Minarets in the Mountains: A Journey into Muslim Europe - Bradt Travel Guides (Travel Literature) (Paperback)
Tharik Hussain (author)- 10+ in stock
A rare excursion into the heart of Muslim Europe, Minarets in the Mountains tours the Western Balkans in a fascinating portrait of the history and culture of a region neglected by most scholars.
Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2021
A magical, eye-opening account of a journey into a Europe that rarely makes the news and is in danger of being erased altogether. Another Europe. A Europe few people believe exists and many wish didn't. Muslim Europe.
Londoner Tharik Hussain sets off with his wife and young daughters around the Western Balkans, home to the largest indigenous Muslim population in Europe, and explores the regions of Eastern Europe where Islam has shaped places and people for more than half a millennium. Encountering blonde-haired, blue-eyed Muslims, visiting mystical Islamic lodges clinging to the side of mountains, and praying in mosques older than the Sistine Chapel, he paints a picture of a hidden Muslim Europe, a vibrant place with a breathtaking history, spellbinding culture and unique identity.
Minarets in The Mountains, the first English travel narrative by a Muslim writer on this subject, also explores the historical roots of European Islamophobia. Tharik and his family learn lessons about themselves and their own identity as Britons, Europeans and Muslims. Following in the footsteps of renowned Ottoman traveller Evliya Celebi, they remind us that Europe is as Muslim as it is Christian, Jewish or pagan.
Like William Dalrymple's In Xanadu, this is a vivid reimagining of a region's cultural heritage, unveiling forgotten Muslim communities, empires and their rulers; and like Kapka Kassabova's Border, it is a quest that forces us to consider what makes up our own identities, and more importantly, who decides?
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
ISBN: 9781784778286
Number of pages: 352
Weight: 440 g
Dimensions: 198 x 130 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'"How can we care about something we don't even know is there?" asks Tharik Hussain. Europe has long turned a blind eye or, worse, looked askance, at its own Islamic self - the Muslims of the Balkans. Tharik Hussain opens our eyes to this vivid, varied and still vital Muslim presence. His title is romantic, but not his vision: he ignores neither current sectarian tensions, nor histories scarred by violence and hatred. And yet he constantly reminds us of the long periods of tolerance and symbiosis, often forgotten in the din of war." 'This is a richly detailed travelogue by a humane and passionate pilgrim.' - Tim Mackintosh-Smith
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“A refreshing entertaining summer read”
The Image of the Ottoman Empire was to repressive against against Christians and Jews, the the reverse is true as explained so well by Tharik as he travels with his family in what is now called Eastern Europe. He... More
“Revitalising European Islamic History”
Tharik Hussain travels through the forgotten cities/towns of the Balkans to explore the historical Islamic monuments, too often disregarded when thinking of Europe. Tharik revitalises the existence of these monuments... More
“Eye opening”
A wonderful insight into a historically rich and ethnically mixed community who live in a place that we hear little of here in Western Europe. The author writes descriptions that transports you. He shares intimate... More
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