I do so I will update my review. In case it's not as good as I remember.
I definitely recommend this book to Muslims and non Muslims. I am looking forward to reading this book again. When I do so I will update my review. In case it's not as good as I remember.
March 19, 2016
I took a break from this to read a quick book club book, and then extended that break for a few other books... and finally came back to it and read the last half in a matter of days to finish it. I'm not sure whether the second half was really more interesting and easier to grasp, or whether it just seemed that way because I had a better pace and was able to stay with it mentally.
Anyway, the travelogue and memoir-y sections were great. Really interesting, clever, descriptively-written. I learned a lot about the modern history of the ummah (worldwide society of Islam). But the sections about the history of Islamic thought were SO terribly boring. I got lost multiple times (especially in the first half) trying to stay interested enough to care about who was who in which century and how they all related to what was going on in the "now" of the book. Ughhhh. Mr. Sardar's pompous voice got on my nerves sometimes, too. And did he really say that reading The Satanic Verses felt like what it must feel like to be raped??
I read this for the Religion category of Book Riot's 2016 Read Harder category.
Anyway, the travelogue and memoir-y sections were great. Really interesting, clever, descriptively-written. I learned a lot about the modern history of the ummah (worldwide society of Islam). But the sections about the history of Islamic thought were SO terribly boring. I got lost multiple times (especially in the first half) trying to stay interested enough to care about who was who in which century and how they all related to what was going on in the "now" of the book. Ughhhh. Mr. Sardar's pompous voice got on my nerves sometimes, too. And did he really say that reading The Satanic Verses felt like what it must feel like to be raped??
I read this for the Religion category of Book Riot's 2016 Read Harder category.
July 11, 2011
I am in awe of this book.In an era where instant nonfiction books with poor content, threadbare content with holes in it, are churned out in the form of fancy, time-consuming hardbacks, I am incredibly humbled by the majesty contained within its 354 pages.Don’t get me wrong. There might have been a time when I felt that I was perfectly happy for Sardar to represent Islam for me, any day, but those times are gone. The implications of some of the statements he makes in this bok—particularly about the irrelevance of Shariah law–do not sit well with me.But this is not the place to go into that problem (and even if it was, I barely have a glimmer of the intellectual prowess required to take him on).This is the place to say that this book needs to be known about, talked about, much more than it seems to be. I don’t know the standards by which ratings are judged, but I daresay that this book is highly underrated for what it has to offer in terms of understanding oneself and understanding Islam’s earthly forms.
January 14, 2015
what is paradise? how is the shape of paradise? why do people always talk about paradise? Is paradise the goal of the life? is it the only reason why we have to live?
Paradise is... everyone has their own definition about it. some of them may have the similiarity and that makes them creating community. there're people who come to another country and persuade people to pray. Is this the way to go to paradise?
there're people who are sacrified themselves as a bombers.
Is this the way to go to paradise?
there're people who pray day by day, make love to God through sufisme.
Is this the way to go to paradise?
there're people who give their life trying to make peace on earth.
Is this the way to go to paradise?
there're people who give their minds trying to persuade people to go back QUran and hadist.
Is this the way to go to paradise?
we have our own definitions what paradise is.
Through this book, we'll find the journey of the author looking for paradise description.
And what is paradise?
Paradise is... everyone has their own definition about it. some of them may have the similiarity and that makes them creating community. there're people who come to another country and persuade people to pray. Is this the way to go to paradise?
there're people who are sacrified themselves as a bombers.
Is this the way to go to paradise?
there're people who pray day by day, make love to God through sufisme.
Is this the way to go to paradise?
there're people who give their life trying to make peace on earth.
Is this the way to go to paradise?
there're people who give their minds trying to persuade people to go back QUran and hadist.
Is this the way to go to paradise?
we have our own definitions what paradise is.
Through this book, we'll find the journey of the author looking for paradise description.
And what is paradise?
August 27, 2008
I read this book shortly after reading Eat Pray Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy India and Indonesia and, although Gilbert's book resonated more with me, I found Sardar's book to be a wonderful complement. He also deals with a problem I encounter as a Christian, how to be a person of faith and uphold the basic tenants of justice, mercy and humility when your religion has more or less been highjacked (no awful pun intended) by fundamentalists committed to interpreting scripture that is allegorical and metaphysical as a combination of history cum rule book. I thank Sardar for his chapter on The Satanic Verses. Part of the message of his book lies in the fact that, as a Westerner, I never found a satisfactory explanation of why the Muslim community was so offended by the book.
December 5, 2010
What a wild ride! These memoirs span decades and take the reader all over the world and into the company of all kinds of Muslims. As with the mainstream, the world of Muslims has seen many different religious movements and idealogues over the years and Ziauddin Sardar and/or folks he knows seem to gotten caught up in one way or another in all of them. Often Sardar is a bemused narrator (he notes how he could tell a man's religious leanings from his beard style) at other times he dips his toe in further but largely remains unconvinced by the various, often radically different ways of being Muslim or disillusioned by them. At any rate, for those wondering what Muslims are up to the book provides an enjoyable entree to various Muslims and their visions of Islam. Sardars other books are also worth reading.
April 29, 2012
This book is part memoir, part analysis of various approaches on the part of contemporary Muslims to build a "perfect" society. What I appreciated most was Sardar's honesty in describing his wandering and often futile efforts to find the solution to Muslim ills. I don't think he is a great writer, and he does a better job of describing the events he was involved in than standing back and understanding himself within those events. Added context and introspection would have made this a better book. I think if I weren't already familiar with Muslim angst I would have been lost. I also felt Sardar was holding himself back from the reader, though perhaps not consciously. Nevertheless, I don't know any other writer who writes about their faith journey fro a social point of view, and that alone makes it worth reading.
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July 30, 2011hmm its one of the most profound and absorbing books i have read on islam. i loved the witty comments and the intimate way he wrote the journey it was very well layed out and the arguments were very interesting. the political analysis was astute and accurate. the only thing he left out was how this modern intepreaation or reform of the shariah would reflect on the big questions of say homosexuality and premarital sex. would it still be as forwned upon as its now and how the possible reforms would break the nexus of family honour and female sexuality. thios contentious issue he left out. also the importatn issue of how he has brought his own children, how islmacially aware are they? aside from that i agree with him, i abhore the ignorance of the ulema in genneral and i think they stifled the intellectual development of muslims.
August 2, 2011
Sardar starts off with the islamic movement from his youth in his college days when he first encounters with Tablighi Jama'at members,whom he finds believing in rituals,not bothered abt other aspects...then he comes across works of Maududi,which first impresses him,but later finds his works reactionary and misogynistic...same is the case with the Muslim Brotherhood...so inorder to find true Islam he travels thru Muslim world,from Turkey to Syria to Iraq to Iran to Saudi Arabia discovering cultural,political and social stuctures of these societies...Sardar uses humor and sarcasm to good effect to lighten the serious proceedings...As an avowed liberal,he tries to find out the pluralism in Islam..
June 1, 2013
Theres nothing like being white anglo saxon and culturally protestant to leave you exposed to only the worst of the media. Ziauddins book points to where the poor notions about Muslims , Islam and the culture of living Muslim today and historically arose and then sets those ideas in context. I may remain Secular and Atheist in my views but I left the book with a deep respect for what Men and Woman like Ziauddin and Meryl are trying to achieve within a culture that they felt was determined to back pedal from what they believed would be progress. ( Seriously its hard to write this review without sounding like a bloody classical white dude! ) just read it; please !
February 11, 2016
I learned a lot about Islam, and I felt as though I was following the author through his metaphorical and physical journey, seeking paradise. I enjoyed the historical perspective, especially regarding Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses.
I also learned that Muslim intellectuals appear to love discussion, argument, conferences and writing books. I would have to say, there was a lot of navel gazing and absolutely nothing about Islam, Shariah law, or integration of the Muslim world view into society of predominantly Muslim countries reached a point of resolution. And the intellectuals lose out to the mullahs and imam.
I also learned that Muslim intellectuals appear to love discussion, argument, conferences and writing books. I would have to say, there was a lot of navel gazing and absolutely nothing about Islam, Shariah law, or integration of the Muslim world view into society of predominantly Muslim countries reached a point of resolution. And the intellectuals lose out to the mullahs and imam.
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