Ibn Battuta

Like Marco Polo decades before him, Ibn Battuta, a Muslim cleric, envoy to the Sultan, and an adventurer, is considered the world's greatest traveler before the advent of steam power. While all men have a faith, even those whose faith is to live by their own code as opposed to an organized faith, not all men live their faith and few that try are able to elevate their lifestyle to a degree that mirrors the passion and commitment of that faith. Ibn Battuta appears to have been one of those rare individuals who live their faith, mainly by relegating their own personal needs to a secondary level of importance while the needs of their faith, or calling as some would label it, remain primary in significance. However, also like many men whose lives demonstrate such a commitment, Ibn Battuta needed to travel his path as a solitary traveler, one who remained convinced that his faith would see him through whatever adventures he encountered in his journey of discovery and exploration�one of self, one of others, one of faith, "I set out alone, finding no companion to cheer the way�" (Who Is 1).

This is not to say that Ibn would not have enjoyed a companion to cheer his way, nor that he had no friends who might have desired such a journey. It is to say that on such a journey few men are able to travel, and Ibn more than likely understood this as an educated legal scholar and man of faith. Ibn's journey began as a holy pilgrimage to the Holy House and

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olar, seeking knowledge and erudite company�finally, he was a member of the literate, mobile, world-minded elite, an educated adventurer as it were, looking for hospitality, honors, and profitable employment in the more newly established centers of Islamic civilization�In any of these traveling roles, however, he regarded himself as a citizen, not of a country called Morocco, but of the Dar al-Islam, to whose universalist spiritual, moral, and social values he was loyal above any other allegiance. (Dunn 11-12) When Ibn did experience disappointment, it was largely his disappointment from finding those he expected to be knowledgeable and erudite lacking on both and seemingly without an internalization of the doctrine of Dar al-Islam. Yet, despite Ibn's complete devotion to his "calling", he was not above using all skills within his capacity to survive. He often found employment as a judge and more than likely this occupation had exposed him to newfound levels of human treachery, cruelty and deception. While he was without dispute above reproach himself, Ibn understood that no matter what the cause may be, one can only continue it by remaining alive to continue. Many of Ibn's own adventures mandated he use whatever skills a

Category: History - I