TOP10 MUSLIMTRAVELLERS

8/4/2019 TOP10 MUSLIMTRAVELLERS

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10 Ahmad ibn Fadlan (10th century)Ibn Fadlan is famous for his travels to Scandinavia, where he produced one of the earliest

and most influential accounts of Viking culture. Ibn Fadlan described the Vikings as having

beautiful bodies but poor hygiene; perhaps his most famous contribution was his description

of a traditional burial of a Viking chieftain. He left Baghdad and after crossing the Caspian

Sea reached the valley of the Volga river where he encountered the Volga Bulgars. He traveledextensively throughout Northern Europe.

Ibn Fadlan has also made his way into popular culture, serving as the inspiration for Michael

Crichtons book, Thirteenth Warrior.

9 Muhammad ibn Hawqal (10th century)

Muhammad ibn Hawqal was born in Turkey and was a writer and geographer. He spent the last

thirty years of his life traveling the world. He documents his trip in his most famous work,

The Face of the Earth (Surat al-Ardh). During his travels, Ibn Hawqal reached remote

areas of Asia and Africa, noting that people lived in regions that Ancient Greeks had once

claimed were uninhabitable. His travel logs were very useful to subsequent travelers, and

included in-depth depictions of Muslim-held Spain, Italy, and areas of France with notable

Muslim populations (Fraxinet, in Provence, being the best example). He also traveled through

the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Europe, and what is now Pakistan.

Muhammah ibn Hawqal traveled to nearly every continent and major site on Irhal.com; tracing

his footsteps could take a lifetime! For those of us who want to plan shorter trips, here

are a few suggestions:


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8 Ibn Jubair (1145-1217)

Ibn Jubair was born in Valencia, Spain. He was well-educated and an expert in the fields

of law and Quranic studies. He ultimately became the governor of his hometown, where he

later became secretary to the ruler of Grenada. A particular incident spurred Ibn Jubairs

decision to travel, and the story is told in the authors introduction to his famous journals.

According to Ibn Jubair, the leader of Grenada had forced him (under the threat of death)

to drink seven glasses of wine. Although the ruler was later remorseful, Ibn Jubair was filledwith shame for what he called his Godless act. As a result, Ibn Jubair decided to perform

the Hajj. He stopped at many destinations along his journey, taking careful notes of his

observations of the local population. He returned to Grenada after several years.

Trace Ibn Jubairs journey on Irhal.com for a great Mediterranean tour, trace his

footsteps at the following locations:

7 ibn Nusair and Tariq ibn Ziyad (8th century)Musa ibn Nusair and Tariq ibn Ziyad are credited with the conquest of Spain under the Umayyad

Caliphate in the first half of the eighth century. Ibn Ziyad was a Berber Muslim general

who initiated the conquest of Spain, while ibn Nusair served as a governor for the Caliph

in Northern Africa and followed ibn Ziyad to help complete the conquest of Spain. The two

men led separate fleets and ultimately reached the rendez-vous point of Toledo. They

subsequently returned to Damascus, where they were welcomed as heroes.


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6 Muhammad al-Muqaddasi (c.945-1000)Muhammad al-Muqaddasi is probably the most notable Muslim traveler of the tenth century.

His intellectual life began when he performed the Hajj at the age of twenty. After his trip

to Makkah, al-Muqaddasi decided to devote his life to the study of geography. For more than

twenty years, he traveled to nearly every Muslim country in the world. His journals would

later be published as the Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim(The Best Divisions forKnowledge of the Regions), and represent his most famous work. One of the most cited

components of the book is its depiction of Jerusalem, the authors native city. The work

is considered an epic piece of both literature and geographic study, and is still referred

to widely today.

5 Ahmad ibn Majid (1421-c.1500)

Ahmad ibn Majid was a famous navigator and Arabic poet who is most famous for having assisted

Vasco da Gama in his quest to go around the Cape of Good Hope of South Africa. He is so famous

that he is known as the first Arab seaman. His best-known work is Kitab al-Fawaid fi

Usul Ilm al-Bahr wa l-Qawaid (Book of Useful Information on the Principles and Rules

of Navigation), which outlines the history and basic principles of navigation. His major

contribution to world history was providing Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, with a

map of the world that was unknown to other European sailors at the time. This map was crucial

in da Gamas successful venture to India via the Cape of Good Hope.


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4 Muhammad al-Idrisi (1100-c.1165)Muhammad al-Idrisi was a famous geographer and traveler who was a descendant of the Idrisid

rulers of Morocco, and by extension, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. He was an

inspiration to Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, and Ibn Battuta. During his early life,

al-Idrisi traveled throughout Europe and North Africa. When he reached adulthood, he spent

years compiling information on Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Far East from merchants andother travelers. He used this information to complete his crowning achievement, the Tabula

Rogeriana, which is considered to be the most accurate map of its time. Largely because of

this work, as well as his written text, Nuzhatul Mushtaq, al-Idrisi is considered by

many to be the greatest cartographer of the Middle Ages.

3 Abu al-Hasan al-Masudi (c. 896-956)

Al-Masudi was a famous Arab

historian and geographer who is known as The Herodotus of the Arabs for combining history

and scientific geography in his world history, The Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems. Born

in Baghdad, Al-Masudi spent the majority of his life traveling and compiling his work. He

traveled to East Africa, the Middle East, Persia, Russia and the Caucuses, India and China.

Over his lifetime, he produced a number of books and encyclopedias chronicling world history;

unfortunately, most of them have been lost. Al-Masudi may be remembered most for his original

approach to historical research, which relied on cultural and social matters in addition

to politics. He is known for using numerous sources, including the accounts of locals in

the many cities he visited.

Look throughout Irhal.com to visit sites traversed by the great historian and traveler, Abu

al-Hasan al-Masudi.


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2 Zheng He (1371-1433)Zheng He is perhaps one of the most important navigators in world history, and certainly

one of the most well-known adventurers in Chinese history. Born as Ma He to a poor Hui (Chinese

Muslim) family in Yunnan province, he acquired the surname Zheng after serving as a vital

assistant in Duke Yans successful usurpation of the Emperors throne. He was subsequently

named commander of a series of naval expeditions designed to increase the might of Chinathroughout the world. Zheng controlled nearly thirty thousand men aboard three hundred of

the worlds largest ships (Chinas navy dwarfed that of any other nation at the time).

Over the course of his seven expeditions, which spanned twenty-seven years, Zheng visited

South East Asia, India, and the Middle East. Upon seeing his fleet, foreign nations would

send diplomats to pay tribute to the Chinese Emperor who would return home on subsequent

expeditions by Zheng. He would die on one such return voyage near India in 1433. Though he

has a tomb in China, it is empty; like most great admirals, he was buried at sea.

Expeditions similar to that of Zheng Hes were stopped shortly after his death under the

belief that the voyage was not cost-effective; later dynasties actually banned oceangoing

shipping. Many modern Chinese historians attribute the subsequent decline of the Chinese

empire to this decision. Why? The argument is that the lack of expeditions abroad isolated

China from growing technological developments in the Western world. Some also claim that

the eruption of a black market for foreign goods decreased taxable imports, thereby reducing

government revenue.


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1 Ibn Battuta (1304-c.1368)

Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan Berber Muslim and scholar who

has become one of the most famous travelers of all time. When he was twenty-one years old,

Ibn Battuta set off for Makkah to perform the Hajj. He would not return to Morocco for over

twenty years. Over the course of his voyage, Ibn Battuta traveled to 44 modern countriesand traversed nearly 75,000 miles a distance that easily surpassed his predecessors, as

well as his near contemporary, Marco Polo. The famous account of his travels, titled simply

Al Rihla (The Journey in Arabic), features a detailed account of the many regions

of the world visited by Ibn Battuta, including most of the Islamic world, much of Europe,

India and Central and Far East Asia. Upon completing his travel log, Ibn Battuta became a

governor in Morocco, where he ultimately died in 1368 or 1369. His legend is well-known today

by Muslims and non-Muslims throughout the world.

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TOP10 MUSLIMTRAVELLERS