Essay about Ibn Battuta's 1331 Journey to West Africa

“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.

Beginning with Muhammad’s age from the start of 7th century Islam, Islamic culture and politics have gone a great many events and occurrences. Throughout all of its years, it has boasted both a rich culture and technological/intellectual advancements. The preservation of the Quran, developments in mathematics, and the continued emphasis on respect and charitable nature are just some examples of Islamic achievement. However, as with any growing civilization, Islam has evolved beyond what it originated as. The cultural and political life of Islamic civilization beginning in the 7th century to the end of the Abbasids of the 13th century underwent many changes such as the deteriorating view of women in society and the shift from elected caliphates to dynastical caliphate. But, one aspect that persisted were the religious beliefs and traditions followed by the Islamic people.

Historically, “Women and Gender in Islam” discusses the social, political, legal, and religious discourses and structures that have shaped the experience of Muslim women

Gender inequality has maintained the suppression of women worldwide and unfortunately has impacted third world countries with the greatest magnitude. Everyday in these countries there are countless occurrences of physical, emotional, and psychological abuse that must be acknowledged as a primary concern for the world to help overcome. It is however important to recognize specific cultural and religious practices of gender hierarchy that are accepted by women in these countries. While keeping this in mind it is of paramount importance to keep sight of the consequences of abusing these cultural practices at the expense of women’s liberation and development.

Aisha bint Abu Bakr was a leader, a woman, a wife, a theologian, a scholar and a political activist. She was precocious, loyal, brave and remarkably intelligent. These aspects of her humble life have allowed her to make a powerful impact on the development and expression of Islam that “no woman [has] reached”[1]. Not only did she influence the position of women in Islamic society, Islamic ethics, and the understanding and interpretation of the Qur’an, but she also modelled these qualities for the men, women and children of Islam.

This is an interesting exception to the stereotypical and usual relationship between a Muslim man and woman. Usually the man would have the majority of power in the relationship, but the protagonist has made the relationship on her terms only. We also learn from the narrator that the protagonist has a strong disposition. We can conclude that she seems to exude some power . We also learn that her father thinks highly of her and feels that she is “intelligent”, “well brought up”, and “obviously knows the value of traditions and respects them.”

People of the early African kingdoms were able to create successful trade routes with Europe and Asia, become very wealthy from conquering and gaining land, and were able to have a strong central government. All of this was done before the Europeans had reached Africa. Trade flourished on the East African coast, especially when trading was established with India and Arabia. African kingdoms were prosperous, because of their success with not only trading but also with their ability to conquer land. A governmental structure is key to allowing any kingdom to thrive, and the African people were able to achieve this.

Through its ethnocentric tales and family based beliefs, Elizabeth Warnock Fernea’s Guests of the Sheik suggests that to find the true representation of Islamic culture, one must leave ethnocentrism behind. Not only will we discuss ethnocentrism and the cultural differences between Western and Middle Eastern societies, we will also take a look at the women of El Nahra and family within the differing societies.

Nonetheless, within the Hindu religion, women’s roles have evolved over time and women are going against the social norm of their tradition and their way of life in hopes of being treated in the same manner that Sikh women are within Sikhism (Desai, et al., 1995). Hindu women’s traditional roles in the household in India have changed over the past century. The influence of Western scholars as well as Sikhism views on women has brought change to the overall status and role of women in Hinduism so that Hindu women can be recognized in the same way that Sikhism women are. Western scholars who have studied Hinduism have written many books and articles on the sacred scriptures including reviews on the Vedas (hymns and ritual texts) and other religious scriptures that at one point were restricted from Hindu women.

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.

The book I chose to read for this summer assignment was The Adventures of Ibn Battuta (Revised edition) written by Ross E. Dunn. The predominant reason as to why I chose this book is because I am Moroccan descent and I had a strong desire to learn more about the rich cultures of the Arab world. I once read that those who had the last name Bencomo, which was orginally from the Canary Islands and written as Tehncomo were descendents of the Islamic traveler, Ibn Battuta. This sparked even more curiosity to learn about my ancestor’s history. I heard stories from my grandmother about the Moors since her father was half Moroccan. I knew I had to learn about this since this is a part of who I am.

Ibn Battuta (1304-1368) travelled round the civilized world of his day. Surprisingly sufficiency for Eurocentric folks, the semester "civilized" nothing except included Spain at that time. It did, however, include most of the Islamic regions on earth, plus India and China. Dunn includes chapters on Tangier, North Africa, Egypt-Syria-Palestine, Mecca, Persia and Iraq, Yemen, Oman, and East Africa, Constantinople, Anatolia, Central Asia, India and the Maldives, China, Spain, and Mali---across the Sahara in West Africa. In each, he gives a portrait of the times in that particular place, what Ibn Battuta said he handsaw and what he must have seen or experienced except didn t mention. Dunn recounts many of the Moroccan s interesting adventures, from clon jailed in Delhi to trying as a umpire to forbid Maldivian women going topless in public. Dunn likewise places Ibn Battuta in a framework of a hemisphere-wide Islamic civilization and as an ambitious semi-scholar who was maybe not so well studied as he wanted clientele to believe. So, not nothing except is this Deuteronomy a record of Ibn Battuta s enthusiasm and voyages, it is a very interesting commentary on a big part of the world in the 14th century and the enthusiasm tale of a particular individual. If you like history, if you are interested in what was occurrence in the world beyond Europe in the days when "knights were bold" [and illiterate], read this book. It comes with

Major Claim: In this week’s readings, the topic of religion is discussed in regards to how it informs women. As mentioned, religion can be a source of security and empowerment for women while others feel differently and oppressed by it. We will explore both sides of religion and discuss how certain institutions in society are governed by religious opinion.

In Kecia Ali’s book “Sexual Ethics and Islam” we are given a unique perspective on various subjects within Islam. The chapters deal with topics that have been widely ignored or partially approached, she addresses them in a way that seeks to not only spark a conversation but ensure the conversation is uncensored and gets to the root of the issue. Of the nine chapters this book, chapter six was perhaps the most significant because it is here that we are given a firm grasp on what Ali is aiming to convey with this book. Through an analysis of this chapter it will become clear that this chapter was used to fully develop her idea of readdressing what is considered Islamic, the actions of Muslims, the way scholars justify beliefs, and issues

Born in Morocco, Ibn Battuta was known by most scholars as the greatest travelers of his time. He was a muslim and world renowned scholar and traveler. Known for writing his Rihla, or a written log of the travels and his experiences at the places he went. Leaving home at an early age and traveling for almost 30 years. He explored the entire Islamic region, Africa, Europe, across the middle east and india, all the way to Asia. He superseded his predecessor for the distance he traveled during his life. Once he was finished with his travels he returned to Morocco and dictated all of his accounts to a scholar named Ibn Juzayy.