Asghar and Zahra—fiction extract

After a troubled wedding night, Asghar and Zahra hope to revive their relationship during their honeymoon in southern Spain. While Asghar is entranced by the legacy of Islamic Andalusia, Zahra is less impressed. When they meet a Spanish convert to Islam called Tariq, the pair are unwittingly drawn into his dramatic plan to revive the caliphate from the Cathedral-Mosque of Córdoba.

They climbed up to the Alhambra through the misty dawn. Already there were a hundred or so tourists queuing at the entrance, like medieval petitioners…