Ali Abdul v The King: Muslim stories from the dark days of White Australia
Hanifa Deen
Award winning author Hanifa Deen enters the wonderful world of the archives and discovers a tribe of men with a hidden history – the ‘Ghans’, cameleers, ‘sepoys’, hawkers, herbalists, and pearl divers, known collectively as ‘Mohammedans’ in early Australian history. Ali Abdul v The King combines storytelling with factual history as Deen takes the reader back into Australia’s past.
Mahomet Allum, wonder herbalist and ladies’ man, bush battler Ali Abdul, the feisty Afghan Rock men, and Sam the republican pearl diver, are some of Deen’s ‘men from the archives’. Unwelcome and a threat to Australian workers, these are the dark strangers in the days of the White Australia Policy.
Book Club Notes
Hanifa Deen
Hanifa Deen is a Melbourne based author of Pakistani-Muslim ancestry who was born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
A third-generation Australian, she has served as Hearing Commissioner with the...
Rights/RRP
Australia and New ZealandAUD$26.95 / NZD$36.95
Format
Paperback, 235 x 155 mm168 pages
ISBN
9781742582580Category
Australian historyPraise for Ali Abdul v The King:
Ali Abdul opens strongly, with a powerful tale of prejudice and false justice…and this book shows not only racism but Muslims' attempts to accommodate Australian life and flourish, despite the forces that tried to thwart them.
— Owen Richardson, The Saturday Age
The gift and spirit of justice shine through this rewarding collection of narratives about the cameleers, ‘sepoys’, herbalists, hawkers, shopkeepers and pearl divers collectively known as ‘Mohammedans’ in early Australian history.
— Gillian Bramley-Moore, The Daily Telegraph
Other titles in australian history:
