The incredible true story of Fernão Lopes is one of the strangest and most inspiring chapters of forgotten history. In the 16th century, a Portuguese noble traveled to India to fight Muslims, only to defect, convert to Islam, and face brutal torture by the infamous Afonso de Albuquerque. Mutilated and disgraced, he was exiled to the lonely island of St. Helena centuries before Napoleon where he discovered a profound spiritual silence.
In this episode of The Muslim Atlas, we explore Dr. Abdul Rahman Azzam’s research into this “Muslim Robinson Crusoe.” Was he a secret Jew fleeing the Inquisition? How did he survive 30 years in solitude? And how did this disfigured outcast end up intimidating the King of Portugal? This is the history book chapter they tore out.