After Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s (baseless) assertion that Muslim explorers found the Americas before Sheikh Columbus, AlBawaba wonders what Thanksgiving - that most American holiday of food, booze and shopping - would look like today if Erdogan was right.
The Turkish president made headlines recently when he claimed that Muslim explorers crossed the Atlantic in the 12th century and pipped the much-credited Columbus to the post. Erdogan was drawing his claim from a passage in Columbus’ diary that mentions a ‘mosque’ in Cuba. But that passage is thought to be a metaphorical description of a hill, the BBC reported, and there’s no evidence of early Muslim settlement in the Caribbean. That said, as The Washington Post writes, there is some reason to think that pre-Columbian sailors made it to the Americas. We know for sure that the Vikings reached Newfoundland around 1,000 A.D. And let’s not forget the Native Americans who had been there for millennia. (Until the Europeans slaughtered most of them. But we’ll ignore that for now, and have another slice of pie … )
Join us on a trip to an alternate reality, a whole New World of Eastern fragrances and flavors. Hitch up your dishdash, grab a plate of pumpkin baclava and eat your heart out, America.
This is Thanksgiving, Muslim-style. Or as we like to call it, Hamdul’illah Day ...
