At the time when the view of Islam is so often distorted and simplistic, 'Desperately Seeking Paradise' - self-mocking, frank and passionate - is essential reading.
Ziauddin Sardar, one of the foremost intellectuals in Britain, learned the Koran at his mother's knee in Pakistan. As a young student in London he set out to grasp the meaning of his religion, and, hopefully to find 'paradise', assisted by the various mystery bearded gentlemen, who turn up at his door at key moments. Sardar's quest leads him on extensive travels throughout the Muslim world: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Turkey, North Africa, Pakistan and China. He is torn between rage at Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses and disgust at the fatwah, and he is horrified by the events of September 11 2001. But bearded gentlemen continue to turn up at his door; and his irrepressible curiosity and love of discussion are roused as he devotes himself to forging a middle, humane way between western secularism and Islamist certainty. And he accepts that he may never reach paradise - but it's the journey that's important.
