The Faithful Scribe
A Story of Islam, Pakistan, Family, and War
by Shahan Mufti
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Pub Date Sep 24 2013 | Archive Date Sep 24 2013
Description
A journalist explores his family’s history to reveal the hybrid cultural and political landscape of Pakistan, the world’s first Islamic democracy
Shahan Mufti’s family history, which he can trace back fourteen hundred years to the inner circle of the prophet Muhammad, offers an enlightened perspective on the mystifying history of Pakistan. Mufti uses the stories of his ancestors, many of whom served as judges and jurists in Muslim sharia courts of South Asia for many centuries, to reveal the deepest roots—real and imagined—of Islamic civilization in Pakistan.
More than a personal history, The Faithful Scribe captures the larger story of the world’s first Islamic democracy, and explains how the state that once promised to bridge Islam and the West is now threatening to crumble under historical and political pressure, and why Pakistan’s destiny matters to us all.
Shahan Mufti’s family history, which he can trace back fourteen hundred years to the inner circle of the prophet Muhammad, offers an enlightened perspective on the mystifying history of Pakistan. Mufti uses the stories of his ancestors, many of whom served as judges and jurists in Muslim sharia courts of South Asia for many centuries, to reveal the deepest roots—real and imagined—of Islamic civilization in Pakistan.
More than a personal history, The Faithful Scribe captures the larger story of the world’s first Islamic democracy, and explains how the state that once promised to bridge Islam and the West is now threatening to crumble under historical and political pressure, and why Pakistan’s destiny matters to us all.
Advance Praise
"The Faithful Scribe is an impassioned and insightful look into
the heart of a troubled but vital country. This is a history of Pakistan
from the pen of a keen observer, whose own story represents Pakistan's
past and whose vision reflects its hope for the future." —Vali Nasr, New York Times bestselling author of The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat
"A penetrating, carefully crafted, and sometimes moving account that presents Pakistan through the lens of Mufti's family's history, offering a vivid new perspective on a troubled country that is at once intimate and sweeping." —Declan Walsh, New York Times Pakistan Bureau Chief
"The rich cultural and religious history of Pakistan dictated through a journalist’s personal stories...An undeniable visionary, Mufti insightfully glances back at Pakistan’s past and nods hopefully toward its precarious future." —Kirkus
"Mufti, born in the U.S., grew up in Pakistan but was attending college in Vermont when 9/11 occurred. A young man with a foot in both cultures, he was drawn to journalism by his desire to understand what brought those cultures into conflict and by curiosity about his family’s place in each. Pakistan is an intriguing country formed artificially, just as was Israel, and a place intended from the outset to be an Islamic Democracy. Recounting the way the Islamic legal system was integrated with religion but then plucked away as Western influence grew, discovering at the same time his own family’s connection to that system, are his twin foci as Mufti takes us back through the lives of his parents and then his ancestors and at the same time his country’s complicated history, its relationship to the Western world and the world at large. Mufti manages to let us see Pakistan from its own perspective and from ours—something of vital importance to all of us if we are to understand the world as it exists today." —Betsy Burton, The King’s English Bookshop, Salt Lake City, Utah
“If you want to understand Pakistan and the Pakistani-American relationship, read this book. Mufti combines the personal, familial, national and international, narratives in a uniquely revealing manner. He is Pakistani and an American. And he brings that special blend to a brilliant work.” —Ryan Crocker, American Ambassador to Pakistan, 2004-2007.
"After reading Shahan Mufti, a political junke like me feels as though she's begun to understand Pakistan for the first time. Movingly and compellingly written, The Faithful Scribe is invaluable reading for anyone who's ever asked 'What's really happening there?'" —Lesley Hazleton, author of The First Muslim and After The Prophet
"A penetrating, carefully crafted, and sometimes moving account that presents Pakistan through the lens of Mufti's family's history, offering a vivid new perspective on a troubled country that is at once intimate and sweeping." —Declan Walsh, New York Times Pakistan Bureau Chief
"The rich cultural and religious history of Pakistan dictated through a journalist’s personal stories...An undeniable visionary, Mufti insightfully glances back at Pakistan’s past and nods hopefully toward its precarious future." —Kirkus
"Mufti, born in the U.S., grew up in Pakistan but was attending college in Vermont when 9/11 occurred. A young man with a foot in both cultures, he was drawn to journalism by his desire to understand what brought those cultures into conflict and by curiosity about his family’s place in each. Pakistan is an intriguing country formed artificially, just as was Israel, and a place intended from the outset to be an Islamic Democracy. Recounting the way the Islamic legal system was integrated with religion but then plucked away as Western influence grew, discovering at the same time his own family’s connection to that system, are his twin foci as Mufti takes us back through the lives of his parents and then his ancestors and at the same time his country’s complicated history, its relationship to the Western world and the world at large. Mufti manages to let us see Pakistan from its own perspective and from ours—something of vital importance to all of us if we are to understand the world as it exists today." —Betsy Burton, The King’s English Bookshop, Salt Lake City, Utah
“If you want to understand Pakistan and the Pakistani-American relationship, read this book. Mufti combines the personal, familial, national and international, narratives in a uniquely revealing manner. He is Pakistani and an American. And he brings that special blend to a brilliant work.” —Ryan Crocker, American Ambassador to Pakistan, 2004-2007.
"After reading Shahan Mufti, a political junke like me feels as though she's begun to understand Pakistan for the first time. Movingly and compellingly written, The Faithful Scribe is invaluable reading for anyone who's ever asked 'What's really happening there?'" —Lesley Hazleton, author of The First Muslim and After The Prophet
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781590515051 |
| PRICE | $26.95 (USD) |
