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

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In 2016, Londoner Tharik Hussain set off for the western Balkans along with his wife and two young daughters. The author readily admits his task is to reveal that Islam is an under-appreciated component of European history and Muslims are not the "others" that segments of European politics suggest they are. Over the course of several weeks, they travelled through Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro. It's never really a good sign when someone writing a memoir -- who is not a literary author exposing the foibles of humanity through their own self -- makes you think, "oh lord, if I were his teenage daughter on this trip with him, I too would be sooo embarrassed! He also talks about ‘komšiluk’ as the name for a concept of good neighbourliness that permeates the region.

The car journey and the places they visit are very vivid; very evocatively described; culminating in a scene of great tranquillity and self-discovery. The book is dripping with not only history but also stunning vistas, architectural richness, exotic food, weird coffee rituals and all the diversity of humanity you could wish for. The first, the Arap Mosque was built in 1528, while the second, a 16th century building, was designed by Ottoman architect Muslihudin Abdulgani. As a Muslim myself, I certainly stress the opinion of the importance of “adab” or “manners” in educating the Muslims, let alone the non-Muslims.Get caught up in Bangkok's energy, sample fresh local food in Chiang Mai, and relax in luxury on Ko Samui; all with your trusted travel companion.

Whilst some will say it's because they were communists, I believe that's only the tip of the iceberg and that it was built on Islamophobia, because long before it was communist, for almost six centuries much of it was Muslim. As Tharik highlights, Islam and Muslims have a historic and long-standing connection with Europe but their contribution to the Western world is ignored or overlooked by historical narratives and present discourse. Liam Neeson is Islamophobic for negative criminal portrayals of Albania in film, but ten pages later Hussain walks away from an Albanian Airbnb over a nebulous suspicious feeling about the hosts.

I’m a Bosnian Muslim from Sarajevo, now living in the UK, and I found this book a frustrating and irritating read. 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. I was excited by the theme, which is well worth exploring, but I believe the author went to the region with preconceived notions which he then tried to fit into the narrative. Homosexuality is covered in one, unsatisfactory, paragraph – My experience of Muslims who took their lead from Saudi-educated scholars told me they certainly would have been uncomfortable with [discussing] this, which is probably why I chose not to bring it up. Pide was an unknown food in Sarajevo until after the war and is very much there for tourists like him.