Tharik Hussain - Minarets in the Mountains: A Journey Into Muslim Europe

A fascinating insight into the living legacy of Islam in Europe. Tharik takes us to places where few readers will have ventured and explores the shared heritage of Muslims, Jews and Christians

Levison Wood

A scintillating voyage in the footsteps of the Ottoman
explorer Evliya elebi
Ziauddin Sardar
author of Desperately Seeking Paradise
and Mecca: The Sacred City

Tharik Hussain is an author, travel writer and journalist specialising in Muslim heritage and culture. Thariks work often serves to counter popular religious and cultural histories and narratives. He is the creator of Britains first Muslim heritage trails The Woking Trail and The Muslim Cemetery Walk and has produced award-winning radio for the BBC on Americas earliest mosques and Muslim communities. Tharik writes about his travels exploring Muslim cultures and heritage across the globe for many of the worlds leading media brands and is the author of several travel guidebooks for countries including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Thailand. He has been named one of the UKs most inspiring British Bangladeshis and is a Fellow at the University of Groningens Centre for Religion and Heritage.

First published in the UK in July 2021 by

Bradt Guides Ltd

31a High Street, Chesham, HP5 1BW, England

www.bradtguides.com

Print edition published in the USA by The Globe Pequot Press Inc,

PO Box 480, Guilford, Connecticut 06437-0480

Text copyright 2021 Tharik Hussain

Edited by Ross Dickinson

Photographs copyright 2021 Tharik Hussain

Cover design and illustrations by Ollie Davis Illustration; www.olliedavisillustration.com

Layout and typesetting by Ian Spick

Production managed by Sue Cooper, Bradt Guides & Zenith Media

The right of Tharik Hussain to be identified as the author of this work has

been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval

system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording or otherwise without the prior consent of the publishers. Requests for permission

should be addressed to Bradt Guides Ltd in the UK.

ISBN: 9781784778286

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Digital conversion by Dataworks

Printed in the UK by Zenith Media

To my parents, my wife, Tamara, and my daughters,
Amani, Anaiya and Maya

Notes

Accessing Evliya elebi While some attempts have been made historically to translate Evliya elebis Seyahtnme into English, the scale and nature of the task means that much of it remains inaccessible to English speakers. The author therefore wishes to acknowledge the immense efforts of Robert Dankoff and Sooyong Kim, the foremost translators of the Seyahtnme into English, whose works were essential in allowing him to access the great Ottoman traveller.

Names in the text The names of some individuals have been changed to respect their privacy.

Spellings In this book, the names Quran, Makkah and Madinah are spelt contrary to more common English literary convention. The author feels that the conventional spellings of these names, which are based on historic, inaccurate transliterations from Arabic that lead to them often being mispronounced, do a disservice to Islams most sacred text and its two most sacred cities. As a Muslim, the author feels it important to rectify this, and wishes to acknowledge and applaud the publishers willingness to respect his decision.

Contents

Tharik, Amani, Tamara and Anaiya on holiday on the island of Rhodes in Greece in 2010

Tamara at the Blagaj Tekke, in Bosnia and Herzegovina ()

Amani and Anaiya enjoy a swim in the Adriatic off the Croatian coast ()

Worshippers sit in front of the travellers mihrab beneath the portico of Sarajevos Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque ()

View of the Stari Most from the Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque in Mostar ()

The Blagaj Tekke at the mouth of the River Buna ()

The gifted Sebilj in Sjenica ()

Helpful Hamza and Darjan from Novi Pazar in Serbia ()

The female Muslim choir performing in Novi Pazar ()

The Tomb of Sultan Murad I near Pristina, Kosovo ()

Macedonian Muslims walk ahead of Skopjes Warrior with accompanying elements statue ()

Detail of Skopjes Ottoman clock tower ()

Stunning painted detail of the Ali Pasha Mosques dome in Tetovo ()

Tomb of Sersem Ali Baba inside Tetovos Arabati Baba Tekke ()

Idar and Tharik examine the menu at the restaurant in the Llogara National Park near Vlor ()

The house the Pasha built (Zekate House) in Gjirokastr ()