Sumaiya Syed

“To understand those who are culturally and historically different from us – rather than resorting to such labels as ‘evil empire’, ‘fundamentalist’ and ‘terrorist’ to mask our ignorance – is a matter of urgency. The greatest hubris is to ask why ‘they’ are not like ‘us’, to accept our cultural biases lazily and without question, and to frame the problem in terms of ‘what went wrong?”
― Caroline Finkel, Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire

“I read aimlessly, until I learned to read selectively, with a purpose. - Malcom X”
― Alex Haley , The Autobiography of Malcolm X

“Words and stories washed ashore on that ancient way of the sea, and we made of them new songs. The sun came again, casting shadows that we peeled off the street to make of them new clothes.”
― Susan Abulhawa, The Blue Between Sky and Water

“But why should 1299 CE be considered the founding date of the empire? – there were no famous battles, no declarations of independence or storming of a bastille. The simplest explanations are often the most convincing: that year corresponds to the years 699–700 in the Islamic calendar. By rare mathematical coincidence, the centuries turned at the same time in both the Christian and Islamic calendars. What more auspicious year to mark the founding of an empire that spanned Europe and the Middle East?”
― Caroline Finkel, Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire