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Biography
Ziauddin Sardar (born October 31, 1951 in northern Pakistan) is a
London-based Muslim scholar, critic, futurist, journalist and a
prolific writer. Considered a pioneering thinker on contemporary
Islam, he has been described by the Independent newspaper as
‘Britain’s own polymath’ [1]. His intellectual output, published in
some 45 books, ranges from the future of Islam to critiques of
postmodernism, science policy, contemporary aspects of science in
Muslim societies, colonialism, cultural relations, literary
criticism, travel and autobiography. He was worked as a science
correspondent for Nature and New Scientist and in the early 1980’s
he became a television reporter for the London Weekend Television.
He has made numerous television programmes, including Battle for
Islam, a 90-minute documentary for BBC2 and Dispatches for Channel 4
on Pakistan. In 1999, he became the editor of Futures, the monthly
journal of policy, planning and future studies. He co-edited edited
Third Text, the critical journal of visual art and culture, from to
1999 to 2008. In 2006 he was appointed a Commissioner of the
Equality and Human Rights Commission of Britain.
Currently he is a visiting Professor of Postcolonial Studies,
Department of Arts Policy and Management at City University, London
and a contributing editor of New Statesman. He received an Honorary
Doctor of Letters from the University of East London in 2005.
Life and Thought
Sardar has lived a life of scholar adventurer and has travelled
extensively throughout the world. From 1974 to 1979, he lived in
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he worked for the Hajj Research Centre
at the King Abdul Aziz University. During this period he travelled
throughout the Islamic world researching his first book, Science,
Technology and Development in the Muslim World. In the early 1980s,
he edited the pioneering Muslim magazine Inquiry, before
establishing the Centre for Policy and Futures Studies at East-West
University in Chicago. During the 1990, he lived in Kuala Lumpur,
where he was an advisor to Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy Prime
Minister and now the Leader of the Opposition. He has also lived in
Chicago and Dan Haag and for short periods in Cairo and Fez.
Sardar describes himself as a ‘critical polymath’ [2]. His thought
is characterized by a strong accent on diversity, pluralism and
dissenting perspectives. Science journalist Ehsan Masood suggests
that Sardar ‘deliberately cultivates a carefully calculated
ambiguity projecting several things at once, yet none of them on
their own’ [3]. Futurist Tony Stevenson points out that his
‘intellectual aggression’ hides a ‘sincerely and deep humanity’:
‘while his cultural analysis is surgically incisive, it is largely
free of the theoretical correctness of academic thought’, while he
‘draws on a depth of academic thought’, he ‘always remains
accessible’ [4]. The fundamental principle of Sardar’s thought is
that ‘there is more than one way to be human’. ‘I do not regard “the
human” either as “the” or as a priori given’, he has said. ‘The
western way of being human is one amongst many. Similarly, the
Islamic way of being human is also one amongst many. The Australian
aboriginal way of being human is also another way of being human. I
see each culture as a complete universe with its own way of knowing,
being and doing - and hence, its own way of being human’ [5]. The
corollary is that there are also different ways of knowing. The
question that Sardar has always asked is: ‘how do you know? The
answer depends a great deal on who ‘you’ are: ‘how you look at the
world, how you shape your inquiry, the period and culture that
shapes your outlook and the values that frame how you think’ [6].
References
[1] The Independent, Saturday, 5 April 2003
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/paperbacks-war-crimes-for-the-homebrthe-world-belowbrindelible-actsbrislam-postmodernism-and-other-futuresbroffcomer-593383.html
[2] http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/ziauddin_sardar
[3] Ehsan Masood, ‘Introduction: the Ambiguous Intellectual’, in
Ehsan Masood, editor, How Do You Know: Reading Ziauddin Sardar on
Islam, Science and Cultural Relations Pluto Press, London, 2006, p1.
[4] Tony Stevenson, ‘Ziauddin Sardar: Explaining Islam to the West’
in Profiles in Courage: Political Actors and Ideas in Contemporary
Asia, editors, Gloria Davies, JV D’Cruz and Nathan Hollier,
Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, 2008,page 80.
[5] Ziauddin Sardar interviewed by Tony Fry, ‘On Erasure,
Appropriation, Transmodernity, What’s Wrong with Human Rights and
What’s Lies Beyond Difference’ Design Philosophy Papers Collection
Four, edited by Anne-Marie Wallis, Team D/E/S Publications,
Ravensbourne, Australia, 2008, 83-91.
[6] Ehsan Masood, ‘Introduction: the Ambiguous Intellectual’, in
Ehsan Masood, editor, How Do You Know: Reading Ziauddin Sardar on
Islam, Science and Cultural Relations Pluto Press, London, 2006, p1.
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'There is a two-word answer to the charge that Muslims
who remain serious about faith have failed to engage
with the science, culture and politics of the
contemporary world. The words are Ziauddin Sardar.
-The Independent
One of the finest intellectuals on the planet.
- The Herald
A remarkable author
- Nature
A formidable critic
-Muslim World Book Review
In Islamic context, but perhaps in any context, his
achievement is startling in its range, boldness,
skepticism and, above all, sheer quantity.
-New Statesman
Britains own Muslim polymath
-The Independent
A leading Muslim scholar and writer, Sardars body of
work is testament to a lifetimes restless need for
intellectual inquiry and critique Armed with a sharp
wit and an intuitive grasp of when to move in for the
intellectual kill, the skeptical Sardar takes on
all-comers, no matter which side of the fence they
stand. He thrives in the lions den
- Sydney Morning Herald
We must search for the answers to the questions he asks
if we are to challenge and change the status quo.
- Socialist Future
It would be difficult to think of anyone else who
combines the virtues of scholarship, journalism and
activism in such equal measure.
- British Journal for the History of Science |
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