Muslim Travelers: Beyond Ibn Battouta

MUSLIM TRAVELERS BEYOND IBBN

When you hear about Muslim Travelers in the Medieval period, your mind probably wanders off to Ibn Battuta. While he was a prominent world traveler of the Muslims’ Golden Age, there are so many more Muslim Travelers that deserve some more attention. I will shed some light on those underappreciated Muslim travelres: Naser Khsraw, Ibn Jubayer and Al- Idrisi.

Travel has been a big part of Muslim history ever since the prophet Muhammed (PBUH), he travelled often to the Levantine/ Belad A’Sham (usually Syria, but that also could be Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan) and he urged the Sahaba to go to Al- Habasha (modern day Ethiopia), which was also the first Hijrah. He also travelled to Yemen and between Mekka and Madina (Hijra), and to Jerusalem for the Israa and Miraj. The prophet was a traveler and had a love for cultural exchanges himself. After him Muslims spread out from China and to Western Africa, spreading Islam and exchanging cultural experiences.

Travel and cultural exchange has been integral to Islam since the very beginning, and even mentioned in the Quran, reinforcing cultural exchange and knowledge: “O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted” (49:13). Muslim scholars travled the world seeking knowledge ‘ilm’. They sought ‘ilm’ about and from different tribes’ cultures, during the peak of Islamic civilization. Hence, It could be argued that travel and the height of Islamic civilization peaked at the same time.

Carrying forward this legacy of travel to the Golden Age of Islam, Nasir Khsraw was a Persian poet, philosopher, mathematician and scholar. He travelled to Mekka 279 years before Ibn Battuta. He decided to embark on a 7-year journey traveling from Iran, to Mecca nd Cairo. He wrote a book Safarnama an account,

containing detailed descriptions of the political, economic and social state of the 100 cities and villages he visited including: Cairo, Jerusalem, Medina and Mecca in 1046-1052 AD. He also discussed the different customs, educational systems, scholarship, different religious practices and holy cites in his book. Some of the cultural encounters he describes in his book includes: the peaceful co-existence of Muslims, Jews and Christians in Damascus: “The Christians impose a tax on the Muslims in their land which gives them full security; and likewise, the Christian merchants pay a tax upon their goods in Muslim lands. Agreement exists between them, and there is equal treatment in all cases. The soldiers engage themselves in their war, while the people are at peace and the world goes to him who conquers.” (p. 301). ______________ ______________

MUSLIM TRAVELERS BATTOUTA

It seems that a big part of travel for Khrsaw was developing an understanding of the intercultural and cross-religious relationships that existed within each city or village he encountered.

Similarly, Ibn Jubayr a Muslim Traveler from Al Andalus who wrote Rihla a book documenting his travels. He embarked on a journey to Hajj in 1185, while documenting his various cultural encounters throughout his journey. He traveled to Egypt, Madina, Mecca, Damascus, Jerusalem, Sicily and Baghdad. Like Khrsaw, Ibn Jubayr was focused on the educational institutions, cultural exchanges and educational curriculums. However, differently from Khrsaw he also focused on the details of the spaces’ architecture. Specifically, he focused on describing Mecca, scholars relied on his early descriptions of Mecca and other sacred cities in the medieval Muslim world.

“It has four corners and is almost square … the principle corner is twenty-nine cubits ... and is the one containing the Black Stone … the venerable door is raised above the ground eleven and a half spans. It is of silver gilt and of exquisite workmanship and beautiful design, holding the eyes for its excellence and in emotion for the awe God has clothed His House in … the door has two silver staples on which is hung the lock. It faced to the east and is eight spans wide and thirteen high. The thickness of the wall in which it turns is five spans, the inside of the blessed house is overlaid with variegated marbles and the walls are all variegated marbles. “(p. 78)

Al-Idrisi; however, chose to focus his travel accounts on drawing maps and his map of the world were the most accurate maps known to the world for three centuries. Al-Idrisi was born in Morocco and travelled around Europe and North Africa. The extensive travel accounts of Muslim merchants and travelers, as well as, his own travel helped him visualize the most accurate world map of the pre-modern era. In the book Moorish Empire In Europe Al -Idrisi’s work was mentioned as:

The compilation of Edrisi marks an era in the history of science. Not only is its historical information most interesting and valuable, but its descriptions of many parts of the earth are still authoritative. For three centuries geographers copied his maps without alteration.” _____________ _____________

These are three of so many Muslim travelers, who have made discoveries about geography, culture, architecture and science. The brilliance and contribution of these scholars has had an effect on much of our modern-day education. The love for learning and curiosity about the world’s many wanders is a thread sewn so deep into the fabric of Muslims’ identity. It’s time for modern day Muslims to seek out the adventurer in them and start exploring the world and its many cultures again.