The Muslim Academic Trust, 32 London Road, Cambridge CB22 7QH  ( www. centralbooks.co.uk) has just re-published a fascinating book set in the last days of the Ottoman empire< called  ´The Early Hours´ .

The author is Marmadke Pickthall, who has been a best selling novelist in his time, and after converting to islam has given the muslim worlld one of the best known, and definitely most beautiful translations of the Qur´an.  He lived for years in Turkey and Egypt before moving to India, where he became a close friend of Mahatma Ghandi.

The novel is set in the last days of the Ottoman empire, a novel of love and bloodshed. It tells the story of a romance between a young soldier caught up in the turk conspiracy to overthrow the sultan, and an unobtainable girl... The collapse of the old Turkey and the birth of the new nation are brilliantly depicted... worth a read for anyone who enjoys novels with a bit of historical background.... especially one as amazing as the turkish one...

With a foreword by Abdal Hakim Murad ( a Cambridge University professor specialising in Rumi), all profit will go to the building of an Islamic mosque and cultural centre in Cambridge, which hopes to offer what the original masjids were all about- a place for community activities, gardens to relax, restaurants, shops, etc. and  which is intended to benefit both the muslim and the non-muslim community as a whole...  So not only do you get an excellent read,  but with Abdul Hakim as the mastermind- it  should be very beneficial to Turkish- British relations in the long term. xxx

I guess you have read this book?