Book

A young woman defends her city.
A city both Matriarchal and Muslim.
A novel of speculative history.

"A wholesome, enchanting tale set in a medieval Muslim matriarchy... Hussain’s stellar debut invites reflection, debate and dialogue. Mashallah.” - Salma Hussain, author of The Secret Diary of Mona Hasan

Cover of "Under The Full And Crescent Moon"

As a debut author I want nothing more than for my story to find the readers that will love it.

I hope you are one of those.

And I hope you will help spread the word by:

Buying and Reviewing!
Contacting for Media Inquiries on Social Media!
Telling your Friends!
Jazakallah for anything you can do!

More Praise for "Under The Full and Crescent Moon"

"A resonant reimagining of Islamic history crafted with fierce intelligence and masterly worldbuilding." - Sumaiya Matin, Author of The Shaytan Bride

"I was thrilled to 'get to know' wise, powerful women and sensitive, emotionally intelligent men. How the young protagonist defends her city will definitely surprise you!" - Sofia Tsourlaki, PhD researcher, supervisor of postgraduate dissertations, lecturer in Islamic Studies

“By telling a tale of an Islamic matriarchy, Aamir Hussain throws down the gauntlet—and Muslim fiction is better for it.” - Saad T. Farooqi - Author of White World

"Beautifully written, with an ear for dialogue that brings his characters vividly and convincingly to life, and a plot-line that carries the reader forward with eagerness to a satisfying conclusion." - Catherine Rubincam Retired Associate Professor Emeritus, Historical Studies

Excerpts from selected Reviews.

"Overall this was a very impressive novel as the description of the written scenes were just lovely." - Courtney P. Reviewer (GoodReads)

"This story explores female empowerment with the ultimate girl power towards the end. A great read" - Linzi I. Reviewer (NetGalley)

"It was a compelling read and I learned a lot. I particularly found the different interpretations of religious text interesting." - Orion M. Reviewer (NetGalley)

"This is truly a beautiful and delightful read that all western readers should pick up!" - Jean C. Reviewer (NetGalley)

"Chicken Jockey " - Anonymous

Acknowledgement

God knows a regret I have with “Under The Full and Crescent Moon” is my decision to add an Author’s Note at the back of the novel rather than an Acknowledgement. This was probably the right choice as there are some very important concepts in the novel that I felt needed elaboration, but I sacrificed highlighting the many people without whom the story would never have made it out into the world.

First and foremost, I thank my wife, Sana. I will always be grateful for her putting up with my distracted self while I researched, wrote, edited, and am now marketing “Under the Full and Crescent Moon”. I wish I could say that I will become less scatter brained as my time ushering this novel into existence comes to a close. I fear instead God has written for her a fate of being stuck with my frazzled mindset for as long as she is willing to put up with me.

I want to thank my two children, Ayaan and Arhum, who give me purpose. Everything I do is meant to provide for them, to the best of my limited ability, a better world, one in which differing ideas can be discussed over a cup of coffee with laughs and jokes rather than hostility.

I am grateful for my parents, from whom I got, both through nature and nurture, the impetus to be a free-thinker. I have always strived to follow their instruction to take the best of every place that I have lived and find my own path. And I cannot thank my sister enough for being an outside force who, on more than one occasion, knocked some sense into a painfully introverted younger version of me.

The unconditional support of my in-laws has been a blessing without which I do not know where I would be, let alone my novel. My sister-in-law's early incisive comments, my brother-in-law's encouragement, and my father-in-law and mother-in-law's willingness to step in and help whenever needed was instrumental in giving me the time and mental space to do this work.

To my friends who encouraged me as I completed and edited the nascent drafts, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Ahmed and Sabin especially, who read the entire thing, made me feel like my years long effort had value enough to be worth pushing out into the world. The sheer enthusiasm shown by my friend Waqas throughout the process has been a light that I will never forget.

Thanks to the Fold Festival in Brampton, Ontario (which my wife suggested I attend) and through whom I met Kwame Fraser, then the President and Publisher of Dundurn, who I thank for being open to my pitch and suggesting I send my manuscript of “Under The Full and Crescent Moon” to Acquiring Editor Julia Kim.

Of all the people I’m thanking, Julia is the one who deserves the most praise for how the novel has turned out. Not only did she champion the manuscript at Dundurn Press, she edited it with a penetrating insight that resulted in what I truly believe to be the best version of the story possible. The publishing world is lucky to have her.

Many thanks to the rest of the team at Dundurn Publishing who are doing such an amazing job bringing the novel across the finishing line. I will never know everyone who added their touches to the novel, but I will mention Project Editor Erin Pinsken, Publicist Eden Boudreau, Editors Shannon Whibbs, Nabiha Rasool, Elena Radic, Nicholas Freer, and of course Chief Publishing Officer Meghan Macdonald.

Special shoutout to Art Director Laura Boyle who designed the beautiful cover and the interior look. While I will always be grateful for her taking my comments into account, the reason the book looks like a work of art is because of her efforts.

Good fortune, or luck, is such a large part of any successful endeavor, and one such blessing through the publishing process has been the creation of the Muslim Literary Festival thanks to the drive of Executive Director Narjis Sheikh and her team. I cannot imagine the amount of work they put in to create their organization from scratch, but as far as I am concerned, they appeared like a miracle in 2024 just as I was trying to find a supportive community.

It’s through them that I found authors who are far ahead of me in their publishing journeys. People like Saad Farooqi, Sumaiya Matin, and especially Salma Hussain who have been incredibly kind to a fumbling debut author looking for guidance. I’ll always be thankful for the generosity of their time in reading and providing supportive blurbs and their advice.

Thanks also to Professors Catherine Rubincam, Isabella Fierro, and PhD researcher Sofia Tsourlaki. Their encouragement and support in various ways give me a little bit of relief from my neuroticism over having made research errors. All errors are of course, my own.

Much gratitude to the publicist I am working with Hollay Ghadery and her team at River Street Writing. My novel would not have been exposed to as many people as it has and I would not have been lucky enough to have conversations with them if it wasn’t for their seemingly tireless efforts.

Thank you to all who have already read or will read “Under the Full and Crescent Moon”, that you all even exist will never cease to boggle my mind.

I acknowledge the suffering of all oppressed people in this world, especially the indigenous ones facing the evils of colonialism and ethno-supremacist ideologies. To be silent in the face of these is to be complicit. I pray that God will continue to give me the strength to make the right choice and continue to use my little platform to speak for the liberation of all the Palestinian people in all of their land from the River to the Sea. I hope for justice for all they continue to suffer at the hands of the state of Israel and its allies, which includes my own country of Canada. I beg their forgiveness for not doing more and I accept their and God’s judgement for my failures in this regard.

And of course, all praise is due to God, the most Just. I pray the reward of any benefit he finds in this novel be distributed equitably between all the people in this acknowledgement, while the punishment for any harm be assigned to me alone.

Aamir Hussain – Aug 2025