Minarets in the Mountains: A Journey into Muslim Europe

Tharik Hussain's book "Minarets in the Mountains" explores the hidden Muslim Europe, a vibrant place with a breathtaking history, culture, and identity. It highlights the historical roots of European Islamophobia and encourages readers to consider their own identities.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 15 July 2021
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides

Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize 2021, Tharik Hussain's Muslim Europe is a captivating journey into a rarely-covered region of Europe that is at risk of being forgotten altogether. The author 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 over half a millennium. Through his encounters with blonde-haired, blue-eyed Muslims, visits to mystical Islamic lodges perched on mountainsides, and prayers in mosques older than the Sistine Chapel, Hussain paints a vivid picture of a hidden Muslim Europe, a vibrant place with a rich history, captivating culture, and unique identity.

In Minarets in the Mountains, the author's first English travel narrative on this subject, he delves into the historical roots of European Islamophobia. Tharik and his family learn valuable lessons about themselves and their identities as Britons, Europeans, and Muslims as they follow in the footsteps of renowned Ottoman traveler Evliya Celebi. They remind us that Europe is as Muslim as it is Christian, Jewish, or pagan, and that the region's cultural heritage is intertwined with the presence of Muslims.

Like William Dalrymple's In Xanadu, Muslim Europe offers a vivid reimagining of a region's cultural heritage, unearthing forgotten Muslim communities, empires, and their rulers. It forces us to consider what makes up our own identities and who decides who we are. Through his storytelling, Hussain invites us to explore a Europe that is often overlooked and misunderstood, and to recognize the diversity and richness of the Muslim world.

Weight: 434g
Dimension: 131 x 199 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781784778286