Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Sep 2013
368 pages
Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publication Information
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.
"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
"This astonishingly detailed, well-researched history is brought to life by the addition of Mufti's personal story' and journalistic acumen." - Publishers Weekly
"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
"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 junkie 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
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