MUSLIM EUROPE

Vital important WILLIAM DALRYMPLE Perspective shattering CAROLINE SANDERSON Uncovers a world of which few are fully aware COLIN THUBRONFor over 1 400 years Muslims have been an integral part of Europe s story yet their contributions have been pushed to the margins or erased altogether In Muslim Europe award winning author Tharik Hussain restores this forgotten history In a revelatory journey across the continent we tread in the footsteps of the first Muslims who arrived on European soil in 647 AD We travel through Cyprus Sicily Malta Portugal and Spain learning about the continent s great Caliphate culture and Muslim commonwealth encountering red haired European Sultans and Arabic speaking Christian Kings the Sufi lodges of Cyprus and the palaces of Sicily Forgotten Muslim pioneers like Abbas Ibn Firnas gave us flight Ibn Rushd gifted us modern philosophy and the cross fertilisation of faiths and cultures birthed Europe s Christian Renaissance For twelve centuries Muslim Europe was a sanctuary for the continent s Jews Recalling the poignant voices of Hasdai Ibn Shaprut and Abraham Ibn Daoud Jews flourished under Muslim protection triggering the Jewish Golden Age For the first time Muslim Europe lays bare the cause of our collective Islamic amn