Ziauddin Sardar

Ziauddin Sardar is a writer, futurist and cultural critic. He is the Director of the Centre for Postnormal Policy and Futures Studies and editor of Critical Muslim, an innovative quarterly on contemporary Muslim ideas and
thought.

He has been described as a ‘critical
 polymath’ and works across a number of
 disciplines ranging from Islamic studies and
 futures studies to science policy, literary
 criticism, information science to cultural
relations, art criticism and critical theory.
 He was born in Pakistan in 1951 and grew up
 in Hackney, East London.

Ziauddin Sardar has worked as science 
journalist for Nature and New Scientist and
 as a television reporter for London Weekend
 Television. He was a columnist on the New
 Statesman for a number of years and has
 served as a Commissioner for the Equality and
 Human Rights Commission and as a member of 
the Interim National Security Forum.
 Ziauddin Sardar has published over 45 books.
 The Future of Muslim Civilisation (1979) and
 Islamic Futures: The Shape of Ideas to Come
 (1985) are regarded as classic studies on the 
future of Islam. He pioneered the discussion 
on science in Muslim societies, with a series 
of articles in Nature and New Scientist and a
 number of books, including Science,
 Technology and Development in the Muslim
 World (1977), The Touch of Midas: Science,
Values and the Environment in Islam and the
 West (1982), which is seen as a seminal
 work, The Revenge of Athena: Science, 
Exploitation and the Third World (1988)
 and Explorations in Islamic Science (1989).
Postmodernism and the Other (1998) has
 acquired a cultish following and Why Do 
People Hate America? (2002) became an
international bestseller.

Ziauddin Sardar’s two volumes of biography 
and travel, Desperately Seeking Paradise:
 Journeys of a Sceptical Muslim (2004) and
 Balti Britain: A Provocative Journey Through
 Asian Britain (2008) have received wide
 acclaim. Reading the Qur’an (2011), which
 began as a Guardian blog, has been described
as a ‘mini masterpiece’. And Future: All That
 Matters is probably the only accessible
 introduction to futures studies. He has also
 authored a number of study guides in the
 Introducing series, including the
 international bestsellers Introducing Islam 
and Introducing Chaos. Two collections of his
 writings are available as Islam,
 Postmodernism and Other Futures: A Ziauddin
 Sardar Reader (2003) and How Do You Know?:
 Reading Ziauddin Sardar on Islam, Science and
 Cultural Relations (2006).

Ziauddin Sardar has written and presented
 numerous television programmes – most 
recently ‘Battle for Islam’, a 90-minute
documentary for BBC2 and ‘Dispatches’ on
 Pakistan for Channel 4. His earlier 
programmes include ‘Encounters with Islam’
(1985), a series of four shows for BBC and 
‘Islamic Conversations’ (1994), a series of
 six programmes for Channel 4. He was a
regular Friday Panel Member on ‘World News
 Tonight’ on Sky News (2005-2007).

Formerly Editor of Futures (1999-2012), the
 monthly journal of policy, planning and 
futures studies, he is now consulting editor 
of Futures. He was a long-standing columnist
on the New Statements and has contributed to
 the Guardian, the Times, the Independent and
 numerous other newspapers and magazines.

Widely known for his radio and television
 appearances, he writes an occasional ‘Credo’
 column for the Times. His history of Mecca:
 The Sacred City will be published by 
Bloomsbury in the autumn of 2014.