World History APIbn Battuta Essay50 points possible Due: Thursday May 19, 2011 (beginning of class)

Ibn Battuta and the Dar al Islam(adapted from Helen Grady)

Background: Travel has been an important part of Islam since its founding in the seventh century. Mecca was an entrepot for trade and the Prophet Mohammed was a merchant. Trade was an important factor in the spread of Islam and therefore in the establishment of the Islamic community, which included a wide range of people, regions, and political structures. Islam supported and encouraged travel for trade, and the shari’a set

restrictions and mandates on equity and fair trade practices. Islam also encouraged travel to make the hajj and to seek knowledge. By encouraging and nourishing contact among Muslims over long distances, travel supported the idea of a common Muslim heritage belonging to the entire community.

Ibn Battuta traveled as a pilgrim, a juridical scholar, and a member of the learned elite. He also sought adventure, as his side-trip to Constantinople shows. In India and the Maldives he enjoyed wealth and high status as a judge in the employ of the government. He experienced the physical reality of the Dar al-Islam as well as its cultural and spiritual unity. His journeys intensified both his sense of his own identity as a Muslim and his recognition of the cultural differences that existed among peoples who lived under the shari’a. The cultural language of Islam helped him transcend the difficulties he experienced in understanding local languages and customs. Ibn Battuta traveled about 117, 480 kilometers and visited the equivalent of more than fifty modern-day nation-states.

Mapping Exercise: Use the map to identify the places that Ibn Battuta traveled during his journey. For places whose names have changed, you may need to find further information in a historical atlas or on the internet. (10 points)

Essay Question: Use the documents from Ibn Battuta’s travels to show how the Dar al-Islam (literally the “house/abode of Islam”) became a unifying force in Eurasia and Africa. In addition, discuss the limits of the Dar al-Islam’s powers of unification. (40 points - score will be converted from 25 point rubric below)

In your essay you may want to: consider the meaning of cultural unity (shared language, laws, customs,

expectations, and conventions), show examples that illustrate the spiritual and cultural unity of Dar al-Islam.

Note specific references to any of the Five Pillars that you find in the documents

speculate about the values held by the Islamic community and determine how these values may have contributed to a sense of unity within such a broad geographical range.

account for differences in Islam Ibn Battuta sees in different parts of the world

Sources: Focus on analyzing the documents to answer the question. If you want to use outside information, go first to your textbook. As well, your GLP library has a wealth of books including an encyclopedia of religious practices, other history textbooks, and a two-volume encyclopedia on Islamic history and practice. You may use internet sources for this project – just make sure that they are of high quality. You will need to turn in a bibliography in proper MLA format with your essay. You should give in-paragraph citations for written sources and any images you choose to use in your essay.

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Quality 5 4 3 2 1 Meaning: the extent to which theresponse exhibitsunderstanding andinterpretation of task

Fulfills the require-ments of the task; does a superior job of showing unification of Islam and limits of unification

Fulfills some re-quirements of the tasks;does a good job of showing unification of Islam and limits of unification

Fulfills some re-quirements of the task;does an adequatejob of showing unification of Islam and limits of unification

Fulfills some re-quirements of the tasks;does a poor job of showing unification of Islam and limits of unification

Fulfills very fewrequirements ofthe tasks; make little attemps to show unification of Islam and limits of unification

Organization: the extent to which the response exhibits direction, shape andcoherence

Establishes and maintains a clear focusShows a logical,coherent sequence ofideas through the useof appropriate transitions or other devices

Generally focusedthough it may includesome irrelevantdetails;Shows a clear attemptat organization

Shows an attempt tomaintain focus, butmay go off on some tangents;Shows an attempt atorganization

May show an attemptto establish focus;May include someirrelevant information;Shows little attempt atorganization

Shows little attemptto establish a focus;May be repetitive,focusing on minordetails or irrelevantinformation;Little or no attemptat organization

Language Use: theextent to which theresponse reveals anawareness of audienceand purpose through effective use of words,sentence structure andsentence variety

Is fluent and easy toRead;Is stylistically sophisticated, usingvaried sentencestructure andchallengingvocabulary

Is still fluent and easyto read;Takes fewer chances with varied sentencestructure, preferring more simple sentences;Primarily uses basic vocabulary

Is readable;Primarily uses simple sentences andbasic, grade levelvocabulary

Is readable;

Uses minimal, belowgrade level vocabulary;May include fragmentedor incomplete thoughts

Difficult to read;Uses minimal, belowgrade level vocabulary;May include fragmentedor incomplete thoughts

Writing Mechanics:The extent to which theresponse exhibitsconventional spelling,punctuation, para-graphing, capitaliza-tion,. grammar,

Demonstrates a thorough knowledgeand control of the conventions of English;Few, if any errors (nomore than 5-6), andnone that interfere with

Demonstrates a goodknowledge and controlof the conventions of written English;Contains more errors than a level 5 paper, butnone that interfere

Demonstrates apartial knowledge and control of the conventions of English;Contains errors thatinterfere with read-ability but not withcomprehension;May contain run on

Demonstrates a minimalknowledge and control of the conventions ofwritten English;Contains many errorsthat interfere with readability, flow and

Demonstrates a lack ofknowledge and controlof the conventions ofwritten English;Contains many errorsthat make the writingincomprehensible

andusage

comprehension or flow;Mistakes are minor orrepetitive and occurwith sophisticated vocab. or structures

withcomprehension or flow;Mistakes are still minor, but they may occur on basic vocabulary andsentence structures

sentences or fragments

comprehension;May contain run onsentences or fragments

Document Usage/References (if used)

Student does a superior job of synthesizing the documents and integrating outside knowledge; integrates documents in an unexpected or insightful way

Student does a good job of synthesizing the documents and makes an admirabel attmpt to integrate outside knowledge.

Student does an adequate job of synthesizing the documents and does a decent job integrating outside knowledge.

Student does a poor job of synthesizing the documents and makes some attempt to integrate outside knowledge.

Student does does not understand meaning of most documents and makes little attempt to integrate outside knowledge.