Tharik Hussain
| Tharik Hussain | |
|---|---|
| Native name | তারিক হোসেন |
| Born | 25 March 1979 Golapganj Upazila, Sylhet District, Bangladesh |
| 🏳️ Nationality | British |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Middlesex University University of Greenwich University of London |
| 💼 Occupation | Author, Travel writer, journalist, broadcaster, teacher |
| 📆 Years active | 2001–present |
| 🌐 Website | tharikhussain |
Tharik Hussain (Bengali: তারিক হোসেন; born 1979) is a Bangladeshi-born, British-Muslim author, travel writer, journalist and broadcaster, specialising in Muslim heritage and Muslim travel.
Early life[edit]
Hussain was born in Golapganj Upazila, Sylhet District,[1] Bangladesh, and grew up in Tower Hamlets, London, England.[2]
Education[edit]
Hussain attended Raine's Foundation School and Newham Sixth Form College, before graduating from Middlesex University with a bachelor's degree in Media and Cultural Studies with Journalism. He trained as a Lecturer of Further Education with Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills at the University of Greenwich and holds a Master of Arts in Islamic Studies from Birkbeck, University of London.[3]
Media career[edit]
Hussain began his media career as a news reporter, before developing his specialism through his travels exploring Europe's forgotten Muslim heritage.[2]
Between 2001 and 2006, Hussain held the roles of journalist at Eastern Eye, chief editor at bilingual local newspaper Stepney Voice and copyeditor at Saudi Gazette. Since 2014, he has been freelancing as a journalist, travel writer and broadcaster.
In January 2016, Hussain became a destination guide writer for Lonely Planet after working on the first-ever Hajj Guide in the fifth edition of the Oman, UAE and Arabian Peninsula travel guide.[4] Shortly after, Hussain left for America to record his two part radio documentary for the BBC World Service called America's Mosques, a story of integration, which tells the story of Islam in America through some of its mosques, both old and new. During his travels, Hussain visited two of the country's oldest mosques and spent time with the American-Bangladeshi community.[1]
In July 2016, an exhibition of Hussain's travel photography called Don't Forget About Us: a Journey Through Europe's Muslim Heritage at the London Muslim Centre was London's first on Europe's Muslim heritage.[2] Hussain is a regular contributor to travel platforms like Lonely Planet and Culture Trip.[1]
In January 2018, he returned to the USA to record Muslims in Trump's America, also for the BBC World Service. This time he looked at life for Muslim Americans in states like Iowa and West Virginia a year into the Donald Trump presidency.[5]
Books[edit]
In 2018, he travelled to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to research and write the travel guides in the sixth edition of Lonely Planet's Oman, UAE and Arabian Peninsula.[6][7]
His debut travel narrative book Minarets in the Mountains: A Journey into Muslim Europe is about a road trip Hussain and his family took in the summer of 2016 through the Western Balkans in search of Europe’s indigenous Muslim communities, history and heritage. In the book, he also traces the footsteps of the Ottoman traveller Evliya Celebi.[8][9] The book was long-listed for the Baillie Gifford Prize, short-listed for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year, and selected as a book of the year by The Times Literary Supplement.[10][11] Writing in The Washigton Post, Jen Rose Smith listed the book as one of the best travel books of 2021.[12]
Heritage Work[edit]
In 2019, Hussain created Britain’s Muslim Heritage Trails in Surrey, England for the Everyday Muslim Heritage and Archive Project, Britain's first self-guided trails dedicated to Islamic heritage.[13][14]
The two trails he created are called The Woking Trail and The Muslim Cemetery Walk. These were launched in July 2019 by Sir Laurie Magnus, the Chairman of Historic England.[13] The Woking Trail links three of Britain's most important Muslim sites: the country’s first purpose-built mosque and only Grade I listed mosque, the Shah Jahan Mosque, and the country's only Muslim military burial ground, The Woking Muslim War Cemetery (now known as the Peace Garden) in the town of Woking, and Britain's first Muslim burial site, The Muhammadan Cemetery (now known as the Muslim Burial Ground) in Brookwood Cemetery.[13][14]
The Muslim Cemetery Walk takes visitors to some of the most important graves in The Muslim Burial Ground. This includes the grave of the founder of the Muhammadan Cemetery and the Shah Jahan Mosque, Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner, convert Qur’an translator, Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, convert founder of the Woking Muslim Mission, Lord Headley, Sufi leader, Idries Shah, one of the last Ottoman princesses, Dürrüşehvar Sultan, and the celebrated architect, Dame Zaha Hadid. The trail also includes the forgotten grave of a Meccan princess and direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, HRH Musbah Haidar, whose father was the last Sherif of Mecca and whose mother was a British-Irish woman. Hussain personally rediscovered the grave during his research for the trails. The maps for both trails are available free online or at the trail sites.[13][14]
At the launch of The Muslim Cemetery Walk, Hussain along with the Everyday Muslim team also unveiled a blue plaque to recognise the historic Muhammadan Cemetery as Britain's first Muslim burial site and the oldest Muslim ‘space’ in the country.[13]
Hussain is a Fellow at the Centre of Religion and Heritage at the University of Groningen.[15]
Teaching[edit]
During his teaching career, Hussain has taught English in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Sociology and Media Studies in London and the Sydney Russell School in Essex, England.[1]
Awards and nominations[edit]
In June 2016, Hussain's documentary America's Mosques won an award for the World's Best Religious Program at the New York Festivals (NYFF) Radio Programs Awards.[2] In November, it was also shortlisted for the Radio Creative Feature award at the Association for International Broadcasters Awards.[1]
In 2020, Hussain's guide to Saudi Arabia for Lonely Planet's Oman, UAE and Arabian Peninsula travel guidebook was a finalist in the Best Guide, Book, Online and App category at the Travel Media Awards.[16]
In 2021, Hussain's book Minarets in the Mountains: A Journey into Muslim Europe was longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction.[17]
Personal life[edit]
Hussain lives with his wife Tamara and three daughters in London.[1]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "AramcoWorld – Arab & Islamic cultures & connections – AramcoWorld". www.aramcoworld.com. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Pathan, Nabila (13 July 2016). "Revealing the Muslim world's 'forgotten' role in European history". Al Arabiya. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ↑ Rosenberg, Tina (2012). Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393341836. Search this book on
- ↑ Qureshi, Ayesha (January 2016). British Bangladeshi Power & Inspiration. British Bangla Media Group. p. 23. Retrieved 1 July 2017. Search this book on
- ↑ "BBC World Service – Heart and Soul, Muslims in President Trump's America". BBC. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
- ↑ "Lonely Planet guide reveals Saudi Arabia's tourism treasures".
- ↑ Lonely Planet Oman, UAE & Arabian Peninsula (Travel Guide 6th ed.). 2019-09-01: Lonely Planet Global Limited. 2019. p. 512. ISBN 9781786574862. Search this book on
- ↑ "Bestselling new book tells story of Europe's forgotten Muslims".
- ↑ "East London writer debuts with pre-release bestseller!".
- ↑ authorsclub (2022-02-02). "Shortlist for the Stanford Dolman Award 2022 | The Authors' Club". The Authors' Club Since 1891. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
- ↑ Rigney, Robert (2022-01-26). "Book Review: Balkan Muslims, a Community in Danger?". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 2022-10-12. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Smith, Jen Rose (4 November 2021). "The Best Travel Books of 2021 - So Far". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 October 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 "Britain's new Muslim heritage trail — the Mecca of Europe in suburban Surrey". THE SUNDAY TIMES.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "On the trail of the Makkah of Europe: Woking's Islamic heritage". ARAB NEWS.
- ↑ "Fellows". Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
- ↑ Seamus. "Finalists 2020 | Travel Media Awards 2020". Travel Media Awards 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
- ↑ "Minarets in the Mountains: A Journey into Muslim Europe | the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction".
External links[edit]
This article "Tharik Hussain" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Tharik Hussain. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- Blanked or modified
- 1979 births
- English Sunni Muslims
- Bangladeshi emigrants to England
- British travel writers
- Bangladeshi journalists
- Bangladeshi broadcasters
- British male journalists
- British broadcasters
- Muslim writers
- British Asian writers
- 21st-century English writers
- Schoolteachers from London
- People from Golapganj Upazila
- People from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
- Journalists from London
- People educated at Raine's Foundation School
- Alumni of Newham Sixth Form College
- Alumni of Middlesex University
- Alumni of the University of Greenwich
- Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London
