Minarets in the Mountains: A Journey Into Muslim Europe (Bradt Travel Guides (Travel Literature))

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Damn, the Islamophobia was deep”, said Saleh [a tourist from Manchester], no longer sounding surprised. All too often we're led to believe that Europe has only Judeo-Christian heritage, maybe with a sprinkling of some paganism, and apparently Islam has had nothing to do with the evolution and development of Europe,” says Tharik.

There are plenty of humorous cultural references as well: Pokemon Go, The Gilmore Girls, Game of Thrones … but my personal favourite was the hat tip to Castle Greyskull (really showing his age there).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. Tharik Hussain travels through the forgotten cities/towns of the Balkans to explore the historical Islamic monuments, too often disregarded when thinking of Europe. He also meets Muslim communities living in Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro, places you would not normally link with Muslims. Since the decline and eventual collapse of the Ottoman empire in the region, the subsequent emergence of nation states and a Christian resurgence in the 19th century, some of these Muslim communities faced increasing hostility and uncertain futures. On Mostar’s bridge – “Did you know that Western ‘experts’ of Bosnia for years couldn’t get themselves to admit that the Ottomans had built the bridge?

Heritage is essential for anchoring identities and if we don't know our heritage in the way that we should or we're denied aspects of it, it's little wonder that we sometimes feel a little bit adrift,” he says.He also bemoans the spread of forms of Islam that reject religious pluralism but actively avoids engaging with the people who hold these beliefs. There was a fear of Turkey joining the EU, and if Britain remained then the Turks would swamp the UK.

Tharik’s literary companion for his journey, is the Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi, who wrote his own travel account while visiting the Balkans in the 17th century. While reflecting on the tragedy during his visit to the country, Tharik also highlights the cultural achievements and historic legacy that that survives today – something that often goes unnoticed in the long shadow cast by war. Tharik has the reader captivated as he travels from place-to-place reinvigorating the beautiful Islamic heritage. We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed.He is the creator of Britain’s first Muslim heritage trails and has produced award-winning radio for the BBC on America’s earliest mosques and Muslim communities. Tharik’s previous work has often served to decolonise popular religious and cultural histories and narratives. An interesting, little-written-about part of the world (Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro) where I’ve spent some time travelling myself in recent years.

Drawing on the wisdom of the Qur'an, the pages in this book share insightful words and guidance from a wide range of Muslim figures from Rabia through to Hafez, offering a place for spiritual growth as you deepen your connection to Allah and enhance your worship and devotion. It is sad to know that Islam does develop but it has been a hard journey for the newly reverted, as they receive no support from the government.And paints a more subtle and differentiated picture of the different strands of Islam which I for one wasn’t aware of. The big issue with this book, however, is that the author awkwardly (and superficially) tries to fit his agenda onto the trip without doing it successfully. Another Victorian, EF Knight, is Islamophobic for describing the Albanian culture of vengeance as “wild and savage” (In fact, he was entirely right to describe it so, though Hussain doesn’t try find out anything about it).