Ibn Battuta –
then and today
Mohammed Ibn Battuta (1304-1369 CE / 703-770 Hijri), one of the greatest
travellers and explorers who ever lived,
a man of Berber descent, was born into a family of Islamic legal scholars in
Tangier/Morocco. Knowing the Deen well and thus being able to act like a judge
arbitrating conflicts helped him throughout all his life.*
The human dramas of his age were as overwhelming as the ones today. During his
lifetime great political and natural disasters ravaged Eurasia: From 1346–1353
CE the black death, the plague killed 30–60% of Europe's total population. In
northern Europe England and France fighting their Hundred Years’ War. In the
south the Muslim civilization of Al-Andalus, which had already lasted 6
centuries, had by then entered its last 200 years, having been reduced to the
Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, the last Muslim dynasty on the Iberian península,
which built the Alhambra palace. For this very reason Ibn Batutta could travel
to Granada, but not anymore to Seville and Cordoba. For a Muslim from Moroccan
then, travelling East was not only indicated by the obligatory Hajj journey.
The devastating conquests of the great Mongol Empire (1206-1368) had also passed the climax of their stormy expansion: the Mongols were driven out of
China, in Persia they dissolved into two parts, and in Eastern Europe they lost
their position as a great power. This is why Ibn Battuta did not stop after
having completed his Hajj, but he continued his travels over a period of thirty
years, visiting most of the known Islamic world as well as many non-Muslim
lands. Islam was still expanding into the East. Ibn Battuta’s journeys followed
its light, in fact he was part of it.
The many adventures and anecdotes he recounts in the book, which is called
“Travels (arab. Rihlat) of Ibn Battutah” or with its full title “A Gift to
Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling.”
(1355) There we read about him, from travelling with sledges drawn by dogs in
today’s Russia (a story which today is rather seen as literature he copied than
experienced fact), to meeting the highly erratic Sultan of Delhi, then the
wealthiest Muslim man in the Muslim world. Under him Ibn Battuta leads the high
life of a trusted subordinate before falling under the suspicion of treason; he
sees strange animals (rhinoceros) most people in his homeland have never seen.
Among the Turks and Mongols, he was astonished at the freedom and respect
enjoyed by women and remarked that on seeing a Turkish couple in a bazaar one
might assume that the man was the woman's servant when he was in fact her
husband. On the Maldives and in some sub-Saharan regions in Africa he suffers a
culture shock, being scandalized by women moving about bare-breasted in public.
On the Maldives he is also half-kidnapped into staying, becomes chief judge and
marries into the local royal family. During his lifetime he meets extraordinary
Men of Allah, but also nearly loses his life in an ambush he suffers by a group
of bandits in India. Even if his Rihla is not fully based on what its author
personally witnessed, it provides an impressive account of much of the
14th-century world.
We Muslims from Granada called our travel agency after his name to remind us on
the wide spectrum of what a journey can be: whether you just want to spend a
few relaxed days in the beautiful and rich historic landscapes of today’s
Spain, whether you want to visit the sights of the amazing Muslim history in
Al-Andalus, or whether you understand your journey as Ibn Battuta did: as Rihla
travel practice which connects you to the collective consciousness of the
ummah, generating a larger sense of community. In the time of Al-Andalus the
performance of Rihla was an obligatory qualifier for the future elite of
teachers and leaders. “Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer”
someone said.
What was true for Ibn Battuta is true today: there is no better education than
travelling with open eyes. “Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns
you into a storyteller.” said Ibn Battuta. All we have to do, is to set out.
Welcome to Spain, to the historic land of Al Andalus. Today you may see all
those beautiful places, onto which even an explorer like Ibn Battuta could not
set his eyes upon.
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