The narratives that claim Muslims are "new" to Europe are in part fueling the Islamophobia we see on the continent and across the globe today.
But what if we knew and celebrated the fact that Muslim people have always been an integral part of the European story?
In Part 2 of our conversation, Tharik Hussain—an award-winning author, historian, and journalist—returns to help us dismantle the long-standing myth of Jews versus Muslims always fighting each other.
We’ll meet the Red-haired sultans of Europe, cover the Jewish and the Muslim Golden Age, and look at these 1,400 years of Muslim rule in Europe through its biggest context: that of co-existence.
As we’re exploring throughout this season, words matter. Stories matter.
And the work of people like Tharik helps us re-learn our history so that we can build a better present.
That, in essence, is what travel through a decolonizing lens is.
It’s digging deeper in search of lost stories and histories that the ‘authorized version’ has failed to preserve.
If you agree with us that this work is important, consider supporting our platform as a paid member.
These are the kinds of stories and voices we bring to you every week.
Stories that decolonize, center the voices on the margins, help us all see our shared humanity, ask better questions, and hopefully, find a way forward towards a more hopeful and kinder world.
There's still time to join us in our Community Voices episode!
Send us a short note with your name, where you’re calling in from, and an answer to two questions:
- What gives YOU hope in this moment in time
- Which place you are going to next
We’ll run your answers at the end of the season in our Community Voices episode.
To participate, fill out this short form OR send a short audio clip (a phone voice recording is just fine!) to hello@goingplacesmedia.com by Monday, April 27.
Listen to the Episode
What you’ll hear:
- The start of the world's first Muslim navy
- Why the Muslim Empire was often Muslim in name only
- Dismantling the myth of eternal conflict through the lens of the Jewish and Muslim Golden Ages
- Why did King William II of Sicily call himself Sultan Musta’iz
- Maimonides in Cordoba: What the life of this Arabized Jewish scholar teaches us about coexistence
- Why a synagogue in Manchester mirrors a mosque in Cordoba
Muslim Europe
The story of the continent we need to know today
Tharik's new book, Muslim Europe: A Journey in Search of a 1,400-Year History, remedies Europe’s collective amnesia, revealing that Islam has been integral to the development of Western culture over 1,400 years.
It couldn't be timelier in combating what Tharik calls Europe's Anti-Muslim DNA.
The book is now available in the U.S. as an audiobook. See the paperback version here.
Check out Part 2 on YouTube →
• Follow Tharik on Instagram: @tharik_hussain
• Connect with Tharik on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Tharik's work on his site
• Read Minarets in the Mountains
• Check out Tharik's latest book, Muslim Europe
• Learn about Britain's first Muslim Heritage trail, created by Tharik
• Send in your message for our Community Voices episode
"Conventional histories are often written from a post-Christian, Eurocentric lens, which means by default, the Muslim culture is seen as other at best and the enemy at worst. To decolonize, we have to allow other perspectives in." – Tharik Hussain
Radostina Boseva is our Founding Member
Radostina Boseva is a film wedding photographer with an editorial flair based in San Francisco.
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