Year of the Golden Pig Reading 19: "Desperate Seeking Paradise"

This was quite an interesting ride through the travails that face the modern Muslim. So many ideas, some explosive, literally. The writer, Ziauddin Sardar, is searching for a way to make Islam work in the modern world, without the believer have to chuck logic in the process. His journey is an interesting one. He is grounded in the teaching of the classical Islamic world, and while he doesn't say the answers are there, he does imply that Muslims can learn a lot from their complete past history as a civilization, not just in the life of the Prophet and his first community.

As I search for answers in life, it is reassuring to see that others are doing likewise. As many of you know, I have often thought of becoming a Muslim. There is something about it that I find logical and supporting to what I really believe. But then I see all of the horrors that are perpetruated by people who claim the faith as their own. I find it so terribly disheartening sometimes when I see what people can do to one another in the name of God. I am sure Muslims are just going through the same things that other religions have gone to in the past, and will continue to go through in the future.


Well I highly recommend this book if you want to learn about the questions that trouble people of faith in these troubled time. It has been interesting to read it as well in this time of fasting, when my dreams are turning into the strangest visions. But I get to eat and drink water in a little over four hours, so I am happy. (Plus there is a little English football and a steak at the end of the rainbow to keep me even happier.)