King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has honoured Dr. Rasheed Al Khayoun, an Iraqi writer, researcher and intellectual, with the third King Abdul Aziz Book Award for his work The Impact of the Black Muslims on Islamic Civilisation, issued by the King Abdul Aziz Public Library in Riyadh.
In his 438-page, 10-chapter book, Al Khayoun first presented a study in which he examined sources dealing with people of colour and their lives during the pre-Islam era. The book also included translations by black Muslims throughout the various eras of Islam, covering the era of prophecy and Rashidun Caliphate, and the Umayyad Caliphate until the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad in 1258 AC.