The House of Islam

<p><em>The House of Islam </em>explores the contrasting lifestyles of two Palestinian brothers. Milhem an ambitious Ottoman official borrows money from his brother Shems-ud-din a merchant and holy man to purchase a government post in Jerusalem - a bustling sophisticated city. When Shems-ud-din's beloved daughter falls ill he is forced to leave his tranquil dwelling to seek the aid of a Frankish doctor in Jerusalem. The ensuing adventures that arise from their divergent paths give an insight into the Muslim world of the nineteenth-century with the sensitivity that Marmaduke Pickthall is renowned for.</p><p><br></p><p>Pickthall's second Middle Eastern novel <em>The House of Islam</em> explores the tension between traditional local customs and new Western practices in a Muslim culture on the cusp of immense change.</p>