Although some of the heritage was damaged and demolished, it has been rebuilt by local communities and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), who are keen to preserve Turkish history. Here, as with elsewhere on the journey, Tharik and his family encountered the legendary generosity of Balkan Muslims towards travellers like themselves, when a vendor refused to take money for his daughter’s candy floss. 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. We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed.

The most interesting parts were about the present-day and the people the author met, so it's a pity that this aspect wasn't as prominent as the long discourses on history and architecture (thank goodness for internet photographs, I say). Encountering blonde-haired, blue-eyed Muslims, visiting mystical Islamic lodges clinging to the side of mountains, and praying in mosques older than the Sistine Chapel, he paints a picture of a hidden Muslim Europe, a vibrant place with a breath-taking history, spellbinding culture and unique identity.

The Bosnian war in the 1990’s and the subsequent ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims by Serbian forces, saw the deaths of thousands of Bosnians- a truly immeasurable loss. 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. Author Tharik Hussain discusses how his travels to the Balkans shed light on issues like identity and belonging, the roots of Islamophobia, and the European fear of the ‘Turks’. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

When asked how to get rid of these Islamophobic attitudes, Tharik believes it is not straightforward nor a quick fix. Tharik's contribution to this bestseller on Thailand includes his fascinating exploration of the country's little-known Muslim culture in the south.The juxtaposition between the proffering of money and the vendor’s refusal to take it really illustrated the heart of this book for me: travel is about experiencing different cultures, people and lifestyles; about finding oneself touched by small acts of kindness such as this. Great subject - with 5 star expectations I ended 1 star review - I didn’t like Tharik’s political standing and his attitude.

He added on how Europeans have been actively trying to erase the glorious history of Muslims in this region, despite the Ottomans having brought civilization to this corner of the world (and hence to the Western Europe too). This included developing walking trails and identifying points of interest linked to the 17th century Thai-Muslim Sultanate of Singhora. The project as a whole (exploring the majority-Muslim countries of Eastern Europe) is very worthy and manages moments of interest and beauty. The Empire at its peak was powerful and wealthy with superior government, social and economic systems.I loved that he not only wrote about the structures of the buildings they visited, but also the history (and even legends) of the place. 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.