Ziauddin Sardar may be a rational man. But what he has done over the years makes him look like Don Quixote, the protagonist in Cervantes’ story. Ziauddin has dedicated 40 years of his life to the understanding of Islam. And he has gone a long, long way.

It began with a pilgrimage to Mecca, but midway he followed his heart and went to explore Syria, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and even China. Ziauddin saw himself as a latter-day Al