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Muslims have lived in the “West” for hundreds of years, yet the lives of all but a few are little known.
In this illuminating work, Muhammad Mojlum Khan sets out to change this by revealing the lives and impact of over fifty significant Muslims, from the founder of Muslim Spain in the eighth century to Muhammad Ali today.
This extraordinary book features biographies on the enslaved African Prince Ayuba Sulaiman Diallo, who was put to work in the tobacco fields of Maryland; Alexander Russell Webb, the voice of Muslims in Victorian America; and W.D. Muhammad, Elijah Muhammad’s son, who converted the Nation of Islam’s followers to an authentic version of Islam.
Muhammad Mojlum Khan was born in 1973 in Habigong, Bangladesh, and was brought up and educated in England. He is a literary critic, prolific writer, and a researcher in Islamic thought and history. He has published over 100 essays and articles on Islam, comparative religion, contemporary thought, and current affairs, and has been a regular contributor to The Muslim News. He has published two major works: The Muslim 100 and The Muslim Heritage of Bengal.
"Great Muslims of the West is a remarkably lucid and thoroughly well-documented book. It provides the first major scholarly collation of Western Muslim biographies and challenges common assumptions and popular prejudices, enriching our comprehension of contemporary Islam." —The Muslim World Book Review
“By focusing on contributions by giants from the West who were also Muslim, this book debunks the myth that Muslims have been recently introduced to notions of democracy and individualism.”—Booklist Online
“Extensively researched… a wealth of information on a subject of great substance… far-reaching and fascinating… this book is worth reading and preserving.” —Dawn, Pakistan
“...this volume should not only be welcomed by both Muslims and non-Muslims, but it also offers a much needed sense of belonging to all Muslims born and raised in the West.”—Islamic Horizons
“[A] work of great synthesis. . . . [It] argues that the ‘makers of Western Islam’ have not only enriched Islam, but also humanity in general. This book is an important and timely contribution.”—Dr. Enes Karic, Professor at the Faculty of Islamic Studies, University of Sarajevo, and former Minister of Education, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
"an encyclopaedic overview"—Dr Mamnun Khan, The Muslim News
“[An] unusually informative, inspiring and timely contribution. Essential reading for Muslims and non-Muslims, Easterners and Westerners alike.”—Dr. Syed Mahmudul Hasan, F.R.A.S. historian, author, and formerly Professor of Islamic History and Culture at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
"a window into the long history of Great Muslims of the West ... [the author] has a remarkable ability to explain and present history, from which readers can draw insight and learn lessons. I highly recommend this book as a must-have in every home, library, mosque and other educational institutions.”—Dr Mamnun Khan, The Muslim News
"...it provides non-Muslims and Muslims alike with a much broader and more nuanced picture of Muslim thinkers and leaders who have had an influence on... the West"—Bill Tammeus, Faith Matters Blog
Khan provides accounts of not only the famous Muslim converts like Shaykh William (Abdullah) Quilliam and Marmaduke Pickthall, but also of lesser-known individuals whose contributions to Britain – and the whole Muslim world at the time – are no less inspirational. Lord Henry Stanley of Alderley, for instance, the English aristocrat and accomplished linguist, was a model British Muslim who served in the House of Lords. Not only was he an English patriot who served his country; he also often woke up late at night to perform Ṣalāt al-Tahajjud. In addition to earning the respect of his people, Lord Henry Stanley was open about his religious views and publicly defended the rights of the Ottomans, Indians and Africans from being violated.
The book encourages the British and American Muslim to ask oneself the following question: How will you contribute to your society?Shaykh Shahin-ur Rahman
This book proves, beyond doubt, that Muslims have played a major role in the West for centuries... A ground-breaking work in the English language.
Perlego Online Library, London, UK.
Through the lives of these prominent Muslims, Khan renders an informative and egalitarian history of the Western world. In giving us the stories of Muslim explorers, poets, polymaths, philosophers, physicians, geographers, scholars, athletes, and more, Khan demonstrates the diversity of Muslim influence on the West.
SPIRITUALITY AND PRACTICE, USA.
Introduction
Early Period
1. Abd al-Rahman I
2. Ziryab
3. Ibn Firnas
4. Abd al-Rahman III
5. Abulcasis
6. Almanzor
7. Ibn Hazm
8. Wallada al-Mustakfi
9. Avenzoar
10. Avempace
11. Dreses
12. Abubacer
13. Averroes
14. Ibn Jubayr
15. Bitar
16. Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi
17. Khayr al-Din Barbarossa
18. Gazi Husrev Bey
19. Roxelana
20. Hasan Kafi Prusac
21. Safiye Sultan
22. Evliya Celebi
Modern Period
23. Ayuba Sulaiman Diallo
24. Lord Henry Stanley of Alderley
25. Alexandra Russell Webb
26. Ismail Bey Gaspirali
27. William Henry Quilliam
28. Philippe Grenier
29. Lady Evelyn Cobbold
30. Mehmed Dzemaludin Causevic
31. Hafiz Ali Korca
32. John Yahya Parkinson
33. Marmaduke William Pickthall
34. Musa Jarullah
35. Yusuf Ziyaeddin Ezheri
36. Julius Germanus
37. Harry St. John Philby
38. Rene Guenon
39. Leopold Weiss
40. Abdullah Ali al-Hakimi
41. Knud Holmboe
42. Mehmed Handzic
43. Titus Buckhardt
44. Martin Lings
45. Husein Dozo
46. Noor Inayat Khan
47. Thomas Ballantine Irving
48. Alija Izetbegovic
49. Lois Ibsen al-Faruqi
50. W. D. Muhammad
51. Malcolm X
52. Muhammad Ali
51. Honourable Mentions
Al-Hakam II
Ibn Hayyan
Ibn al-Arabi
Al-Qurtubi
Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati
Ibn al-Khatib
Koprulu Mehmed Pasha
Jozef Z. Bem
Amherst D. Tyssen
Sami Frasheri
Lord Headley
Rizaeddin bin Fakhreddin
J. W. Lovegrove
Ivan Agueli
William Richard Williamson
Sir Charles Archibald Hamilton
Khalid Sheldrake
Isabelle Eberhardt
Frithjof Schuon
Muhammad Hamidullah
Knut Bernstrom
Smail Balic
Charles Le Gai Eaton
Adil Zulfikarpasic
Zaki Badawi
Conclusion
Brief Chronology of Western Islam
Select Bibliography
Index