Ibn Battuta Primary Source Evaluation

“Ibn Battuta’s stories give us a picture of Africa through eyes of a devote Muslim traveling all over the continent of Africa and the world. In his accounts sub-Saharan Africa is described prior to colonialism and racism. Ibn Battuta’s stories as they are transcribed in “Ibn Battuta, In Black Africa” by Said Hamdun and Noel King are representative of the only written account of this period and give us the most realistic and accurate account of this time in history.

Comparatively, ‘The kite runner’, explores the disparity created by differences in cultural backgrounds. This connection manifests in the relationship between Amir and Hassan, though Amir is true to Hassan in private, he feels the need to relate to Hassan according to the prevailing social hierarchy in public. “Afghanistan is the land of the Pashtun’s…not the flat-nosed Hazara’s, these people pollute our homeland. They dirty our blood.” The inclusive language at the beginning of the quote is aimed at the Pashtun’s whereas the negative connotations of ‘pollute’ and ‘dirty’ emphasise the subservient position of the Hazara’s in the Afghani society and thus losing their sense of placement within society. Amir has to face that fact he is disloyal to his relationship with Hassan and begins personal growth. “He’s my servant! Had I really though that?” “Everywhere I turned I saw signs of his loyalty, his goddamn unwavering loyalty.” the absence of conjunction emphasises his thorough regrets that act as a barrier preventing him from

Ibn Battuta’s 1331 journey to West Africa provides a contrast of two worlds: Battuta’s pre-modern Islamic culture conflicting with African societies’ interpretation of Muslim beliefs and tribal traditions. He is especially critical of the various roles of women he observes—thus, allowing us insight into his own judgments formed by his culture and society.

The development of West Africa illustrates the advancements made in several different ways. Based on document #6, the city of Timbuktu acquired an advanced commercial center. Merchants sold a large quantity of corn, cattle, milk, and other dairy products. The city also consisted of knowledgeable artisans, including doctors, judges, and priests. It was a great Muslim educational center with more than 180 schools. The largest school taught more than 25,000 students! Timbuktu was a significant cultural and economic center with a wealthy population. The advancements made by this city show that the people of West Africa were educated, resourceful, and skilled in specific fields. Another accomplishment attained by West Africa was the development of griots. Based on document #2, a griot recounted history and “harbored secrets many

In 1536, John Calvin was a French lawyer and theologian who lived in Geneva, Switzerland. He published a book titled Institutes of the Christian Religion. Originally published his work in Latin but subsequently translated into different European languages. The Institutes outlined Calvin’s basic philosophies on “predestination” as a precondition for salvation. Calvin, like many Christian reformers during the Reformation, was most fascinated in discovering the true way to heaven. As he fought to comprehend the word of God, Calvin came to a logical spat regarding salvation. By Calvin’s ideas, since God was

The speaker of “Araby” starts out as youth that is ignorant of the world around him. The speaker thinks that he is in love with his friend Mangan’s sister. The speaker says “I had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood.” The speaker adores her from afar and dreams that they will be together someday. Mangan’s sister asks him if he is planning on going to a bazaar called Araby. She says that she can’t go to the bazaar because she is going on a religious retreat. The speaker says that he will purchase a gift for her if he goes to Araby. The speaker says “What innumerable follies laid waste my waking and sleeping thoughts after that

The source was written by Booker Brakkton shows to be a Popular source. It's not a scholarly publication, but it shows zero bias. It shows a general standpoint on the hearing of Bernie Sanders endorsing Hillary clinton. It uses proper grammar and punctuation, it also gives history to the election and why it is of significance that Bernie Sanders had endorsed Hillary. This one's in the gray area between popular and scholarly and is really open to interpretation. For the most part it leans towards scholarly even though it’s popular.

“The New Mecca” is an essay in which author George Saunders engraves different experiences he had throughout his Dubai trip. In the beginning he tells the readers that everything they are going to assume about Dubai is going to be wrong unless they see Dubai by themselves first. He

This chapter begins with the Muhammad and the message he brings. It all began in the Arabian Peninsula, which was mostly desert. The people who lived there were called Nomadic Bedouin, and they are organized in family and clan groups. The importance of long-distance trade networks became important again between China, India, and Persia, Byzantium. The section starts talking about the early life Muhammad ibn Abdullah was born in to a Mecca merchant family in 570 C.E. He had a difficult life growing up, but in 595 C.E, he married a wealthy widow. By the time, he was thirty he became a merchant and exposed too many faiths. He had a spiritual transformation at the age of forty, and declared that there was only one true god, whose name was Allah, “the god.” His believe that Allah would soon bring judgment on the world, and the divine messenger, Gabriel, delivered these revelations to Muhammad. The Quran, also known as the “recitation,” is the holy book of Islam. Muhammad followers complied with his revelations. They had works of poetry and definitive authority on Islam;

“In all his travels the Bishop had seen no country like this. From the flat red sea of sand rose great rock mesas... The sandy soil of the plain had a light sprinkling of junipers, and was splotched with masses of blooming rabbit brush,-- that oliver-coloured plant that grows in high waves like a tossing sea, at this season covered with a thatch of bloom, yellow as gorse, or orange like marigolds.” 94 Both women describe the land of desert with such vividness that one is not left with the idea of a barren, sandy soil but an environment that is rich with history as well as life. This life and history of the land are a part of the culture.

In the novel “The Moor’s Account” by Laila Lalami, the author stresses how the main character Mustafa is effected by his family and how that relates to the future he has in the New World. This is most identified by how he feels about his father, the giving up of his name, and his struggle to fight for a new life. Unlike other slaves in the New World, Mustafa ibn Muhammad ibn Abdussalam al-Zamori chose his fate for the possibility of a better life. He had the opportunity to try to work for himself and his family while still in Morocco. In fact, his father had even wanted him to do that. But Mustafa knew that he was confident in his decision to sell himself into slavery so that his family can be better off from there. In the story, the reader sees how Mustafa struggles as he journeys from Morocco and across the New World in search of the possibility for a new life. Overall, the reader sees how Mustafa struggles with not following his father’s guidance, his loss of humanity from his name being taken away, the quest to avoid changing his entire humanity in his new life, and how everything changing has affected him and changed him as a person.

Using specific illustrations from Maryse Conde's novel Segu, this is an essay that discusses how the coming of Islam to Bambar society affected that people's traditional, political, social and economic practices as well as challenging the Bambaras' religious beliefs.

What innumerable follies laid waste my waking and sleeping thoughts after that evening! d to annihilate the tedious intervening days. I chafed against the work of school. At night in my bedroom and by day in the classroom her image came between me and the page I strove to read. The syllables of the word Araby were called to me through the silence in which my soul luxuriated and cast an Eastern enchantment over me. (Joyce 549)

The sacred traditions, customs, and beliefs of ancient Mali is a story of epic proportions. To retrieve the great lineage of the First Kings of Mali and learn the history behind certain rituals told by an exquisite narrative that is perfectly woven together through different stories. The legend of Sundiata stresses the importance of understanding and respecting one’s history. In D. T. Niane’s “Sundiata An Epic of Old Mali,” the African history of Mali is presented through tribal customs, honor, and jealousy between brothers.

Ibn Battuta’s travels to Africa showed a lot about how he was brought up and also about his culture. He describes the occupants of the town of Zayla as “negro people” and when he arrives in the town of Kulwa he describes the Zanj people as “jet black