Ibn Battuta Sparknotes
The Adventures of Ibn Battuta
The Adventure of Ibn Battuta gives a historical account by Ross Dunn concerning the Islam world during the 1400s. The report is based on the coeval book created concerning the journey of Ibn Battuta. Ibn Battuta hailed from the Province of Tangier in Morocco in which he had education in legal matters. The travels of this young scholar spanned some countries and regions; Sub-Saharan Africa; the Northern parts of Africa; the Middle East; Palestine; Persia; China; and India. The Sultan of Morocco assigned a writer who went with Ibn Battuta during his adventure. With the help of this writer, Ibn Battuta was able to describe his journey on a traditional "Rihla." It is this Rihla that gives Dunn a starting rubric which he uses to describe the vastness of the Islam Kingdom. In his book, Dunn indicates that the Dar al-Islam constituted the various kingdoms in which the leaders practiced and enacted Islamic laws. (Dunn, 1986) argues that "the reach of Islam is so great that even though Ibn Battuta moves more widely than most other people of his day, he is infrequently unable to find practicing Muslims to show him …show more content…
generosity and help him on his way."
When he got to India, Battuta was given the appointed to serve as a judge under the Sultan of Delhi. Although the outcome was a total disaster, the position made him accumulate quite a lot of wealth. During his long journey, Battuta came to meet various Islamic Kings who never failed to splash him with an array of gifts in addition to the high hospitality that he received. After over almost forty years, the adventurer finally returned home to Morocco to spend the rest of his life with his people in Fez. In his later days, he served the Sultan of Morocco.
Dunn, in his book, keeps track of Battuta's journey all the way from his first sacred journey to Mecca in which he describes him as a very keen and observant Muslim. He does not forget to keep a record of his other adventures and the encounters that he had. Although Battuta's description of most regions is not clear enough, Dunn can draw additional evidence from other sources to give a more vibrant description of religious and political climate which Battuta interacts with during his adventure (Dunn, 1986). One of the economic concepts that he describes to be of great importance in spreading Islamic religion too far-reaching ends of the earth is a trade. All these are well supported by quotations from the Rihla. The various contents of the Rihla provide him with attributes which help in the painting of Ibn Battuta as a religious, motivated and at times an opportunistic young man possessing a restless character (Dunn, 1986).
The possible routes taken by Ibn Battuta are all illustrated in photographs and maps although most of the ways are at times in doubt. Dunn can point out cases in which the descriptions provided by Dunn concerning his encounter seem doubtful. The doubts come in because most of the events are described by Dunn several years after, and everything is based upon his memory, this could have led to distorted information or a total mix-up of everything. The issue of great concern to Dunn is not the authenticity or the orderly nature of Ibn Battuta's information concerning his encounters instead; his much more concerned in the manner in which the Expanding Islamic religion and culture during the period in which Battuta took an extraordinary adventure was connected. The encounters of this young Moroccan reveals the similarity in the way Muslims practiced Islam in some of the places he visited. The similarities encountered form the basis of this book. This book looks into Ibn Battuta's journey and points out some of the similarities in Muslim culture and religion in the places he journeyed through and the people he interacted.
As a requirement of the Islamic laws, all observers of the faith are required to go to the City of Mecca every year. Each faithful is necessary to take this holy journey at least once when they are still alive. A variety of ceremonies are typically performed in this great festival. Being an observant Muslim, Dunn identifies when Ibn Battuta decided to take this journey to Mecca. There were two options for pilgrims when they got to Tangier. One could choose to take the sea route or the route on land, Ibn Battuta, with his unquenchable thirst for adventure decides to take the course on land and made the way that headed eastwards into the Maghreb through the coast of North Africa (Dunn, 1986). Regular pilgrim caravans used to take on a long journey towards Mecca. Dunn, however, notes that Ibn Battuta did not join them since his separation with them in June 1325.
According to what Ibn Battuta records on the Rihla, it is difficult to establish the number of people who gathered in Damascus to form part of the Hajj caravan towards Mecca, but it could have been thousands of people. Dunn got the help of another person-Frescobaldi-who helped him with an approximate figure of the pilgrims who gathered in Damascus in the year 1384. A range of factors led to the observed yearly variation in the number of pilgrims in the caravans. Most of these factors affected almost all Muslim faithful although some of them were particular specific social groups.
The various factors that influenced the number of practicing Muslims who joined the caravans to Mecca included political conditions back at home. During this period, some countries that embraced Islam as their religion and other countries all over the world were a bit unstable politically with constant tribal wars over various issues; this made it difficult for Muslim believers to join their fellows to the festival in Mecca over the fear of losing their lives. It was also not possible to take such a long journey individually; one had to mobilize some people to make it possible (Adil, 1986).
The pilgrimages had to plan financially before taking on such a long journey. They should have enough resources such as food, water, and a horse or a camel. Some families could not afford these essential things that were required for the journey preventing them from going to Mecca.
The weather prospects in specific areas did not allow all Muslims to join the pilgrimage caravan. Those who came from the Middle East and the Sub-Saharan parts of Africa had to cross deserts which were majorly affected by adverse weather conditions such as sandstorms and flash floods. No one could dream of being trapped in such weather. Most of the areas where the caravans passed were inhabited and were majorly occupied by dangerous animals which posed a significant danger to travelers. It was also dangerous to pass through other territories as certain pilgrims could end up being killed or captured into slavery. These and many other factors discouraged several Islamic communities from joining other believers in Mecca; this creates a total difference in the way Muslims practiced Islam in their various countries (Graber, 2006).
From the book, Dunn acknowledges the role of both regional and inter-continental trade in facilitating the spread of the Islamic religion and culture. As the pilgrims made their way through the vast deserts, they could meet or join trade caravans which were also headed in the same direction as them. They could join these caravans and spread the good news of Islam to them (Adil, 2018).
The social values promoted by the Holy Quran are exhibited in Ibn Battuta's journey and encounter with various Islamic communities.
Dunn shows the readers how in every place Ibn Battuta went; he was welcomed with great hospitality and was as well treated with utmost care as a visitor-and most importantly, a visitor who is a practicing Muslim (Dunn, 1986). The Sultan of India trusted him so fast making him serve the position of a judge in his Kingdom. Several other Kings gave him gifts when his time for departure came. All these acts of goodness show how much easy it is for Muslims to show love to strangers as taught in the holy book of the Quran. From these acts it is also evident that trusting a fellow Muslim is quite comfortable than someone who is just a total stranger; this is the reason why Ibn Battuta was made a judge in
India.
During this period when Ibn Battuta took the long journey, most Islamic countries had a great value for education. Teachings were majorly done in Arabic which served a significant part in uniting the Muslims. Ibn Battuta, for example, knew of Quran studies, Hadith, Grammar, law, logic and rhetoric theology. This early adoption of education contributed significantly to the elaborate documentation of the early life of the Muslims. Most Muslim communities had a great thirst for knowledge which resulted in the rise of some traveling scholars such as Ibn Battuta. Other travelers who can also be recognized among Muslims include Ibn Fadlan who was a traveler in the tenth century. He was part of an embassy that was sent to the King of Bulgaria of the Volga all the way to Europe from Baghdad. The Safarnama was recorded writing of the travel of one Nasir-I Khosrow who was a writer as well as a philosopher. His records give a precise detail of his journey to Mecca using the Nishapur, Tabriz, Aleppo and Jerusalem route. Nasir also documented about Cairo in the Fatimid period. Another notable writer is Usama B. Manqidh who spent a good part of his life in the service of Salah al-Din; also known as Saladin; as a warrior and with some prospects in politics. The writings he did shade light into were some of that occurred during the crusades between the Muslims and the Franks. Lastly is Ibn Jubayr who was a writing traveler who lived between the twelfth to thirteenth centuries. He wrote a lot about Islam in the West especially Ul-Adalius whose main aim of becoming pilgrims was to atone the taking of wine (Adil, 2018).
The base of most Islamic economies was and is still agriculture with irrigation farming being practiced a lot. Along rivers Tigris, Euphrates and Nile, irrigation is the heart of every farming activity. Some networks of canals and basins were also evident in most Muslim counties and cultures.
In conclusion, Ibn Battuta's travels in the fourteenth century reveal strong similarities in how Muslims practiced Islam in the places he visited. Battuta's works are critical to understanding and framing the question of Muslim identity in the medieval era. Additionally, it helps underscore the underlying structures, ideologies, and attitudes that have and continue to shape the practice of Islam in contemporary society. There are also some issues that brought a difference in the practice of Islam. Trade, education, hospitality, religion, and the quest for knowledge are issues that are very evident in any Muslim society.
The Adventure of Ibn Battuta gives a historical account by Ross Dunn concerning the Islam world during the 1400s. The report is based on the coeval book created concerning the journey of Ibn Battuta. Ibn Battuta hailed from the Province of Tangier in Morocco in which he had education in legal matters. The travels of this young scholar spanned some countries and regions; Sub-Saharan Africa; the Northern parts of Africa; the Middle East; Palestine; Persia; China; and India. The Sultan of Morocco assigned a writer who went with Ibn Battuta during his adventure. With the help of this writer, Ibn Battuta was able to describe his journey on a traditional "Rihla." It is this Rihla that gives Dunn a starting rubric which he uses to describe the vastness of the Islam Kingdom. In his book, Dunn indicates that the Dar al-Islam constituted the various kingdoms in which the leaders practiced and enacted Islamic laws. (Dunn, 1986) argues that "the reach of Islam is so great that even though Ibn Battuta moves more widely than most other people of his day, he is infrequently unable to find practicing Muslims to show him …show more content…
generosity and help him on his way."
When he got to India, Battuta was given the appointed to serve as a judge under the Sultan of Delhi. Although the outcome was a total disaster, the position made him accumulate quite a lot of wealth. During his long journey, Battuta came to meet various Islamic Kings who never failed to splash him with an array of gifts in addition to the high hospitality that he received. After over almost forty years, the adventurer finally returned home to Morocco to spend the rest of his life with his people in Fez. In his later days, he served the Sultan of Morocco.
Dunn, in his book, keeps track of Battuta's journey all the way from his first sacred journey to Mecca in which he describes him as a very keen and observant Muslim. He does not forget to keep a record of his other adventures and the encounters that he had. Although Battuta's description of most regions is not clear enough, Dunn can draw additional evidence from other sources to give a more vibrant description of religious and political climate which Battuta interacts with during his adventure (Dunn, 1986). One of the economic concepts that he describes to be of great importance in spreading Islamic religion too far-reaching ends of the earth is a trade. All these are well supported by quotations from the Rihla. The various contents of the Rihla provide him with attributes which help in the painting of Ibn Battuta as a religious, motivated and at times an opportunistic young man possessing a restless character (Dunn, 1986).
The possible routes taken by Ibn Battuta are all illustrated in photographs and maps although most of the ways are at times in doubt. Dunn can point out cases in which the descriptions provided by Dunn concerning his encounter seem doubtful. The doubts come in because most of the events are described by Dunn several years after, and everything is based upon his memory, this could have led to distorted information or a total mix-up of everything. The issue of great concern to Dunn is not the authenticity or the orderly nature of Ibn Battuta's information concerning his encounters instead; his much more concerned in the manner in which the Expanding Islamic religion and culture during the period in which Battuta took an extraordinary adventure was connected. The encounters of this young Moroccan reveals the similarity in the way Muslims practiced Islam in some of the places he visited. The similarities encountered form the basis of this book. This book looks into Ibn Battuta's journey and points out some of the similarities in Muslim culture and religion in the places he journeyed through and the people he interacted.
As a requirement of the Islamic laws, all observers of the faith are required to go to the City of Mecca every year. Each faithful is necessary to take this holy journey at least once when they are still alive. A variety of ceremonies are typically performed in this great festival. Being an observant Muslim, Dunn identifies when Ibn Battuta decided to take this journey to Mecca. There were two options for pilgrims when they got to Tangier. One could choose to take the sea route or the route on land, Ibn Battuta, with his unquenchable thirst for adventure decides to take the course on land and made the way that headed eastwards into the Maghreb through the coast of North Africa (Dunn, 1986). Regular pilgrim caravans used to take on a long journey towards Mecca. Dunn, however, notes that Ibn Battuta did not join them since his separation with them in June 1325.
According to what Ibn Battuta records on the Rihla, it is difficult to establish the number of people who gathered in Damascus to form part of the Hajj caravan towards Mecca, but it could have been thousands of people. Dunn got the help of another person-Frescobaldi-who helped him with an approximate figure of the pilgrims who gathered in Damascus in the year 1384. A range of factors led to the observed yearly variation in the number of pilgrims in the caravans. Most of these factors affected almost all Muslim faithful although some of them were particular specific social groups.
The various factors that influenced the number of practicing Muslims who joined the caravans to Mecca included political conditions back at home. During this period, some countries that embraced Islam as their religion and other countries all over the world were a bit unstable politically with constant tribal wars over various issues; this made it difficult for Muslim believers to join their fellows to the festival in Mecca over the fear of losing their lives. It was also not possible to take such a long journey individually; one had to mobilize some people to make it possible (Adil, 1986).
The pilgrimages had to plan financially before taking on such a long journey. They should have enough resources such as food, water, and a horse or a camel. Some families could not afford these essential things that were required for the journey preventing them from going to Mecca.
The weather prospects in specific areas did not allow all Muslims to join the pilgrimage caravan. Those who came from the Middle East and the Sub-Saharan parts of Africa had to cross deserts which were majorly affected by adverse weather conditions such as sandstorms and flash floods. No one could dream of being trapped in such weather. Most of the areas where the caravans passed were inhabited and were majorly occupied by dangerous animals which posed a significant danger to travelers. It was also dangerous to pass through other territories as certain pilgrims could end up being killed or captured into slavery. These and many other factors discouraged several Islamic communities from joining other believers in Mecca; this creates a total difference in the way Muslims practiced Islam in their various countries (Graber, 2006).
From the book, Dunn acknowledges the role of both regional and inter-continental trade in facilitating the spread of the Islamic religion and culture. As the pilgrims made their way through the vast deserts, they could meet or join trade caravans which were also headed in the same direction as them. They could join these caravans and spread the good news of Islam to them (Adil, 2018).
The social values promoted by the Holy Quran are exhibited in Ibn Battuta's journey and encounter with various Islamic communities.
Dunn shows the readers how in every place Ibn Battuta went; he was welcomed with great hospitality and was as well treated with utmost care as a visitor-and most importantly, a visitor who is a practicing Muslim (Dunn, 1986). The Sultan of India trusted him so fast making him serve the position of a judge in his Kingdom. Several other Kings gave him gifts when his time for departure came. All these acts of goodness show how much easy it is for Muslims to show love to strangers as taught in the holy book of the Quran. From these acts it is also evident that trusting a fellow Muslim is quite comfortable than someone who is just a total stranger; this is the reason why Ibn Battuta was made a judge in
India.
During this period when Ibn Battuta took the long journey, most Islamic countries had a great value for education. Teachings were majorly done in Arabic which served a significant part in uniting the Muslims. Ibn Battuta, for example, knew of Quran studies, Hadith, Grammar, law, logic and rhetoric theology. This early adoption of education contributed significantly to the elaborate documentation of the early life of the Muslims. Most Muslim communities had a great thirst for knowledge which resulted in the rise of some traveling scholars such as Ibn Battuta. Other travelers who can also be recognized among Muslims include Ibn Fadlan who was a traveler in the tenth century. He was part of an embassy that was sent to the King of Bulgaria of the Volga all the way to Europe from Baghdad. The Safarnama was recorded writing of the travel of one Nasir-I Khosrow who was a writer as well as a philosopher. His records give a precise detail of his journey to Mecca using the Nishapur, Tabriz, Aleppo and Jerusalem route. Nasir also documented about Cairo in the Fatimid period. Another notable writer is Usama B. Manqidh who spent a good part of his life in the service of Salah al-Din; also known as Saladin; as a warrior and with some prospects in politics. The writings he did shade light into were some of that occurred during the crusades between the Muslims and the Franks. Lastly is Ibn Jubayr who was a writing traveler who lived between the twelfth to thirteenth centuries. He wrote a lot about Islam in the West especially Ul-Adalius whose main aim of becoming pilgrims was to atone the taking of wine (Adil, 2018).
The base of most Islamic economies was and is still agriculture with irrigation farming being practiced a lot. Along rivers Tigris, Euphrates and Nile, irrigation is the heart of every farming activity. Some networks of canals and basins were also evident in most Muslim counties and cultures.
In conclusion, Ibn Battuta's travels in the fourteenth century reveal strong similarities in how Muslims practiced Islam in the places he visited. Battuta's works are critical to understanding and framing the question of Muslim identity in the medieval era. Additionally, it helps underscore the underlying structures, ideologies, and attitudes that have and continue to shape the practice of Islam in contemporary society. There are also some issues that brought a difference in the practice of Islam. Trade, education, hospitality, religion, and the quest for knowledge are issues that are very evident in any Muslim society.