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This article from the Telegraph makes the claim that Adolf Hitler's infamous manifesto, Mein Kampf is a bestseller in the Palestinian territories:

AN Arabic translation of Hitler's Mein Kampf which has become a bestseller in the Palestinian territories is now on sale in Britain.

This BBC article describes the book being a bestseller in Bangladesh:

Adolf Hitler's autobiography manifesto Mein Kampf is selling as well as Dan Brown's latest novel, The Lost Symbol.

The street vendors in Dhaka are found at every major road junction and intersection.

Most of the sellers are young boys and many compete with beggars to attract the attention of motorists.

This WND news piece goes even further and claims that Mein Kampf is a standard Arab textbook.

Are there any bestseller lists in Muslim countries that show that the book has become a bestseller in Muslim countries in the past 20 years?

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    Someone from Bangladesh here. I don't know whether Mein Kampf is the bestseller, but Hitler is very popular figure here and the reason is what you've already guessed. Street vendors bit is also true, I've seen Mein Kampf is being sold in the streets.
    – user
    Oct 16, 2015 at 18:54
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    @tim I don't think it is valid to extrapolate one negative example to falsify the claim though.
    – March Ho
    Oct 16, 2015 at 22:00
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    @MarchHo that is a significant number of Muslim countries, including the two you quoted. By one negative do you mean Amazon as one site?
    – Tim
    Oct 16, 2015 at 22:04
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    @tim Yes, since Amazon is a single online source it is a rather poor choice to support your argument (for example, the people there may not like buying online, or may not like Western online shops).
    – March Ho
    Oct 16, 2015 at 22:29
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    @Tim Amazon isn't really a "thing" in most Arab (including GCC) countries. There aren't distributors nearby so the shipping would be expensive. Also, many debit cards are "electron" and don't allow internet/international transactions without special permission from the bank.
    – Ruut
    Oct 17, 2015 at 14:59

1 Answer 1

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According to the Middle East Media Research Institute's Special Dispatch No. 48, Hitler's Mein Kampf In East Jerusalem And PA Territories:

Mein Kampf "is sixth on the Palestinian best-seller list". This was back in 1999, and supports the claim of the BBC article in the OP which is from 2002.

Though the title in the OP generalizes to "Muslim countries", there is no corresponding claim referenced in the OP. Instead there is just one claim about the Palestinian territories and one claim about Bangladesh.

In India, which is essentially in a 3-way tie with Indonesia and Pakistan for the largest Muslim population, Mein Kampf has also been selling well according to Indian business students snap up copies of Mein Kampf. However, the article makes associations with Hinduism rather than Islam.

The article further states:

India is not the only country where Mein Kampf is popular. It has been a best-seller in Croatia since it was first published in while in [T]urkey it sold 100,000 in just two months in 2005. In Russia it has been reprinted three times since the de facto ban on the book was overturned in 1992.

See also Mein Kampf sales soar in Turkey

Additionally, according to Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' surges to top of e-book charts (2014) which has screen-shot evidence that the book was the #1 seller in the Propaganda & Political Psychology category:

A digital edition of the manifesto is currently Amazon's top-selling Propaganda & Political Psychology book, the 17th best-seller in Amazon's Nationalism category, and places in the top 20 on iTune's Politics & Events chart — twice.

So it is true that Mein Kampf sells well in various countries.

There is also a significant Wikipedia article Mein Kampf in Arabic.

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  • +1. However, the third article cited makes the claim that Mein Kampf is a "standard Arab textbook", implying that it is widely sold and read there.
    – March Ho
    Jan 6, 2016 at 14:29
  • @MarchHo I'm unable to read the 3rd article.
    – DavePhD
    Jan 6, 2016 at 14:32
  • It's a video, but the claim is already made in the title.
    – March Ho
    Jan 6, 2016 at 14:33

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