Mecca: The Sacred City

Description

Mecca is the heart of Islam. It is the birthplace of Muhammad, the direction towards which Muslims turn when they pray and the site of pilgrimage which annually draws some three million Muslims from all corners of the world. Yet Mecca's importance goes beyond religion. What happens in Mecca and how Muslims think about the political and cultural history of Mecca has had and continues to have a profound influence on world events to this day. In this captivating book, Ziauddin Sardar unravels the significance of Mecca. Tracing its history, from its origins as a 'barren valley' in the desert to its evolution as a trading town and sudden emergence as the religious centre of a world empire, Sardar examines the religious struggles and rebellions in Mecca that have powerfully shaped Muslim culture. Interweaving stories of his own pilgrimages to Mecca with those of others, Sardar offers a unique insight into not just the spiritual aspects of Mecca - the passion, ecstasy and longing it evokes - but also the conflict between heritage and modernity that has characterised its history. He unpeels the physical, social and cultural dimensions that have helped transform the city and also, though accounts of such Orientalist travellers as Richard Burton and Charles Doughty, the strange fascination that Mecca has long inspired in the Western imagination. And, ultimately, he explores what this tension could mean for Mecca's future. An illuminative, lyrical and witty blend of history, reportage and memoir, this outstanding book reflects all that is profound, enlightening and curious about one of the most important religious sites in the world.

Ziauddin Sardar was born in Pakistan and grew up in Hackney. A writer, broadcaster and cultural critic, he is one of the world's foremost Muslim intellectuals and author of more than fifty books on Islam, science and contemporary culture, including the highly acclaimed Desperately Seeking Paradise. He has been listed by Prospect magazine as one of Britain's top 100 intellectuals. Currently he is the Director of Centre for Postnormal Policy and Futures Studies at East West University, Chicago, co-editor of the quarterly Critical Muslim, consulting editor of Futures, a monthly journal on policy, planning and futures studies, and Chair of the Muslim Institute in London. www.ziauddinsardar.com

One of the best-known Muslim public intellectuals in the world today ... A pioneering writer on Islam * Guardian on Muhammad: All that Matters * Sardar is funny, self-deprecating and humble ... One of the wittiest intellectual figures commenting on Islam * Islamic Voice on Muhammad: All that Matters * Britain's own Muslim polymath * Independent * Readers of Mecca may at times feel they are still accompanying Sardar on his journey as a sceptical Muslim; mostly, they will sense a wide ranging intellectual engagement with a city that has been one of the world's most important over the last one and a half millennia. In his hands they can appraise how this long history connects with the predicament facing his fellow believers in the world today. -- Geoffrey Nash * ASTENE Bulletin * Ziauddin Sardar's poignant book Mecca: The Sacred City, describes the desecration of Islam's holiest site -- Yasmin Alibhai-Brown * Independent *