MUSLIM TR BEYOND IBBN
W
hen 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,
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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).
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