The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif

Beautifully captured and penned by award-winning biographer Robert Hillman, this is a compelling story of an exceptional yet 'ordinary' man whose generous spirit, natural leadership, and desire for peace transcend enormous danger and heartbreak. The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif follows the extraordinary journey of Najaf Mazari from the despair of Afghanistan under the Taliban regime to the flowering of a new life in Australia.

Unaware of the fragility of innocence in a country torn by civil war, Najaf describes his childhood working as a shepherd, an apprentice welder, and, finally, finding his calling as an apprentice rugmaker. Family joy soon turns to tragedy as the war between the Russian forces and the Mujahedin violently thrusts its way into Najaf's life—first, his elder brother is killed by a sniper, then his family home is destroyed by a stray rocket, killing both his younger brother and brother-in-law. Najaf, too, is badly wounded and is reduced to selling crocheted socks on a street corner while his injuries slowly heal. Eventually returning to rugmaking, Najaf trains himself not to think too far into the future.

In 2001, the adult Najaf is captured and tortured by the Taliban. He is forced to flee Afghanistan, leaving his wife and child behind, to place his life in the hands of people-smugglers, bound for an unknown destination. Halfway across the world in Southeast Asia, Najaf and almost a hundred other refugees learn for the first time that they are bound for a country at the bottom of the world called 'Australia'...