Heaven on earth by Sadakat Kadri

It's a must read for details on the Indian and Pakistani Muslim scene. The author is not shy to exploit his own heritage by extensively touring both India and Pakistan in his quest to understand Sharia through the ages. I particularly liked the Iranian Shiah angle and the Saudi take on Wahabism. I loved it when he topped the discussion off by covering the UK Muslim approach to Islam as well. Some bits get a bit tiresome when he goes into lengthy discussions on the finer points of Sharia but I guess it was unavoidable because he was trying to analyse law. I would highly recommend this book as it as also very nicely explains the Mutazillite philosophy as compared with the orthodox Hanbali one. The author has put life into an otherwise mundane topic by referring to British tabloid reports on some Sharia exemplary judgments (some pedophile in Malaysia) and its respect in the English people. This raises an interesting theory which a French Muslim Orientalist has shrewdly raised. Why is Islam so popular among drug addicts and sociopath new converts? Is it not because of its insistence on discipline and loyalty to God which makes it attractive to potential converts in the West? I digress, onwards to my next book as I venture into the Spanish nature.........