#48: Islam Built Europe — Then Europe Erased It | Tharik Hussain

For over 1,400 years, Islam has been woven into the fabric of Europe —

yet this history has been systematically erased. In this conversation,

award-winning historian and author Tharik Hussain joins Ali Zaka on

The Prometheans to reveal the forgotten story of Muslim Europe: from

the Prophet's family arriving in Cyprus in 647 AD, to the Islamic

roots of the European Renaissance, to why this erasure still shapes

politics — and Muslim identity — today.

Tharik's book *Muslim Europe* (Viking/Penguin, 2025) has been called

"perspective-shattering" and "vital, important" by historians and

writers including William Dalrymple.

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WHAT WE COVER

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IN THIS EPISODE

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• How Islam arrived in Europe just 16 years after the Prophet's death

• The "anti-Muslim DNA" embedded in European civilisational identity

• How Islamic scholars built the foundations of the Renaissance

• Why even respected historians erase 1,400 years of Muslim presence

• Convivencia: the truth about Muslim, Christian, and Jewish coexistence

• What historical erasure does to the identity of Muslims living in Europe today

• The interfaith implications of recovering this hidden history

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ABOUT THE GUEST

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Tharik Hussain is an award-winning author, historian, and journalist

specialising in global Muslim heritage. His book *Muslim Europe*

(Viking/Penguin, 2025) is the first Muslim Eurocentric history of

the continent. His previous book *Minarets in the Mountains* was

longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction.

Follow Tharik: @tharik_hussain

Book: Muslim Europe (Viking/Penguin, 2025)