Ziauddin Sardar, one of the foremost Muslim intellectuals in Britain, learned the Koran at his mothers knee in Pakistan. As a young student in London he set out to grasp the meaning of his religion, and, hopefully, to find paradise, his quest leading him throughout the Muslim world, from Iran to China to Turkey. Along the way he accepts that he may never reach paradise - but its the journey thats important. At a time when the view of Islam in the West is so often distorted and simplistic, Desperately Seeking Paradise - self-mocking, frank and passionate - is essential reading.