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Travel writing about Muslim Europe. A journey around Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, home to the largest indigenous Muslim population in Europe, following the footsteps of Evliya Celebi through Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro. A book that begins to decolonise European history.
List of contents
IntroductionAn Intimate Tolerance – Palamartsa, Bulgaria
Part One: Bosnia and HerzegovinaAn Ottoman City – Sarajevo
The Bridge Built by Barbarians – Mostar
Mystics and Mountains – Blagaj
The Bloody Bridge on the Drina – Višegrad
Part Two: Serbia and KosovoSerbia's Dirty Little Secret – Rudine and Sjenica
‘A Muslim Town' – Novi Pazar
Pokémon in Hammams – Novi Pazar
The Grandfather of Muslim Europe – Pristina, Kosovo
An Orthodox Town – Niš
Part Three: North MacedoniaWhose Heritage Is It, Anyway? – Skopje
A Macedonian Imam – Skopje
The Fool's Tekke – Tetovo
Part Four: AlbaniaTaken by Albanians – Vlore
A Beer with a Muslim – Llogara National Park
The Town ‘Addicted to Prayer' – Gjirokaster
The House the Pasha Built – Gjirokaster
A Fairy-Tale Ottoman Village – Berat
Capitals Old and New – Durres, Tirana and Kruje
Part Five: MontenegroMuslim Montenegro – Podgorica
Part Six: Return to Bosnia and HerzegovinaThe Effendi's Library – Foca and Zenica
Coffee with Bosnian Kings – Vranduk and Travnik
Dumped for De Niro – Sarajevo
Back in ‘Jerusalem' – Sarajevo
Remembrance in Sarajevo – Sarajevo
GlossaryAcknowledgements
About the author
Tharik Hussain is affiliated as a fellow with the Centre for Religion and Heritage and is viewed widely as a specialist on Muslim heritage and culture, especially across the western hemisphere. Tharik's previous work has often served to decolonise authorised and popular religious and cultural histories and narratives. He is the creator of Europe's first Muslim heritage trails, he edited a special revival edition of the historic British Muslim journal The Islamic Review. He frequently hosts lectures and talks on Muslim heritage and history and has even helped to develop a Muslim-Jewish heritage trail with the University of Oxford and JTrails.
Tharik has also produced award-winning radio on America's earliest mosques and Muslim communities and written a chapter about encountering the indigenous Muslims of Romania in the book The Ordinary Chaos of Being Human; Travels from Many Muslim Worlds. He is the author of several travel guides for Lonely Planet, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Thailand, where again he is viewed as an expert on Muslim culture and Muslim travel.
Tharik has been named one of the UK's most inspiring British Bangladeshis and is an advisor to a number of heritage projects. His travel guide to Saudi Arabia has been shortlisted for a Travel Media Award and he has an MA in Islamic Studies and a BA(hons) in Media and Cultural Studies.
Summary
Travel writing about Muslim Europe. A journey around Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, home to the largest indigenous Muslim population in Europe, following the footsteps of Evliya Celebi through Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro. A book that begins to decolonise European history.
Foreword
. Important and timely travel writing about a forgotten part of Europe
. Unique perspective: the first account in English by a European Muslim travel writer exploring indigenous European Muslim culture and heritage
. A high-profile, far-reaching press, broadcast and social media campaign
. Muslim Millennials are one of the fastest growing travel segments - the global Muslim travel market is estimated at more than $300bn by the end of the decade (source: Mastercard)
