Critical Muslim, Volume 27

Beauty

Sardar Ziauddin

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How do we identify and judge beauty? Does it distract us from more pressing questions and issues? Is beauty the handmaiden of privilege? Or can it be found in everyday, ordinary things? Whatever happened to beauty in contemporary Islam? Do Muslims have a inkling of what beauty is and why is it significant? This issue of "Critical Muslim" looks at beauty from a number of perspectives – from beauty in the Qur'an and the Beautiful Divine Names to racism and the beauty industry, politics of fashion, calligraphy, plastic surgery, female wrestling, Muslim beauty contests and the male and female gaze.

About the Author

Ziauddin Sardar is a renowned writer, broadcaster and cultural critic. A former columnist on the New Statesman, he has also served as a Commissioner on the Equality and Human Rights Commission. He is the editor of Futures and Visiting Professor, School of Arts, The City University, London. He is the author of many books, the most recent being "Desperately Seeking Paradise: Journeys of a Sceptical Muslim" (Granta); "What Do Muslims Believe?" (Granta); and "Balti Britain: A Provocative Journey Through Asian Britain" (Granta).

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