Desperately Seeking Paradise: Journeys of a Sceptical Muslim

by Ziauddin Sardar

One student, a rather slim Pakistani in his twenties, had been keenly listening to our conversation. He came forward to introduce himself when the teacher had left. ‘Are you a Shia?’ he asked after the standard salutation. ‘No,’ I replied. ‘Shias are not Muslim,’ he said without hesitation. ‘They do not belong in a truly Islamic republic. We should have a pure leader – an Amir – who imposes the total Shariah of God on Pakistan.’ I did not reply; but looked at him passively. ‘Are you a good Muslim?’ he asked. ‘I am a Muslim,’ I replied, ‘I am not sure about the good bit.’ ‘If you are a Muslim why don’t you have a beard?’ ‘Because it is not necessary to have a beard to be a Muslim.’ ‘It is the Sunnah (the tradition derived from the customary practice) of the Prophet. A man who does not follow the Sunnah of the Prophet is not a Muslim.’ ‘So why aren’t you riding a camel?’ He was startled at my reply. ‘What do you mean?’ ‘It’s Sunnah to ride a camel. The Prophet spent a great deal of his life on the back of a camel.’ ‘But today we have cars and buses.’ ‘Well,’ I answered, ‘if blades had been available in his time, I am sure the Prophet would have used them.’ I looked at him to see if I could detect the hint of a smile. He lowered his gaze and kept quiet. ‘I notice that you are wearing surma,’ I said. ‘Yes. It is Sunnah.’ ‘But do you know that it contains lead? It could damage your eyes and poison you.’ He kept quiet. ‘Many things the Prophet did were a product of his times. I ...