Ali Shakespeare and the Refusers

In a world where the Mu'tazalites convinced the early Abbasid caliphs to respect the freedom of religion of the Hanbalites, the Islamic Golden Age didn't end and technology is approaching a steampunk level by the year 1592/1000 hijri. Henry VIII has converted to Islam and invented his own form of Shiism based on descent from David (a.s.) and his daughter is facing the dilemma of ruling as Imama amoung a population of migrants quoting the hadith that a land ruled by a woman is sure to be ruined. In this timeline, Shakespeare is half-Algerian, and his plays involve personae from Islamic History intersecting with famous characters from European history.

Muslim Alt-History Sci-fi

A work of fiction, this book will have some fun with the idea of Qadr and free will, how much better everything could have gone if history were operated more intelligently, but also, how problems of extremism, terrorism, immigrant identity crisis, religious hypocrisy, gender relations and power dynamics are inescapable.