The meaning and message of Islam has been corrupted and perverted by a particularly virulent strain of Islam. Writer and critic Ziauddin Sardar tells the stories of different interpretations of Islam and argues for a critical version of a religion that has a long and distinguished history—but appears to have been swept aside by a fundamentalist interpretation.

Ziauddin Sardar is the award-winning author of over fifty books, including Desperately Seeking Paradise and, more recently, Mecca: The Sacred City. Editor of the quarterly Critical Muslim, he is an internationally renowned public intellectual.