We are starting a new regular feature on Islam and Sci-Fi: Alternate History Tuesdays. Every other Wednesday we will be posting an alternate history scenario, piece of art, story etc. This is inaugural post. Please let us know what you think about this series so that we can evolve this feature overContinue Reading
Yaqteenya is an alternative history novel by Yasir Bahjatt, a Saudi citizen who has been instrumental in trying to get the genre of Science Fiction off the ground in Saudi Arabia. The novel has both Science Fiction and Fantasy elements. It imagines a group of Spanish Muslims who venture intoContinue Reading
More often than not alternative history almost exclusively focuses on politics and wars. Thus it is refreshing to see someone focusing on biography and art. Thus I give you the life of the wandering sufi Al-Hajj Vladimir Lenin as imagined by the Russian artist Rinat Voligamsi from Ufa, Bashkiria.In thisContinue Reading
Ken Kalfus is an American author an journalist who has won numerous prestigious awards and also been nominated for many others. He was also the Guggenheim Fellow in 2009. He has written for Harper’s, The New York Review of Books, and The New York Times. A film adaptation of hisContinue Reading
Twas a good season for Alternative History; the literary world and the pop culture is now abound with tales of alternate history. Most of these are however Eurocentric or focused on the West. That said, this should not be that surprising as this genre rose in the West. Examples ofContinue Reading
Here is the book description from Amazon. As William the Conqueror’s men attempt to stamp out the flames of rebellion, a prophecy is uttered. A bedraggled woman in a ruined chapel speaks of civilizations in conflict, armed by the engines of God… And that prophecy proves to be true asContinue Reading
Other Time Lines is a website has a lot of interesting alternative histories and Islam features in many of these alternative timelines. Here are some examples. Timeline 218 A time line where the Russians covert to Islam and the Ottomans earlier than in OTL. Timeline 803 What if the TurksContinue Reading
In Islands in the Sea (published in Departures) by Harry Turtledove, the Muslim invasion of Constantinople succeeds in 715 and southern Europe is conquered by Muslims 700 earlier than in OTL. In the story the Muslims and Christians are trying to convince the king of Bulgars to convert to theirContinue Reading
In A Study of History Toynbee ponders upon a few alternative history scenarios that are relatrd to Islam in one way or another. The Forfeited Birthright of the Abortive Far Eastern Christian Civilization: In this scenario the Ummayids do not reinvade Central Asia after their defeat at Kish-Samarkand pass inContinue Reading
The story is set in an alternative world where the Black Death plague killed almost all of the inhabitants of Western Europe, instead of one-third in 0TL. The story is set in 2042 where the world is dominated by Muslims. The Chinese and the Aztecs are featured as well. CoincidentlyContinue Reading