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Ibn Battuta and the Dar al-Islam

7th – 14th century

Muslims are assured in the Qur’an, “You have become the best community ever raised up for mankind, enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong, and having faith in God.” Earnest men have taken this prophecy seriously to the point of trying to mould the history of the whole world in accordance with it. Soon after the founding of the faith, Muslims succeeded in building a new form of society, which in time carried with it its own distinctive institutions, its art and literature, its science and scholarship. Its political and social forms, as well as its cult and creed, all bearing an unmistakable Islamic impress. In the course of centuries, this new society spread over widely diverse climes, throughout most of the Old World. It came closer than any had ever come to uniting mankind under its ideals.

Marshall Hodgson, “The Islamic Vision,” from The Venture of Islam, Vol. 1

“Territory of Islam. Region of Muslim sovereignty where Islamic law prevails. The Hanafi school of law holds that territory conquered by nonbelievers can remain dar al-Islam as long as a qadi administers Islamic laws and Muslims and dhimmis are protected.” -- Oxford Dictionary of Islam

Developed by the 8th century Islamic jurist Abu Hanifa around 100 years after the death of Muhammad.

The Dar al-Islam

Pre-Islamic Arabia

The Bedouin

The Hijra, 622 CE

1. The profession of faith in Allah - there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Mohammed is his messenger.

2. Prayer - establishing of the five daily Prayers.

3. The paying of alms - This money or produce is distributed among the poor.

4. Fasting - refraining from eating, drinking or satisfying sexual needs from dawn to dusk in the month of Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar.

5. The Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) - this is done during the month of Zul Hijjah, and is compulsory once in a lifetime for one who has the ability to do it.

The Five Pillars of Islam

“Know that every Muslim is a Muslim’s brother and that Muslims are brethren. Fighting between them should be avoided, and the blood shed during pagan times should not be avenged.”

Mohammed’s Last Message

When Muhammad died, there was a moment of confusion among his followers. One of their leaders, Abu Bakr, proclaimed to the community: “O men if you worship Muhammad, Muhammad is dead; if you worship God, God is alive.” Beneath God there was still a role to be filled: that of arbiter of disputes and maker of decisions within the community. There were three main groups among the followers of Muhammad: the early companions who had made the hijra with him, a group linked by intermarriage; the prominent men of Madina who had made the compact with him there; and the members of the leading Meccan families, mainly of recent conversion … [I]t was one of the first group who was chosen as the Prophet’s successor (khalifa, hence the word

“caliph”) …The caliph was not a prophet. Leader of the

community, but not in any sense a messenger of God, he could not claim to be the spokesman of continuing revelations; but an aura of holiness and divine choice still lingered around the person and office of the early caliphs, and they did claim to have some kind of religious authority.

--Albert Hourani, from A History of the Arab Peoples

The Caliph (khalifa)

Spread of Islam, 632-732

Founded by Mu’awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (661-680) Moved capital from Medina to Damascus. Established position of Caliph as hereditary. Did away with many tribal traditions and instead

embraced imperial heritage of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Began building monumental architecture to mark Islam’s permanence.

The Ummayad Caliphate, 661-750

Expansion under the Ummayad

The Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258)

The End of Political Unity

The Turkish family of nations first emerged into the light of history in the mid-sixth century, when they built up a short-lived nomad empire in the heart of Asia, the steppes which have ever since borne the name Turkestan, the land of the Turks. When it broke in pieces, in the manner of such confederacies, fragments of the Turkish race, under a bewildering variety of names, were scattered over a vast area, from the Uighurs, who once dwelt in Mongolia, to the Polovtsians of the Russian steppes, familiar to us from Borodin's opera Pnnce Igor. Despite the wide differences between them -- some came under Chinese, others under Persian influence -- some were pure nomads, others were settled agriculturists -- they all spoke dialects of the same tongue; they possessed common folk memories and legends; in religion they were shamanists, and they reckoned time according to a twelve-year cycle named after animals, events being placed in the Year of the Panther, the Year of the Hare, the Year of the Horse, and so on.

The Oxus was the traditional boundary between civilization and barbarism in Western Asia, between Iran and Turan, and Persian legend, versified in Firdawsi's great epic, the Shah-namah, told of the heroic battles of the Iranians against the Turanian king Afrasi- yab, who was at last hunted down and killed in Azerbaijan. When the Arabs crossed the Oxus after the fall of the Sassanids, they took over the defence of kan against the barbarian nomads and pushed them back beyond the Jaxartes. The Turkish tribes were in political disarray, and were never able to oppose a unified resistance to the Arabs, who carried their advance as far as the Talas river. For nearly three centuries Transoxiana, or as the Arabs called it, Ma Wara al-Nahr, 'that which is beyond the river', was a flourishing land, free from serious nomadic incursions, and cities like Samarkand and Bukhara rose to fame and wealth.

From the ninth century onwards the Turks began to enter the Caliphate, not in mass, but as slaves or adventurers serving as soldiers. They thus infiltrated the world of Islam as the Germans did the Roman Empire. The Caliph Mu'tasim (833-842) was the first Muslim ruler to surround himself with a Turkish guard. Turkish officers rose to high rank, commanding armies, governing provinces, sometimes ruling as independent princes: thus Ahmad b.Tulun seized power in Egypt in 868, and a second Turkish family, that of the Ikhshidids (from an Iranian title ikkshid, meaning 'prince'), ran the same country from 933 until the Fatimid conquest in 969. The disintegration of the Abbasid Empire afforded ample scope for such political adventurism, but so long as Transoxiana was held for civilization, the heart of Islam was safe from a massive barbarian break-through. When the Caliphs ceased to exercise authority on the distant eastern frontier, the task was shouldered by the Samanids, perhaps the most brilliant of the dynasties which took over from the enfeebled Abbasids. In the end it proved too heavy a burden, and the Samanid collapse at the end of the tenth century opened the floodgates to Turkish nomad tribes, who poured across both Jaxartes and Oxus into the lands of the Persians and Arabs.

J.J. Saunders, “The Turkish Irruption,” from A History of Medieval Islam

“Muslims called [the Turks] ‘the army of God’—not in approval but in fear. God had unleashed these ferocious pagans to punish Muslims’ sins.” – Felipe Fernandez Armesto, The World: A History, Vol. 1

Mongol Empire, 1259

The Mongol Khanates

The Islamic World, 1300 CE

Ibn Battuta, 1304-1377

Ibn Battuta’s Travels, 1325-1354

I left Tangier, my birthplace, on Thursday, 2nd Rajab 725 [June 14, 1325], being at that time twenty-two years of age [22 lunar years; 21 and 4 months by solar reckoning], with the intention of making the Pilgrimage to the Holy House [at Mecca] and the Tomb of the Prophet [at Medina].I set out alone, finding no companion to cheer the way with friendly intercourse, and no party of travellers with whom to associate myself. Swayed by an overmastering impulse within me, and a long-cherished desire to visit those glorious sanctuaries, I resolved to quit all my friends and tear myself away from my home. As my parents were still alive, it weighed grievously upon me to part from them, and both they and I were afflicted with sorrow.On reaching the city of Tilimsan [Tlemsen], whose sultan at that time was Abu Tashifin, I found there two ambassadors of the Sultan of Tunis, who left the city on the same day that I arrived. One of the brethren having advised me to accompany them, I consulted the will of God in this matter, and after a stay of three days in the city to procure all that I needed, I rode after them with all speed. I overtook them at the town of Miliana, where we stayed ten days, as both ambassadors fell sick on account of the summer heats. When we set out again, one of them grew worse, and died after we had stopped for three nights by a stream four miles from Miliana. I left their party there and pursued my journey, with a company of merchants from Tunis

His Journey Begins

The Swahili Coast

THE TOWN OF MOGADISHU IN SOMALIAOn leaving Zayla we sailed for fifteen days and came to Maqdasha [Mogadishu], which is an enormous town. Its inhabitants are merchants and have many camels, of which they slaughter hundreds every day [for food]. When a vessel reaches the port, it is met by sumbuqs, which are small boats, in each of which are a number of young men, each carrying a covered dish containing food. He presents this to one of the merchants on the ship saying "This is my guest," and all the others do the same. Each merchant on disembarking goes only to the house of the young man who is his host, except those who have made frequent journeys to the town and know its people well; these live where they please. The host then sells his goods for him and buys for him, and if anyone buys anything from him at too low a price, or sells to him in the absence of his host, the sale is regarded by them as invalid. This practice is of great advantage to them.We stayed there [in Mogadishu] three days, food being brought to us three times a day, and on the fourth, a Friday, the qadi and one of the wazirs brought me a set of garments. We then went to the mosque and prayed behind the [sultan's] screen. When the Shaykh came out I greeted him and he bade me welcome. He put on his sandals, ordering the qadi and myself to do the same, and set out for his palace on foot. All the other people walked barefooted. Over his head were carried four canopies of coloured silk, each surmounted by a golden bird. After the palace ceremonies were over, all those present saluted and retired.

IBN BATTUTA SAILS TO MOMBASA I embarked at Maqdashaw [Mogadishu] for the Sawahil [Swahili] country, with the object of visiting the town of Kulwa [Kilwa, Quiloa] in the land of the Zanj.We came to Mambasa [Mombasa], a large island two days' journey by sea from the Sawihil country. It possesses no territory on the mainland. They have fruit trees on the island, but no cereals, which have to be brought to them from the Sawahil. Their food consists chiefly of bananas and fish.The inhabitants are pious, honourable, and upright, and they have well-built wooden mosques.

Ibn Battuta in Central Asia,1332-1333

TRAVELING BY WAGON ON THE STEPPEWe hired a waggon and travelled to the town of Qiram, which forms part of the territories of Sultan Uzbeg Khan and has a governor called Tuluktumur. On hearing of our arrival the governor sent the imam to me with a horse; he himself was ill, but we visited him and he treated us honourably and gave us gifts. He was on the point of setting out for the town of Sari, the capital of the Khan, so I prepared to travel along with him and hired waggons for that purpose. These waggons have four large wheels and are drawn by two or more horses, or by oxen or camels, according to their weight. The driver rides on one of the horses and carries a whip or wooden goad. On the waggon is put a light tent made of wooden laths bound with strips of hide and covered with felt or blanket-cloth, and it has grilled windows so that the person inside can see without being seen. One can do anything one likes inside, sleep, eat, read or write, during the march. The waggons conveying the baggage and provisions are covered with a similar tent which is locked.We set out with the amir Tuluktumur and his brother and two sons. At every halt the Turks [let] loose their horses, oxen and camels, and drive them out to pasture at liberty, night or day, without shepherds or guardians. This is due to the severity of their laws against theft. Any person found in possession of a stolen horse is obliged to restore it with nine others; if he cannot do this, his sons are taken instead, and if he has no sons he is slaughtered like a sheep.

THE FOOD OF THE TURKSThey do not eat bread nor any solid food, but prepare a soup with a kind of millet, and any meat they may have is cut into small pieces and cooked in this soup. Everyone is given his share in a plate with curdled milk, and they drink it, afterwards drinking curdled mares milk, which they call qumizz [kumis]. They have also a fermented drink prepared from the same grain, which they call buza [beer] and regard as lawful to drink. It is white in colour; I tasted it once and found it bitter, so I left it alone. They regard the eating of sweetmeats as a disgrace. One day during Ramadan I presented Sultan Uzbeg with a plate of sweetmeats which one of my companions had made, but he did no more than touch them with his finger and then place it in his mouth.

TURKISH HORSESThe horses in this country are very numerous and the price of them is negligible. A good one costs about a dinar of our money. The livelihood of the people depends on them, and they are as numerous as sheep in our country, or even more so. A single Turk will possess thousands of horses. They are exported to India in droves of six thousand or so, each merchant possessing one or two hundred of them or less or more. For each fifty they hire a keeper, who looks after their pasturage. He rides on one of them, carrying a long stick with a rope attached to it, and when he wishes to catch any horse he gets opposite it on the horse which he is riding, throws the rope over its neck and draws it towards him, mounts it and sets the other free to pastureOn reaching Sind [in India] the horses are fed with forage, because the vegetation of Sind will not take the place of barley, and the greater part of them die or are stolen. The owners pay a duty of seven silver dinars on entering Sind and a further duty at Multan. Formerly they were taxed a quarter of the value of their imports, but Sultan Muhammad abolished this tax and ordered that Muslim merchants should pay the legal tithe and infidel merchants a tenth. Nevertheless the merchants make a handsome profit, for the least that a horse fetches [in India] is a hundred dinars (that is twenty-five dinars in Moroccan money) and it often sells for twice or three times that amount. A good horse sells for five hundred or more. The Indians do not buy them as racehorses, for in battle they wear coats of mail and cover their horses with armour; what they prize in a horse is its strength and length of pace. Their racehorses are brought from Yemen, Oman and Firs, and they cost from a thousand to four thousand dinars each.

TURKISH WOMENA remarkable thing which I saw in this country was the respect shown to women by the Turks, for they hold a more dignified position than the men. The first time that I saw a princess was when, on leaving Qiram, I saw the wife of the amir in her waggon. The entire waggon was covered with rich blue woollen cloth, and the windows and doors of the tent were open. With the princess were four maidens, exquisitely beautiful and richly dressed, and behind her were a number of waggons with maidens belonging to her suite. When she came near the amir's camp she alighted with about thirty of the maidens who carried her train. On her garments there were loops, of which each maiden took one, and lifted her train clear of the ground on all sides, and she walked in this stately manner. When she reached the amir he rose before her and greeted her and sat her beside him, with the maidens standing round her. Skins of qumizz were brought and she, pouring some into a cup, knelt before him and gave it to him, afterwards pouring out a cup for his brother. Then the amir poured out a cup for her and food was brought in and she ate with him. He then gave her a robe and she withdrew.I saw also the wives of the merchants and commonalty. One of them will sit in a waggon which is being drawn by horses, attended by three or four maidens to carry her train, and on her head she wears a conical headdress incrusted with pearls and surmounted by peacock feathers. The windows of the tent are open and her face is visible, for the Turkish women do not veil themselves. Sometimes a woman will be accompanied by her husband and anyone seeing him would take him for one of her servants; he has no garment other than a sheep's wool cloak and a high cap to match.

Uzbek Woman, 1907

IBN BATTUTA TRAVELS TO MEET UZBEG KHANWe then prepared for the journey to the sultan's camp, which was four days' march [to] a place called Bishdagh, which means "Five mountains." In these mountains there is a hot spring in which the Turks bathe, claiming that it prevents illness.We arrived at the camp on the first day of Ramadan and found that it was moving to the neighbourhood from which we had just come, so we returned thither. I set up my tent on a hill there, fixing a standard in the ground in front of it, and drew up the horses and waggons behind. Thereupon the mahalla approached (the name they give to it is the ordu) and we saw a vast town on the move with all its inhabitants, containing mosques and bazaars, the smoke from the kitchens rising in the air (for they cook while on the march), and horse-drawn waggons transporting them. On reaching the encampment they took the tents off the waggons and set them upon the ground, for they were very light, and they did the same with the mosques and shops.The sultan's khatuns [wives] passed by us, each separately with her own retinue. The fourth of them, as she passed, saw the tent on top of the hill [i.e., Ibn Battuta's tent] with the standard in front of it, which is the mark of a new arrival, and sent pages and maidens to greet me and convey her salutations, herself halting to wait for them. I sent her a gift by one of my companions and the chamberlain of the amir Tuluktumur. She accepted it as a blessing and gave orders that I should be taken under her protection, then went on. Afterwards the sultan arrived and camped with his mahalla separately.

UZBEG KHANThe illustrious Sultan Muhammad Uzbeg Khan is the ruler of a vast kingdom and a most powerful sovereign, victor over the enemies of God, the people of Constantinople the Great, and diligent in warring against them. He is one of the seven mighty kings of the world, to wit: [first], our master the Commander of the Faithful, may God strengthen his might and magnify his victory! [the sultan of Morocco]; [second] the sultan of Egypt and Syria; [third], the sultan of the Two Iraqs; [fourth], this Sultan Uzbeg; [fifth], the sultan of Turkistan and the lands beyond the Oxus; [sixth], the sultan of India; and [seventh], the sultan of China [the emperor].The day after my arrival I visited him [Uzbeg Khan] in the afternoon at a ceremonial audience; a great banquet was prepared and we broke our fast in his presence. These Turks do not follow the custom of assigning a lodging to visitors and giving them money for their expenses, but they send him sheep and horses for slaughtering and skins of qumizz, which is their form of benefaction.Every Friday, after the midday prayer, the sultan holds an audience in a pavilion called the Golden Pavilion, which is richly decorated. In the centre there is a wooden throne covered with silver-gilt plates, the legs being of pure silver set with jewels at the top. The sultan sits on the throne, having on his right the Khatun Taytughli with the khatun Kebek on her right, and on his left the khatun Bayalun with the khatun Urduja on her left. Below the throne stand the sultan's sons, the elder on the right and the younger on the left, and his daughter sits in front of him. He rises to meet each Khatun as she arrives and takes her by the hand until she mounts to the throne. All this takes place in view of the whole people, without any screening.

Russian Envoys meet Uzbeg Khan

ACCOUNT OF CHINESE SHIPSWe traveled to the city of Calicut, which is one of the chief ports in Malabar [the southwest coast of India], and one of the largest harbors in the world. It is visited by men from China, Sumatra, Ceylon, the Maldives, Yemen, and Fars [Persia], and in it gather merchants from all quarters … there were at the time thirteen Chinese vessels, and we disembarked. Every one of us was lodged in a house and we stayed there three months as a guest of the infidel [Zamorin ruler of Calicut], awaiting the season of the voyage to China. On the Sea of China traveling is done in Chinese ships only, so we shall describe their arrangements.

The Chinese vessels are of three kinds; large ships called chunks [junks], middle-sized ones called zaws [dhows], and small ones called kakams. The large ships have anything from twelve down to three sails, which are made from bamboo rods plaited like mats. They are never lowered, but turned according to the direction of the wind; at anchor they are left floating in the wind. A ship carries a complement of a thousand men, six hundred of whom are sailors and four hundred men-at-arms, including archers, men with shields and arbalests, who throw naphtha. Each large vessel is accompanied by three smaller ones, the “half,” the “third,” and the “quarter.” These vessels are built only in the towns of Zaytun and Canton. The vessel has four decks and contains rooms, cabins, and saloons for merchants; a cabin has chambers and a lavatory, and can be locked by its occupant, who takes along with him slave girls and wives. Often a man will live in his cabin unknown to any of the others on board until they meet on reaching some town. The sailors have their children living on board ship, and they cultivate green stuffs, vegetables and ginger in wooden tanks. The owner’s factor [representative] on board ship is like a great amir [noblemen]. When he goes on shore he is preceded by archers and Abyssinians with javelins, swords, drums, trumpets, and bugles. On reaching the house where he stays they stand their lances on both sides of the door, and continue thus during his stay. Some of the Chinese own large numbers of ships on which their factors are sent to foreign countries. There is no people in the world wealthier than the Chinese.

Ibn Battuta in East Asia,1345-6

ACCOUNT OF SOME PARTICULARS OF THE CHINESE.The Chinese are infidels. They warship idols and burn their dead as the Indians do. The King is a Tatar of the lineage of Tankiz Khan.In every city of China is a quarter where the Muslims live separately and have mosques for their Friday prayers and other assemblies. They are highly regarded and treated with respect. The Chinese infidels eat the meat of pigs and dos and sell it in the bazaars. They live comfortably and in affluence but take little care about their food and clothing. You will see an important merchant whose wealth is beyond reckoning wearing a tunic of coarse cotton. All the Chinese pay attention only to gold and silver vessels. Every one of them has a walking stick on which to lean when walking and they call it the third leg.Silk is extremely plentiful for the worms attach themselves to fruit, eat it and need little care. This is why it is plentiful and the poor and the destitute dress in it. If it were not for the merchants [trading in it] it would have no value. Among them a single robe of cotton is sold for the price of many of silk.

ACCOUNT OF THE SULTAN OF CHINA AND KHITA CALLED THE QANQan is the designation of whoever governs the kingdom and rules [different] regions, as whoever rules the lands of the Lur is called Atabak. His name is Pashay. The infidels have no kingdom bigger than his on the face of the earth.

ACCOUNT OF HIS PALACEHis palace is in the middle of the city designated for his residence. It is built mostly of carved wood. It is admirable planned and has seven gates. At the first gate sits the kutwal who is in charge of the gatekeepers. To the right and left of the gate are raised benches on which sit the mamluk pardadariya who guard the palace gate. There are five hundred of them and I was told that in former times there used to be a thousand. At a second gate sit the sepahis, who are the archers and number five hundred. At the third gate sit the nizdaris, who are the spearmen and number five hundred. At the fourth gate sit the tighdaris, who are men with swords and shields. In the fifth gate is the office of the Wazir with many galleries. The Wazir sits in the biggest on an imposing elevated seat with they call the place of the throne. In front of the Wazir is a big gold inkstand. This faces the gallery of the confidential secretary. To the right of this is the gallery of the secretaries for correspondence. To the right of the Wazir’s gallery is that of the secretaries for finances. Opposite these are four other galleries. One of them is called the office of control, in which sits the controller. The second is the office of the mustakhraj. Its director is one of the great amirs. It is concerned with what is payable by the officials and amirs in respect of their fiefs. The third is the office of appeals, in which sits on of the great amirs with jurists and secretaries. Anyone who has suffered an injustice appeals to them. The fourth is the office of the post, in which sits the controller of the reporters of news. At the sixth gate of the palace sit the jandaris and their supreme commander. At the seventh gate sit the eunuchs, who have three galleries, on for the Abyssinians, the second for the Indians, and the third for the Chinese. Each of these corps has a Chinese officer.

THE CITY OF SIN KALAN [SIN AL-SIN]… In one part of this city is the town of the Muslims who have there the congregational mosque, the hospice and the bazaar. They have a qadi [Islamic Judge] and a shaikh and in every town in China there is a Shaikh al-Islam to whom all the affairs of the Muslims are referred. There is also a qadi who gives judgements among them. I lodged with Auhad al-Din of Sinjar, a distinguished, important and very wealthy man I stayed with him for fourteen days. Gifts to me from the qadi and the other Muslims came continuously. Every day there was a fresh banquet to which people came in splendid skiffs with singers. There is no city, either of infidels or of Muslims, beyond this city…

THE CITY OF QANJANFUWhen we arrived the qadi, the shaikh of Islam and the merchants came to meet us with flags, drums, trumpets and bugles and musicians. They brought us horses which we mounted. Except for the qadi and the shaikh they walked in front of us and did not ride with us. The amir of the town and his attendants came out to meet us for the Sultan’s guest is treated by them with the utmost respect. We entered the city, which has four walls. Between the first and second walls live the Sultan’s slaves, both the city guards and the night watchmen. The latter are called baswanan. Between the second and third walls are the cavalry and the amir who governs the town. The Muslims live within the third wall and there we alighted with their shaikh Zahir al-Din al-Aurlani. The Chinese live inside the fourth wall. It is the biggest of the four cities. The distance from each gate to the next is three to four miles. As we have said everyone has his orchard, his house and his field.

Yuan Emperor

1. Indonesia: 213,469,3562. Pakistan: 156,491,6173. India: 138,188,7264. Bangladesh: 127,001,2725. Egypt: 70,530,2376. Turkey: 68,963,9537. Iran: 67,337,6818. Nigeria: 64,385,9949. China: 39,189,41410. Ethiopia: 34,700,310

Top 10 Largest National Muslim Populations