REVIEW BY ADAM KLUPS
Are Muslims native to Europe? Should Islam, in a historical and cultural sense, be considered an indigenous European religion? Readers who believe they already know the answers to these questions may find themselves reconsidering after accompanying Tharik Hussain on his fascinating journey across the Mediterranean in search of Europe’s Muslim past.
In his mould-breaking book Muslim Europe: a journey in search of a fourteen hundred year history, Tharik – a travelling historian with a keen eye for overlooked narratives – invites readers to rediscover a continent whose story is far more diverse than conventional history textbooks suggest. What begins as a personal voyage of curiosity evolves into a compelling argument: Muslims have neither been mere footnotes in Europe’s past nor temporary visitors or invaders. Since their arrival in Cyprus less than two decades after the death of Prophet Muhammad, they have been a constant and formative part of Europe’s story, woven deeply into its cultural, intellectual, architectural, and spiritual fabric.
Tharik adeptly challenges the narrow historical lens through which Islam is often viewed in Europe. Conventional narratives tend to reference Muslims only sparingly – sometimes in a positive manner, in relation to their scientific and architectural contributions, sometimes in adversarial contexts, such as the conquest and reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. Yet, as Tharik demonstrates, these familiar touchpoints conceal far richer and more complex tangible and intangible heritage, and a history that has long been neglected or conveniently disregarded.
Bird-beaked masks