Biographical note

Luqman was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. He graduated from the University of British Columbia with graduate degrees in Library Science and Education, and subsequently pursued Middle Eastern language studies at Ankara University (Turkish), Pahlavi (Shiraz) University (Persian), and Umm al-Qur'a University, Makkah (Arabic). Since 1970, he has travelled the length and breadth of Islamic world in search of traditional Muslim societies - including the indigenous nomadic peoples. He has now retired from decades of university lecturing, and currently resides with his family in Turkey and Canada. The author's writing - produced after having lived, worked and travelled in the Islamic world for over half a century - focuses mainly on the rich, cultural and historical heritage of Islamic lands, which provides his subject matter. This can range from a discussion of the region's perpetually-wandering Muslim Nomads, to the remarkable preservation of Muslim identity in post-Reconquista Spain, or to the beauty, compassion and wisdom of Islamic architecture.