Description
We are delighted to announce that historian Tharik Hussain will be joining us for a special Literary Ramadan talk.
For this event doors will open at 6.30pm where we will be serving dates so that audience members observing Ramadan can continue to break their fast and also for those who would like to enjoy a sweet treat and a chance to meet and mingle before the talk begins at the usual time of 7pm.
Tharik Hussain’s revelatory new history book explores the ancient roots of Muslim Europe, tracing their journey through the Mediterranean.
The odyssey begins in the little-known Sufi lodges in Cyprus, where Muslims arrived in 647AD. From there, we travel through the continent – visiting places such as Sicily, Malta, Portugal and Spain. We meet forgotten Muslim pioneers, such as Abbas Ibn Firnas who gave us flight and Ibn Sina who gave us modern medicine. We discover the long-forgotten tombs of European Muslims who knew the Prophet Muhammad, and Tharik himself becomes the first Muslim in over 900 years to pray inside the remains of a nameless Sicilian Mosque.
This ambitious and fascinating history reveals that Islam is no side show to Western culture – but rather has been integral to its development over 1,400 years.
We are delighted to welcome Sophy Roberts back here to join Tharik in conversation about this revelatory book. Sophy is a journalist and author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia and A Training School for Elephants.
Ticket includes refreshments.