Dreams of a Refugee: From the Middle East to Mount Everest

Mostafa Salameh's extraordinary journey began with his birth to Palestinian refugee parents in Kuwait in 1970. Through a chance meeting he came to Edinburgh where he studied hospitality and read widely in Sufi religious philosophy and world belief systems. Here he had a profoundly religious experience which was to change the direction of his entire life.

One night Mostafa dreamt that he was standing atop Mount Everest reciting the call to prayer. With no prior experience or training, he decided he would follow his vision and climb. He failed to summit Everest twice before reaching the summit in 2008 – he went on to become the first Jordanian Palestinian ever to reach the North Pole and summit all seven highest peaks in the world.

Yet exploring is only half the story. As a devout Muslim, Mostafa is committed to spreading the message of tolerant Islam and to helping others to take the right path. A motivational speaker and activist, he is working to turn Arab youth away from radicalization. Mostafa is a model for multiculturalism: born Palestinian, raised in Jordan and Kuwait and identifying as Scottish, his wife is a Catholic and he has 4 boys. Through climbing he has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity. 2016 will see Mostafa reach the South Pole to become the first Muslim ever to complete the full distance and the screening of a documentary of his life, filmed in Jordan, Edinburgh and Beirut.

Dreams of a Refugee tells the remarkable story of Mostafa's journey: his views on the varied meanings of Jihad; being A Muslim ; Everest, the North Pole and Climbing, tolerant Islam; Sufism and religious pluralism as well as his love of Scotland, his adopted home country. At a time when positive images of Islam can seem few and far between, Mostafa's story is one of extraordinary faith and positivity that will appeal to religious and non-religious readers alike.