Azizul IslamTopics in Islamic HistoryProf. Varlik10/10/12

Brief Analysis of Al-Muqaddasi

After the death of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Islam had started to expand

rapidly. Through the conquests of the caliphs, the Umayyad and Abbasid Dynasties, the Islamic

Empire had become the largest in the world, with people converting to Islam left and right due their

powerful military expeditions and attraction to the religion itself. As the empire grew, so did the

responsibilities of the government in terms of economy, social welfare, preserving religious

teachings, and others. Geography and keeping track of the land belonging to the Muslims was also

one major aspect of expansion. In Al-Muqaddasi’s book, The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the

Regions, he uses his knowledge and experience to write about the geography of the Muslim lands.

By describing himself and using dichotomies Al-Muqaddasi reinforces his credentials as a

geographer and describes the major cities of the Islamic world in this selection from his book.

In this selection of his book, Al-Muqaddasi talks a lot about himself. The descriptions he

gives of his personality and experiences are somewhat humble, but arrogant at the same time. He

starts of the section by saying, “I did not publish my work until I had reached the age of forty years,

and had traversed all the regions, and had been in the service of men of science and religion.” Al-

Muqaddasi says this to establish his credibility as a geographer and to give the reader insight to his

insight and expertise on the subject. By mentioning “in the service of men of science and religion”,

and by expanding on this later on when he says, “Amirs and qadis have elevated me to positions of

trust”, one may conclude that Al-Muqaddasi was a very distinguished geographer. Through these

descriptions, it seems as if Al-Muqaddasi had always held high ranks and positions throughout the

Islamic world and their officials. However, this is tremendous misconception because while he

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does give these descriptions, he also mentions the hardships he went through as a traveller for so

many years. He states that, “I have been confined in prison and accused as a spy...I have trudged in

the hot sandstorms, and the snows; have frequented royal courts among noblemen, and lived among

the ignorant weavers’ quarters.” This description, which is the complete opposite of the first

description, goes to show that Al-Muqaddasi had to struggle to get to the higher position he earned

later on. The contrast he uses however, still does not lead to a conclusion to why he used them. At

this point, it seems as if Al-Muqaddasi does not have a solid stance. So far, not only does Al-

Muqaddasi portray his struggles and high rank, but he also informs the reader of his religious

knowledge by stating, “I studied law and letters; practiced asceticism and devoutness; preached the

khutba from pulpits; made the call to prayer from minarets; officiated as imam in the smaller

mosques; delivered the sermons in the Friday mosque…” By combining his high rank, rigid

struggles, and by establishing himself as a respected religious authority, one can now see why Al-

Muqaddasi mentions so many different aspects of his life, and that is to establish himself as a

distinguished geographer, not just in terms of studies, but in terms of knowing the land, the people,

and the religion.

The dichotomies used by Al-Muqaddasi are not just in his personal description, but also in

the descriptions he makes about the two major cities, Baghdad and Cairo. He describes Baghdad as

“the most beautiful possession of the Muslims, a most splendid city…the City of Peace is now

desolate: the Mosque alone is frequented on Fridays, and otherwise the whole place is deserted.”

This shows that the officials of Baghdad had started to lose power, and the attractions that Baghdad

once had is slowly declining. It represents a concurrent theme throughout history in general, which

is that civilizations rise and fall. In this aspect however, it is not the civilization, but one of the

cities itself. He continues on and explains the shift from Baghdad to Cairo. He describes Cairo as a

“metropolis in every sense of the word”. He continues to go on describing the flourishing markets,

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the cultural diversity, the crowdedness of the Mosques and how it is the glory of the Islamic world.

However, at the end of his description, Al-Muqaddasi describes Cairo as having “dwellings that are

cramped and full of fleas, the rooms noisome and oppressive. Fruits are scare, the water is muddy,

the wells filthy, the houses are dirty…” Again, just as Al-Muqaddasi uses dichotomies to describe

Baghdad, he also uses it to describe Cairo. The difference however is that the description of

Baghdad was one that represented decline. In this description of Cairo, it is one that represents the

glory of the metropolis in the Islamic empire. While the empire may be doing well and flourishing,

there are always drawbacks to every major and successful empire.

Al Muqaddasi’s use of dichotomies in his work helps show the not only the geography of

the Islamic Empire, but it shows the real life situations of certain areas. Some areas are in decline

while the people are happy, while in other areas the cities are flourishing while the local people

suffer. The dichotomies used in the description in the cities correlates to the dichotomies used when

Al-Muqaddasi strives to establish his credibility, knowledge and experience. One can say that the

ultimate objective of this section of his book was to show that all empires are not perfect, and

neither are their people, such as when he describes himself. Al-Muqaddasi not only presents

himself as a geographer in this selection of his book, but he shows that he is a product of the Islamic

empire itself, in terms of the pursuit of knowledge. With the first read of the selection the

dichotomies may seem very strange, unusual, and irrelevant. However, Al-Muqaddasi’s use of

them also shows that he is a man of many different levels immersed in the study of geography of the

Islamic Empire, from every possible aspect.