why does islam encourage travel and exploration

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Why Islam Promotes Travel & Exploration: 5 Reasons

The significance of travel in islam.

Islam is a religion that promotes travel and exploration. For Muslims, traveling is not only a way to see the world, but it is also a way to connect with God, learn new things, and expand their knowledge. Muslims are encouraged to travel and explore the world, and there are many reasons why Islam promotes travel and exploration. In this article, we will discuss five reasons why Islam encourages Muslims to travel and explore the world.

Incentive to Seek Knowledge

One of the main reasons why Islam promotes travel and exploration is the incentive to seek knowledge. Muslims are encouraged to seek knowledge and explore the world in order to learn and gain a better understanding of the world around them. Traveling is a great way to learn about new cultures, languages, and customs. When Muslims travel, they are exposed to different ways of life, and they can learn from the people they meet along the way.

The Quran encourages Muslims to seek knowledge and explore the world. In Surah Al-Mujadilah, Allah says, “And Allah has made the earth a wide expanse for you, that you may follow therein roads of guidance.” This verse emphasizes the importance of exploring the world and learning from it. Muslims are encouraged to travel and explore the world in order to gain knowledge and wisdom.

Encouragement to Expand Horizons

Another reason why Islam promotes travel and exploration is the encouragement to expand horizons. Traveling allows Muslims to see the world from a different perspective and experience new things. It helps them break out of their comfort zones and explore new opportunities. Muslims are encouraged to expand their horizons and challenge themselves in order to grow and develop as individuals.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) encouraged Muslims to travel and explore the world. He said, “Travel and explore the world, for the earth is God’s mosque.” This hadith emphasizes the importance of traveling and exploring the world. Muslims are encouraged to see the world as a place of worship and to use their travels as a way to connect with God.

Emphasis on Unity and Brotherhood

Islam promotes unity and brotherhood among Muslims. One of the ways to promote unity and brotherhood is through travel and exploration. When Muslims travel, they meet people from different backgrounds and cultures, and they can learn to appreciate their differences. Traveling can also help break down barriers and promote understanding between people of different faiths and cultures.

The Quran emphasizes the importance of unity and brotherhood. In Surah Al-Hujurat, Allah says, “O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.” Muslims are encouraged to appreciate the diversity of the world and to use their travels as a way to connect with people of different backgrounds and cultures.

Appreciation for Diversity and Culture

Another reason why Islam promotes travel and exploration is the appreciation for diversity and culture. Muslims are encouraged to appreciate the diversity of the world and to learn about different cultures and customs. Traveling allows Muslims to experience different cultures firsthand and gain a better understanding of the world around them.

The Quran emphasizes the importance of diversity and culture. In Surah Al-Ankabut, Allah says, “And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your languages and your colors. Indeed, in that are signs for those of knowledge.” Muslims are encouraged to appreciate the diversity of the world and to use their travels as a way to learn about different cultures and customs.

Spiritual and Personal Growth

Finally, Islam promotes travel and exploration as a way to promote spiritual and personal growth. Traveling can be a transformative experience that can help Muslims grow and develop as individuals. It can help them gain a better understanding of themselves and their place in the world.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Whoever travels to seek knowledge, Allah will facilitate for him the way to Paradise.” This hadith emphasizes the importance of seeking knowledge through travel and exploration. Muslims are encouraged to use their travels as a way to connect with God and to grow and develop as individuals.

In conclusion, Islam promotes travel and exploration for many reasons. Muslims are encouraged to seek knowledge, expand their horizons, promote unity and brotherhood, appreciate diversity and culture, and promote spiritual and personal growth. Traveling is not only a way to see the world, but it is also a way to connect with God and grow as individuals. Muslims should embrace travel and use it as a way to learn and grow.

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10 Reasons Why Muslims Should Travel

Traveling is healthy for the body, mind, and spirit; Islam prescribes these exact reasons to why Muslims should travel.

If you’re looking for encouragement to plan your next adventure , here are eight wonderful benefits of traveling to help you decide.

1 – Create Meaningful Relationships

Knowing and learning about others is part of our deen. Allah says in the Qur’an,

“O mankind, indeed we have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another […]” (Al-Hujurat 49:13)

Visiting, experiencing, and relating to new people and cultures helps improve both your social and communication skills. You’re always likely to make some new friends along the journey. Traveling to new places allows you to build new relationships .

You can also use the challenges, experiences, and new knowledge about yourself to strengthen existing relationships .

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2 – Shake Things Up

Travel keeps things interesting! If you are feeling confused, stagnant, or just plain bored in your life, taking a break from the ordinary can help you move forward . New experiences help you process old ones to make fresh, interesting connections in your brain.

Traveling can also act as a muse to your creativity . It helps you gather and assimilate new, original, and creative thoughts. Anytime you are feeling stuck or need a change of pace, travel is the perfect solution.

Travel also enhances and grows the amount of uncertainty you’re able to tolerate. And tolerance to change is a great skill to have when you head back to a more stable and settled life . Because no matter where you are, your days will always have unexpected challenges and hiccups: that’s life!

3 – Prove Dreams Come True

The whole experience of travel involves both planning and achieving your dreams . There is goal setting, itineraries, mapping out your experience, and waiting for the date. Travel is a new experience in space and time that usually requires both money-saving and pining for the experience.

There is a deep sense of accomplishment during and after travel. You’ve proven to yourself that you can achieve any dreams and goals when you apply yourself to them.

4 – Gain Peace of Mind

While some people use travel as a temporary (or semi-permanent) escape. It can also give you a renewed sense of peace with yourself and your “regular” living environment.

Travel — especially to drastically different cultures and faraway lands — can help you gain gratitude and appreciation for what you already have in your life. Travel inspires you to make peace with what you have and be grateful for your many privileges and blessings.

5 – Broaden Your Horizons

This travel reason is cliché but true. You don’t understand all that you don’t know until you’re exposed to it. Traveling helps you understand and see that you have a lot to learn .

There is a mystery to unlock about you, others, and the world we all live in. Traveling throughout the land gives you a chance to expand your maps of how you move in the world and gain new perspectives. Travel can also help you connect to God, His creation, nature, and the universe in ways that you can’t when locked in a box of your own making.

Islam doesn’t want us to stay blind to the ways and cultures of others. In fact, quite the opposite. Allah commands us to travel:

“Say, [O Muhammad], ‘Travel through the land and observe how He began creation. Then Allah will produce the final creation. Indeed, Allah, over all things, is competent.’” ( Al-`Ankabut 29:20)

6 – Collect Cool Stories

Travel gives you a wealth of memories to last you a lifetime. While there will be some fun (and some harrowing) experiences, no matter what happens, it will always be an adventure. Traveling helps you loosen up and have a good time experiencing new places, cultures, and people. Travel creates feel-good memories that you can share with your friends and family, or recall whenever you need to go back to a “happy place.”

7 – Challenge Yourself

If you feel you’re stuck in a rut in your daily life, travel can help you break free. Travel pushes you to the limits of what you can tolerate and master. This helps you get to know yourself better . Getting in touch with yourself, your essence, and your uniqueness are some of the greatest gifts travel gives you.

8 – Gain a Real-life Education

When you are on the ground in a new place, there is much learning to do in a short amount of time. You must work through puzzles and challenges on the fly. Traveling pushes you to develop new skills — even learn new languages — to both survive and thrive.

9 – Boost Your Confidence

Traveling, especially solo traveling, makes you trust yourself and become more self-reliant . It gives you a chance to understand and use your unique gifts to conquer new challenges. The more you practice traveling, the more your confidence builds and the easier it gets. This means that over time it will become easier to identify your fears and overcome them in new situations.

10 – Food! (For Thought)

Last but not least, let’s not forget the new foods. We tie so much of our cultures into the foods we eat. The spices, the preparation, the ceremony of serving: food is a powerful way to understand others.

When you understand the foods others eat and why they eat them, you get to know them on one of their most primal levels. We also can’t deny that most of the new foods you’ll taste on your travels are delicious!

Remember, you don’t have to go far to experience all these benefits of travel. Even a few hundred miles (or kilometers) out of your hometown can expose you to all the challenges, situations, and people who will help you grow.

Where have you always wanted to visit? What’s stopping you other than yourself? Enough with the excuses: take the leap and start planning your next trip today.

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11 Reasons Why Muslims Should Travel in 2023!

With there being limited or no travel restrictions since Covid-19 measures were lifted, it’s time for Muslims to take up travelling! Here are 11 reasons why.

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why does islam encourage travel and exploration

With Covid-19 restrictions more or less lifted everywhere, I highly recommend Muslims make the habit of travelling!

I take off at every opportunity I can, be it with family, friends or alone, exploring, photographing and documenting interesting stuff in exotic destinations and taking the odd selfie to make friends jealous along the way (actually I rarely go to exotic destinations and am still struggling to work the ‘selfie’ feature on my phone – although my wife and daughters are usually on hand should the need arise!).

But as a Muslim Travel Writer living in challenging times, I’ve come to see travel in a completely different light; as an education and spiritually transformative experience. I also now understand why travel is encouraged by Islam – why else would we be able to collapse our prayers? But what I don’t understand is the lack of Muslims willing to travel. And before you bombard me with your messages and selfies from Dubai and Sharm, let’s just make clear that a package holiday to a touristic location geared to all your expectations and creature comforts is not ‘travel’. That would be a holiday. I believe all Muslims should really travel, the proper independent stuff and here are eleven reasons why (beyond just being able to collapse our daily prayers – so technically that’s 12!):

1. The Hajj (or Umrah)

Travel is integral to many ‘spiritual’ aspects of Islam. Most notably the pilgrimages of Hajj or Umrah, both of which require Muslims to travel to Makkah, a journey that has always been viewed as much a transformative experience as the Hajj or Umrah itself – something great Muslim travellers like Ibn Battuta and the Victorian explorer Richard Burton have testified in their memoirs. On top of this both the Hajj and Umrah involve numerous rituals of motion and travel, such as the tawafs (initial and farewell) around the Ka’ba, the walk between Saf’a and Mar’wah, and the (Hajj only) journeys to Mina, Mount Arafat and Muzdalifah. Each of these demands the pilgrim meditates and reflects whilst moving.

2. The Prophet

Travel was openly encouraged by the Prophet Muhammad who saw it as an essential way to seek knowledge. Preserved narrations such as the oft-cited “seek knowledge even unto China” support this. Then there is the Prophet’s highly spiritual experience, the ‘night journey’ or Meraj in which he ascends through the Seven Heavens, meets the prophets of before and receives instructions from God about the daily prayers. This journey, which most scholars believe happened before his emigration to Medina, was intended to strengthen his resolve and inner belief about his own prophethood. Finally, much of the Prophet’s formative years were spent travelling with his family’s business caravans all over the Middle East. These travels later had a profound impact on his ability to respect difference and empathise with different cultures.

3. A Travelling Tradition

Muslims come from a long line of famous travellers who were transformed irreversibly by their experiences. This includes the world’s most travelled man, Ibn Battuta who was born in Tangier, Morocco and travelled for 30 years after setting off for the Hajj in 1325 aged only 21 (one might say he was the first ‘gap’ year student!). Muslims scholars also deemed it important to travel and often covered great distances to acquire knowledge like the Sunni Muhaddith, Muhammad al-Bukhari. Finally there are many prophets who embarked on monumental spiritual journeys that transformed their character and strengthened their inner resolve. The most famous of these is Musa’s journey (Moses) alongside al-Khidr.

4. The Spirituality of Travel

“Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler along a path”, this is a popular hadith about attachment to the material world and it is therefore no surprise that every spiritual tradition in Islam (and most other faiths) incorporates ‘wandering’ or ‘travel’ as part of the soul’s training. The wisdom behind this is to encourage detachment to the dunya (material world), i.e. make it ‘strange’ to the spirit, and thereby develop a greater appreciation of the hereafter. Following his spiritual crisis, the great medieval theologian Abu Hamed Muhammad ibn Muhammad al Ghazali – often called the ‘Proof of Islam’ – embarked on just such a journey.

5. Love of God

Through travel we get to know God better, it’s that simple. I have had some of my most spiritual moments staring out across a mountain range, a desert, lake or even just humanity going about its daily existence. Travel makes the familiar unfamiliar to us and in doing so we come to better appreciate God’s creation. Throughout the Qur’an verses ask man to reflect on what has been created on earth and in the heavens – what better way to do that then through travel?

6. The Death of Ignorance and Birth of Humility

Nothing quite extinguishes ignorance like real life experiences. In an increasingly global world saturated by media, we find it easy to sit on one side of the world and judge people on the other. Using video, news articles and pictures it is easy to arrogantly believe we know a people or a place just by how media has represented them. Yet the very meaning of ‘media’ is that it is in the middle of reality and a mere representation of it. It is not the reality. Travelling to places we have judged or thought we knew is the best way to realise this, because it teaches us just how wrong we can be and addresses our ignorance. Travel makes us see that actually we know very little.

7. Know Thyself

Talk to anyone who has ‘travelled’, especially solo travellers and you will be blown away by their self-confidence, open-mindedness and how well they seem to know themselves. Travel creates a better you, because it takes you out of your comfort zone and forces you to ask questions about who you are, why you are and what you are. As Muslims we believe there will come a time when we have to stand alone in front of our Creator and be cross examined. Travel allows you to cross examine yourself without the expectations of society, culture, religion and family. Those who have done this will tell you that nothing is more liberating than having only your own expectations. But be aware this can be quite scary the first time because you might suddenly realise that actually you don’t have that many expectations of your own .

8. Experience Something ‘New’

The world is an amazing place full of amazing experiences waiting to be had. To not enjoy any of them whilst you’re here seems such a waste. In an age where travel is becoming increasingly cheap and methods of income ‘on the road’ to fund those travels, increasingly flexible, few excuses remain to not go off and try to see the world at least once. Those who don’t will never see a sunrise over an ancient man-made masterpiece like Macchu Picchu; they won’t ever listen to the silence of a natural wonder like the Sahara desert; nor will they taste the sweetness of a star fruit freshly shaken from its tree by Bangladeshi village children, and they certainly won’t experience the joyous smells of a thousand spices as they stroll through a real Arabian bazaar .

9. Appreciate What and Who You Have

W e always take our parents, brothers, sisters and homes for granted but spend a few months on the road and then taste your mother’s home cooking or listen to your father’s boring stories of old. Come back after a month euro railing and see if your sister is actually as annoying as you thought or your older brother as overbearing as he seemed. ‘Absence makes the heart fond’ they say, but what that really means is you finally see what God has blessed you with.

10. Regain your Faith in Humanity

One day I am going to write a book about the kindness of strangers on my travels for those people who were also born into a ‘world’ that seemed difficult to trust. It was travel that regained my faith in humanity.

From the gypsies in the hills of Tuscany who drove my family and I up a mountain to catch the last bus to Omar, the Turkish man who we fell in love with after he spontaneously took us on a road trip through rural Turkey, I have had beautiful encounters with strangers all over the world and come to realise that actually people are amazing. Growing up in 1980s inner city London, that was difficult to imagine. I now know that the vast majority of human beings in the world are caring, wonderful and respectful people – the very embodiment of what it means to be ‘human’.

11. Islamic History

Head to my blog and check out the previously unheard of Islamic stories of Europe uncovered on my travels, like the discovery of a Muslim Dracula; the Christian island where the lingua franca is Arabic or the story of the Christian boy who grew up to rule the Ottoman empire and you will appreciate the vast amount of heritage just waiting to be unearthed (and this is just the tip of the iceberg). By travelling to places significant in Islamic history, whether it be Medina or Cordoba in Spain, we come closer to our roots, our past and our heritage. It is only by knowing where we came from, can we truly know where we are travelling to.

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11 Reasons Why Muslims Should Travel

But as a Muslim Travel Writer living in challenging times, I’ve come to see travel in a completely different light; as an education and spiritually transformative experience. I also now understand why travel is encouraged by Islam – why else would we be able to collapse our prayers? But what I don’t understand is the lack of Muslims willing to travel. And before you bombard me with your messages and selfies from Dubai and Sharm, let’s make clear that a package holiday in a touristic location where all your expectations and creature comforts are met is not ‘travel’. That would be a holiday. I believe all Muslims should really travel, the proper independent stuff and here are eleven reasons why (beyond just being able to collapse our daily prayers – so technically that’s 12!):

1. The Hajj (or Umrah)

Travel is integral to many ‘spiritual’ aspects of Islam. Most notably the pilgrimage of Hajj, which is one of the five fundamental pillars of the faith. Then there is also the recommended smaller pilgrimage Umrah, both require Muslims to travel to Makkah, a journey that is viewed as much a transformative experience as the actual pilgrimage itself – something Muslim traveller Ibn Battuta and even Victorian explorer Richard Burton wrote about in their memoirs. The Hajj and Umrah also involve numerous rituals of motion and travel, such as the tawafs (initial and farewell) around the Ka’ba, the walk between Saf’a and Mar’wah, and the (Hajj only) journeys to Mina, Mount Arafat and Muzdalifah. Each of these demands the pilgrim meditates and reflects whilst moving.

2. The Prophet (peace be upon him)

Travel was openly encouraged by the Prophet Muhammad who, amongst other things, saw it as an essential way to seek knowledge. The Prophet experienced highly spiritual journeys himself such as the mystical ‘night journey’ or Meraj in which he ascends through the Seven Heavens, meets the prophets of before and receives instruction from God about the daily prayers. This journey, which most scholars believe happened before his emigration to Medina, was intended to strengthen his resolve and inner belief about his own prophethood. Finally, much of the Prophet’s formative years were spent travelling with his family’s business caravans all over the Middle East. These travels later had a profound impact on his ability to respect difference and empathise with other cultures.

3. A travelling tradition

Related: Fascinating Photos of Pilgrims from 10 Countries During Hajj in 1880

Muslims come from a long line of famous travellers transformed irreversibly by their experiences. This includes the world’s most travelled man, Ibn Battuta who was born in Tangier, Morocco and travelled for 30 years after setting off for the Hajj in 1325 aged only 21 (one might say he was the first ‘gap’ year student!). Muslim scholars also deemed it important to travel and often covered great distances to acquire knowledge like the Sunni Muhaddith, Muhammad al-Bukhari. Finally there are many prophets who embarked on monumental spiritual journeys that transformed their character and strengthened their inner resolve. The most famous of these is Musa’s journey (Moses) alongside al-Khidr.

4. The spirituality of Travel

“Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveller along a path”,

This is a popular hadith about attachment to the material world and it is therefore no surprise that every spiritual tradition in Islam (and most other faiths) incorporates ‘wandering’ or ‘travel’ as part of the soul’s training. The wisdom behind this is to encourage detachment to the dunya (material world), i.e. make it ‘strange’ to the spirit, and thereby develop a greater appreciation of the hereafter. Following his spiritual crisis, the great medieval theologian Abu Hamed Muhammad ibn Muhammad al Ghazali – often called the ‘Proof of Islam’ – embarked on just such a journey.

5. Love of God

Through travel we get to know God better, it’s that simple. I have had some of my most spiritual moments staring out across a mountain range, a desert, lake, or even just humanity going about its daily existence. Travel makes the familiar unfamiliar to us and in doing so we come to better appreciate God’s creation. Throughout the Qur’an verses ask man to reflect on what has been created on earth and in the heavens – what better way to do that than through travel?

6. The death of ignorance and birth of humility

7. Know thyself

Talk to anyone who has ‘travelled’, especially solo travellers and you will be blown away by their self-confidence, open-mindedness and how well they seem to know themselves. Travel creates a better you, because it takes you out of your comfort zone and forces you to ask questions about who you are, why you are and what you are. As Muslims we believe there will come a time when we have to stand alone in front of our Creator and be cross examined. Travel allows you to cross examine yourself without the expectations of society, culture, religion and family. Those who have done this will tell you that nothing is more liberating than having only your own expectations. But be aware this can be quite scary the first time as you might suddenly realise that actually you don’t have that many expectations of your own.

8. Experience something ‘new’

The world is an amazing place full of amazing experiences waiting to be had. To not enjoy some of these whilst you’re here seems such a waste. In an age where travel is becoming increasingly cheap and methods of income ‘on the road’ to fund those travels, increasingly flexible, few excuses remain to not go and see the world at least once. Those who don’t will never see a sunrise over an ancient man-made masterpiece like Macchu Picchu; they won’t ever listen to the silence of a natural wonder like the Sahara desert; nor will they taste the sweetness of a star fruit freshly shaken from its tree by Bangladeshi village children.

9. Appreciate what and who you have

We always take our parents, brothers, sisters and homes for granted but spend a few months on the road and then taste your mother’s home cooking or listen to your father’s boring stories of old. Come back after a month Euro-railing and see if your sister is actually as annoying as you thought or your older brother as overbearing as he seemed. ‘Absence makes the heart fond’ they say, but what that really means is you finally see what God has blessed you with.

10. Regain your faith in humanity

One day I am going to write a book about the kindness of strangers on my travels for those who were also born into a ‘world’ that seemed difficult to trust. It was travel that regained my faith in humanity. From the gypsies in the hills of Tuscany who drove my family and I up a mountain to catch the last bus to Omar, the Turkish man who we fell in love with after he spontaneously took us on a road trip through rural Turkey, I have had beautiful encounters with strangers all over the world and come to realise that actually people are amazing. Growing up in 1980s inner city London, that was difficult to imagine. I now know that the vast majority of human beings in the world are caring, wonderful and respectful people – the very embodiment of what it means to be ‘human’.

11. Islamic history

There is so much Islamic history just waiting to be unearthed by travelling. Most of you know I am on my own journey doing just that and have already posted previously unheard of tales about Europe’s forgotten Muslim heritage, like the discovery of a Muslim Dracula and the Latin island where the lingua franca is Arabic or the story of the Christian boy who grew up to rule the Ottoman empire (and these are just the tip of a huge iceberg I am sifting through). By travelling to places significant in Islamic history, whether it be Medina or Cordoba in Spain, we come closer to our roots, our past and our heritage. It is only by knowing where we came from, can we truly know where we are travelling to.

Source: The Wandering Musulman

Tharik Hussain is a freelance Travel Writer, Photographer and Blogger. He has a Masters in Islamic tradition, culture and history and a Bachelors in Media and Cultural Studies. He has also been a News Journalist for Asian tabloid Eastern Eye as well as a Copyeditor for the Saudi Gazette.

Written by Tharik Hussain

Tharik is a freelance journalist, travel writer, photographer and broadcaster specialising in the Islamic stories of Europe and the West, and Muslim ('Halal') travel.

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Egypt , jordan , middle east , morocco , travel stories , turkey, why we travel: lessons from the islamic world.

Published March 30, 2017

For me, travel is not solely about beautiful beaches, luxurious poolsides, or warmer climates. It’s about gaining a greater sense of the world; it’s about learning and understanding. As fear has driven Western tourists out of the Islamic world, I only grew more fascinated by these countries — and by the Islamic community I’d grown so familiar with during my childhood.

I was 21 when I ventured back to the Middle East and Turkey — where I watched the balloons rise in Cappadocia, swam in the warm seas of the Turquoise Coast, and fell in love with one of the world’s most incredible, contrasting cities; Istanbul. I strolled between sacks of colored spices in the markets, drank black tea from ornate glass cups, and admired views across the Bosphorus. It was a short introduction to the city, but one that left me craving more.

Egypt was next, and I was blown away by the warmth and openness of the local people. ‘Welcome’ followed me everywhere. I realized how much the tourism industry was suffering because of ongoing conflicts in nearby countries, and as a result of the Arab Spring. Boats along the Nile sat immobile, and visiting the Pyramids of Giza, one of the world’s greatest and most famous sites, as the only tourist in sight was surreal. Cairo glowed in golden layers, and I met incredibly strong and modern women who were kind enough to show me the city through their eyes. Out on the edge of the Western Desert at the Birqash Camel Market, I saw a timeless world in reverse, but it was clear that in Cairo, there was a conflicting desire to modernize and develop while still holding on to Egypt’s rich cultural past.

In Jordan, I drove through the Wadi Rum desert to Bedouin camps which sat in a moon-like landscape. Our dinner was cooked underground, a delicious feast of roasted vegetables, tabbouleh, hummus, and tea stuffed with fresh mint leaves. Songs were played on traditional instruments as we ate and the rich melodies filled the tent. Bedouin hospitality is like no other, as is the rich Arabic coffee served after meals.

As a traveler, there are few places I find more exciting than the vibrancy of the Islamic world. Everywhere, the call to prayer followed me, singing from rooftops in the early morning as the sun rose into the sky. Everywhere, the sunsets were magnetic, the food delicious, and the people unforgettable.

As a photographer and writer, there’s nothing more rewarding than changing other people’s perspectives of a place. I hope I can change someone else’s mind about these countries, and encourage them to book a plane ticket and see for themselves.

Fear is one thing, but misunderstanding based on misinformation is another, and unfortunately these lines have been blurred in recent years. The word which followed me around Egypt was ‘Welcome,’ and I felt it in each of these places.

Now more than ever, travelers are needed in these countries, not only to support the tourism industries which have been hugely affected by conflicts in these regions, but also so we can be the ones to return home and share our experiences of these countries and their people in a positive light.

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Muslims in outer space, islam case study - technology | 2018.

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Note on This Case Study

New technologies present both opportunities and challenges to religious communities. Throughout history, many religious people have created and used new technologies on behalf of their religious traditions. At times, religious needs have driven technological innovation. Yet many religious people have also tried to limit the use of certain technologies that they felt violated principles of their tradition. The relationship between religion and technology is complex and highly dependent on context. As you read these case studies, pay attention to that context: Who are the groups involved? What else is happening in their context? Who benefits from new technologies? Who gets to decide if they are legitimate or not?

As always, when thinking about religion and technology, maintain a focus on how religion is internally diverse, always evolving and changing, and always embedded in specific cultures.

In the last century, advances in science, engineering, and technology have allowed humans to travel to space.

Over five hundred people have gone to space since 1961, and at least nine of them have been Muslim. Though Muslims make up approximately one quarter of the global population, they make up less than 2% of astronauts to date, in part because of the hiring practices of the historically dominant US and USSR space programs. The US initially only recruited white, Christian males, and the USSR initially only hired ethnic Russians and Slavs, who were also more likely to be Christian. However, as these space programs have diversified to reflect their populations, and as other countries have developed their own space programs, Muslim astronauts have become more common.

Space travel can create several interesting challenges for Muslims, because some common Islamic practices are tied to geography on Earth or the orbits of celestial bodies. For example, many Muslims pray by facing Mecca, but when orbiting Earth at 17,400 miles per hour, Mecca moves rapidly below the spacecraft. In addition, many Muslims pray five times a day, but astronauts experience sunrise and sunset every ninety minutes while they orbit Earth. These quick sunrises and sunsets can cause confusion about when to pray, as well as when to fast during the holy month of Ramadan when many Muslims fast during the day. Many Muslims also prostrate during prayer, but this is nearly impossible in space due to the lack of gravity.

Anousheh Ansari shown her space suit in front of the American flag

The first Muslim to encounter these challenges in space was Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, a fighter pilot and a prince of Saudi Arabia. In 1985, he was a Payload Specialist for the US’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) mission STS-51G, using space shuttle Discovery to launch three satellites. Sultan chose not to fast for Ramadan while he was training and in space, but he brought a small Qur’an into space with him, along with a prayer from his mother asking God to protect travelers. He also told reporters that he tied his feet to the shuttle floor to allow himself to perform the motions of prostration to the best of his ability.

Later Muslims in space were cosmonauts from the Soviet Union, and there is no evidence that their religious practices impacted their travel in space. It is likely that these Muslims found their scientific mission to be more pressing than their religious practice, particularly in the officially atheist USSR. Similarly, Anousheh Ansari, the first Muslim woman in space, made few public statements about whether her religious tradition affected her flight on Russia’s Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2006. Ansari, a multimillionaire, paid an undisclosed sum—some sources say $20 million—to go to the ISS. While the Iranian-American pointed out that she views faith and science as “very complementary,” she did not note any particular religious plans for her space travel, instead focusing on her scientific goals.

Other Muslim astronauts have been more outspoken about their religious obligations. In 2007, Malaysia sent its first astronaut to the ISS as part of a $900 million deal to buy fighter jets from Russia. The astronaut was Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, a Muslim doctor who launched aboard Russia’s Soyuz TMA-11. Before liftoff, Dr. Shukor said that while his “main priority is more of conducting experiments,” he was concerned about maintaining his Islamic practices in space. In response, the Malaysian government called a gathering of 150 Islamic legal scholars, scientists, and astronauts to create guidelines for Dr. Shukor. The scholars produced a fatwa, or non-binding Islamic legal opinion, intended to help future Muslim astronauts, which they translated into both Arabic and English. They wrote that in order to pray, Muslims in space should face Mecca if possible; but if not, they could face the Earth generally, or just face “wherever.” To decide when to pray and fast during Ramadan, the scholars wrote, Muslims should follow the time zone of the place they left on Earth, which in Dr. Shukor’s case was Kazakhstan. To prostrate during prayer in zero gravity, the scholars stated that the astronaut could make appropriate motions with their head, or simply imagine the common earthly motions.

Despite issuing guidelines, the scholars agreed with Dr. Shukor that his priority was conducting experiments. A minister of religious affairs in Malaysia noted the fatwa was created, “to ensure our astronaut could fully concentrate on his mission, without having to worry about… his religious obligations in space.” Along with the guidelines for religious practice, the conference approved space travel generally: “according to Islam, traveling to space is encouraged.” Other Muslims have pointed to a Qur’anic verse to back up this claim: “O assembly of Jinn and men! If you can pass beyond the zones of the heavens and the earth, then pass!” (Q. 55:33).

However, some Muslims see religious limitations to space travel. In 2014, after thousands of Muslims applied for a one-way trip to Mars through the Mars One organization, a fatwa council in the United Arab Emirates issued a ruling that condemned promoting or being involved with Mars One. These Islamic legal scholars argued that the risks of the trip were tantamount to suicide. Citing verse 4:29 of the Qur’an which states: “do not kill yourselves or one another,” they asserted that a Mars mission would pose a “real risk to life.” Mars One disagreed, noting that the crew would only liftoff after a livable Martian habitat was completed, and asked that the fatwa be rescinded. Some Islamic legal scholars also decried the fatwa. Khaleel Mohammad, an expert in Islamic Law in the US, called it “extremist nonsense.” Regardless, Muslim communities will continue to grapple with celestial questions as more Muslims travel to space. Islam Case Study – Technology 2018

Additional Resources

Primary sources.

• Malaysian fatwa “A Guideline of Performing Ibadah at the International Space Station (ISS)” (2007): https://bit.ly/2MTgrvp • NPR interview with Prince Sultan on his space travel (2011): https://n.pr/2vRqoTq • Video of Dr. Shukor praying in the ISS in 2007: https://bit.ly/2KXjTn1 • Speech by Dr. Shukor on his mission, in the US in 2008: https://bit.ly/2Mm5MNw • Muslim author Farah Rishi writes about the importance of outer space in Islamic science fiction (2016): https://bit.ly/2MV8Kol

Secondary Sources:

• Article from Wired magazine exploring the intersection of Islam and space travel (2007): https://bit.ly/2w8G7wY • Documentary from Journeyman Pictures about Dr. Shukor: https://bit.ly/2MzcwqD • Article from Christian Science Monitor on the Mars One fatwa (2014): https://bit.ly/2PoHJv5

Discussion Questions

• What prevented Muslims from going to space in the early decades of space travel? What has changed that allows or restricts Muslims’ space travel today? • Why might some Muslims feel it is important for religious scholars to address space travel? Why might others feel it is unimportant? • How do the different responses of Prince Sultan, Soviet cosmonauts, Ansari, and Dr. Shukor to their religious tradition in a new context show how Islam is internally diverse? Why might they hold these different positions? • Read the Malaysian fatwa in the primary source list. What is something that surprised you? Why? How do you think this fatwa’s rulings might change if it was written in a different country? • Read Rishi’s piece about Muslims in space in science fiction in the primary sources. What does her perspective on Muslims in space add to our understanding of Islam? • The fatwas mentioned in this case study are written by those in power in Malaysia and in the United Arab Emirates. How do you think this influences what the texts say?

This case study was created by Kristofer Rhude, MDiv ’18, under the editorial direction of Dr. Diane L. Moore, faculty director of Religion and Public Life.

1. Cathleen S. Lewis, “Muslims in Space: Observing Religious Rites in a New Environment,” Astropolitics 11, no. 1-2 (2013): 109-10.
2. Bettina Gartner, “How Does an Islamic Astronaut Face Mecca in Orbit?” Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 10, 2007. https://bit.ly/2L8hRAm
3. Lewis, “Muslims in Space,” 110; Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, “Praying Toward Mecca… In Outer Space,” interview by Michel Martin, Tell Me More, NPR, July 12, 2011, audio, 4:30. https://n.pr/2vRqoTq
4. Lewis, “Muslims in Space,” 110-113.
5. Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, “A Guideline for Performing Ibadah at the ISS,” (2006): 5-6. https://bit.ly/2MTgrvp .
6. Lewis, “Muslims in Space,” 114.
7. Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, “A Guideline,” 7.
8. Farah Rishi, “Why Sci-Fi Gives Me Hope for the Future as a Muslim,” Vice, Nov. 15, 2016. https://bit.ly/2MV8Kol .
9. Ahmed Shaaban, “One-way Trip to Mars Prohibited in Islam,” Khaleej Times, Feb. 20, 2014. https://bit.ly/2L6D91r ; Sudeshna Chowdhury, “Can A Muslim Take a One-way Trip to Mars?” Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 21, 2014. https://bit.ly/2PoHJv5.
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Travellers and Explorers from a Golden Age

By salim al-hassani - 1001 book chief editor published on: 1st august 2020.

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Since the Quran said every able-bodied person should make a pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca at least once in their lifetime, thousands travelled from the farthest reaches of the Islamic empire to Mecca, beginning in the seventh century. As they travelled, they made descriptions of the lands that they passed through. Some of the most famous include...

From left. Imaginary potrait of Zheng He, Ibn Battuta and Ibn Majid from 1001 Inventions’ ‘Journeys from a Golden Age’ ( Source )

Editorial Note: Extracted from “1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization Reference (4th Edition) Annotated”. First published in 1001 Inventions website – www.1001inventions.com/travellers

A 13th-century manuscript shows a caravan en route (Source: 1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization, 3rd edition, page 247)

Al-Biruni, in the 11th century, wrote in his book the Dema r cation o f the L imits o f the A r eas that Islam has already penetrated from the Eastern countries of the earth to the Western.

It spread westward to Spain [Al-Andalus], eastward to the borderland of China and to the middle of India, southward to Abyssinia and the countries of Zanj Zanj [meaning black Africa from Mali to Kilwa (Tanzania) and Mauritania to Ghana], eastward to the Malay Archipelago and Java, and northward to the countries of the Turks and Slavs. Individual Muslim sultans ruled, and although there was conflict at times between them, an ordinary traveller could pass through the various regions.

As they travelled, they made descriptions of the lands that they passed through. Some of the most famous include:

Al – Y a ’ q u bi , 8 th Century

A 13th-century miniature depicts an eastern Muslim boat from the classical Arabic work of literature Maqamat al- Hariri. The Arabic writing refers to a sea voyage, and mentions a verse from the Quran referring to Noah’s ark. This is usually used as a blessing: “In the name of Allah, the one who protects the ship’s sailing, seafaring and berthing.” (Source: 1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization, 3rd edition, page 248)

He wrote the Book of C o untries, which he completed in 891 after a long time spent traveling, and he gave the names of towns and countries, their people, rulers, distances between cities and towns, taxes, topography, and water resources. [1]

Al-Ya’qubi wrote that “China is an immense country that can be reached by crossing seven seas; each of these with its own color, wind, ﬁsh, and breeze, which could not be found in another, the seventh of such, the Sea of Cankhay [which surrounds the Malay Archipelago] only sailable by a southern wind.”

Ab u Z ay d H a san, 9 th Century

He was a Muslim from Siraf, and told about boats that were sailing for China from Basra in Iraq and from Siraf on the Gulf. Chinese boats, much larger than Muslim boats, also visited Siraf, where they loaded merchandise bought from Basra. Abu Zayd also deals with the Khmer land and its vast population, a land in which indecency, he notes, is absent.

I bn W a h ha b, 9 th Century

He was a trader from Basra who sailed to China and described the Chinese capital as divided into two halves, separated by a long, wide road. On one side the emperor, his entourage, and administration resided, and on the other lived the merchants and ordinary people. Early in the day, officials and servants from the emperor’s side entered the other, bought goods, left, and did not mingle again. [2]

Al – Muq a d da s i, ( ca 9 45 – 100 0 )

He was a geographer who set off from his home in Jerusalem many centuries before Ibn Battuta. He also visited nearly every part of the Muslim world and wrote a book called Best Divisions for K n o wle dg e of the Regions , completed around 985. [3]

One of the accurate drawing based on personal observation is the sketch of the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria by the Andalusian traveller, Abu Hamid Al-Gharnati . He visited Alexandria first in 1110 and again in 1117. ( Source )

I bn Khur r adadh bih, 10 th Century

He wrote the Book of Roads an d P r o vinces , which gave a description of the main trade routes of the Muslim world, referring to China, Korea, and Japan, and describing the southern Asian coast as far as the Brahmaputra River, the Andaman Islands, Malaya, and Java. [4] Ibn Khurradadhabih died in 912.

Ibn Fadlan, 10 th Century

Ibn Fadlan was an Arab chronicler, and in 921 the caliph of Baghdad sent him with a diplomatic mission to the king of the Bulgars of the Middle Volga. He wrote an account of his journey, and this was called R i s alah . Like Ibn Battuta’s R ihla , the R i s alah is of great value because it describes the places and people of northern Europe, in particular a people called the Rus from Sweden. [5]

A Tale of Two Civilisations: The Viking and the Muslim Civilisation

Yaqut a l- H a m a wi, 13 th C entur y

He was a geographer who wrote the Dictionary o f C o untries about countries, regions, towns, and cities that he visited, all in alphabetical order, giving their exact location, and describing monuments, resources, history, population, and leading ﬁgures. [6]

Z ak ar i y a ’ i b n Mu h am ma d a l- Q a z wini, 13 th C entur y

He left accounts of the marvellous creatures that thrive in the China Sea, notably very large ﬁsh (possibly whales), giant tortoises, and monstrous snakes, which land on the shores to swallow whole buffaloes and elephants. [7]

I bn S a’id a l- Ma ghr i bi, 13 th C entur y

He gave the latitude and longitude of each place he visited, and wrote much on the Indian Ocean islands and Indian coastal towns and cities.

Al-Di ma s h qi , A 14 th C entur y

He gives very detailed accounts of the island of Al-Qumr, also called Malay Island or Malay Archipelago. He says there are many towns and cities; rich, dense forests with huge, tall trees; and white elephants. Also there lives the giant bird called the Rukh , a bird whose eggs are like cupolas. The Rukh is featured in a story about some sailors breaking and eating the contents of its egg; the giant bird chased after them on the sea, carrying huge rocks, which it hurled at them relentlessly. The sailors only escaped with their lives under the cover of night. [8]

This story, like other accounts by travellers, formed the basis of many of the tales that enrich Islamic literature, such as The A dventures of S inbad the S ailor and The Th o u s and and One Nights . The richness of these thousand-year-old accounts has inspired many writers and filmmakers.

Buried Evidence Islamic Viking Burial Garments

Ibn Battuta, 14 th Century

Imaginary Painting of Ibn Battuta

Ibn Battuta was only 21 on June 13, 1325, when he set out alone on his donkey at the beginning of a 3,000-mile overland journey to Mecca from Tangier in Morocco. He left his family, friends, and hometown, and would not see them again for 29 years. Some he never saw, because the plague reached them before he returned. He journeyed by walking, riding, and sailing more than 75,000 miles, through more than 40 modern countries.. [9]

His accounts have placed the medieval world before us, so we know that gold traveled from south of the African Sahara into Egypt and Syria; pilgrims continuously ﬂowed to and from Mecca; shells from the Maldives went to West Africa; pottery and paper money came west from China. Ibn Battuta also ﬂowed along with the wool and the wax, gold and melons, ivory and silk, sheikhs and sultans, wise men and fellow pilgrims. [10] He worked as a qadi , a judge, for sultans and emperors, his journey a grand tour, mixing prayer, business, adventure, and the pursuit of knowledge. He returned to his native city three decades later and recounted stories of distant, exotic lands. [11] The sultan of Fez (Fes), Abu ’Inan, asked him to write down his experiences in a Rihla , a travel book, and with a royal scribe, Ibn Juzayy, he completed the task in two years. His account of medieval Mali in West Africa is the only record we have of it today. [12]

The Traveling Man: the Journey of Ibn Battuta, 1325-1354 by James Rumford (Houghton Mifflin, 2001). ( Source )

Other travellers from the ninth and tenth centuries include Ibn al-Faqih, who compares the customs, food diets, codes of dress, rituals, and also some of the ﬂora and fauna of China and India. [13] Ibn Rustah focuses on a Khmer king, surrounded by 80 judges, and his ferocious treatment of his subjects while indulging himself in drinking alcohol and wine, but also his kind and generous treatment of the Muslim. [14] Abu al-Faraj dwells on India and its people, customs, and religious observations. He also talks of China, saying it has 300 cities, and that whoever travels in China has to register his name, the date of his journey, his genealogy, his description, age, what he carries with him, and his attendants. Such a register is kept until the journey is safely completed. The reasoning behind this was a fear that something might harm the traveller and thereby bring shame to the ruler.

An artist’s rendering shows Ibn Battuta dictating his Rihla, passing through a dangerous gorge, and walking with his camel. (Source: 1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization, 3rd edition, page 250)

Get the full story from 1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization Reference (4 th Edition) Annotated. www.amazon.co.uk/1001-Inventions-Civilization-Reference-Annotated-ebook/dp/B0775TFKVY/

[1] The Kitab al-buldan appears in Bibliotheca ceocraphorum arabicorum Vll, M. J. de Goeje, ed. (1892); ed and trans into French by G. Wiet, Les Pays (1937). [2] Carra de Vaux, Les Penseurs, op. cit., 57-58. [3] Al Muqadassi, op. cit. [4] S. M. Z. Alavi, Arabic Geography, op. cit., 27. [5] On Muslim accounts of Scandinavia, see Harris Birkeland, Nordens hidstorie I middelalderen etter arabiskenkilder, Norske Videnskaps-Akademi i Oslo, Skrifter, Hist.-Filos. Klasse, 2 Scriffer, 1954, 2 (1954). [6] Ibn Abd Allah al-Hamawi Yaqut, Jacut’s Geographisches Worterbuch, F. Wustenfeld, ed., 6 Vols. (Leipzig, 1866-70). -C. Bouamrane and L. Gardet, Panorama de la Pensee Islamique (Paris: Sindbad, 1984), 260. [7] Ibid, 302-04. [8] The work was edited by A. F. Mehren, Quarto (St. Petersburg, 1866), 375 pages. – G. Sarton, Introduction, op. cit., Vol. 3, 800. – G. Ferrand, Relations de Voyages, 363-93. [9] Ibn Battuta, Voyages d’Ibn Battuta, Arabic text accompanied by French trans. by C. Defremery and B. R. Sanguinetti, preface and notes by Vincent Monteil, I-IV (Paris, 1968, reprint of the 1854 ed.). [10] Ibn Battuta, Travels in Asia and Africa, trans. and selected by H. A. R. Gibb (London: Routledge, 1929). [11] F. Rosenthal, Ibn Battuta, Dictionary of Scientific Biography, op. cit., Vol. 1, 517. – R. B. Winder, Ibn Battuta, in The Genius of Arab Civilisation, J. R. Hayes, ed., op. cit., 210. [12] Ibn Battuta, Travels in Asia and Africa, Gibb, op cit. [13] Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadhani, auctore, Kitab al-buldan, M. J. De Goeje, ed., Bibliotheca geographorum arabicorum, 5 (Leiden, 1885). [14] G. Sarton, Introduction, op. cit., Vol. 1, 635. – G. Ferrand, Relations de Voyages, op. cit., 54-66.

Al-Ǧāḥiẓ/Jahiz, Kitāb al-ḥayawān (Book of the animals), Syria, 15th C. Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Ms. arab. B 54, f. 36 (Source)

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The Rise of Halal Tourism

Muslims now make up one of the fastest-growing segments of the global travel industry. In response, hotels and tour operators are increasingly trying to meet their dietary and religious needs.

By Debra Kamin

For one of the fastest-growing sectors of the global travel industry, there is no pork on the hotel dinner menus. There are flights with no alcohol on the drink carts, resorts with separate swimming pools for men and women, and daily itineraries with built-in break times for the five daily calls to prayer.

Since 2016, the number of Muslim travelers has grown nearly 30 percent, and a recent joint study by Mastercard and Crescent Rating , a research group that tracks halal-friendly travel, projects that over the next decade that sector’s contribution to the global economy will jump to $300 billion from $180 billion. With a population that is disproportionately young, educated and upwardly mobile, they are one of the fastest-growing demographics on the global tourism scene.

But this wasn’t always the case.

In 2015 , Soumaya Hamdi went roadtripping through Asia with her husband and her then 4-month-old baby. The trio visited Singapore and Malaysia, and then caught a flight to South Korea and on to Japan. The trip was thrilling, but Ms. Hamdi and her husband, who are both observant Muslims, found the daily search for halal-certified food a difficult one.

Ms. Hamdi, who is based in London, began blogging about the best Muslim-friendly restaurants she found, as well as prayer facilities and sites that were particularly welcoming for a family with a young baby. Those musings turned into Halal Travel Guide , an online platform offering tips, recommendations and curated itineraries for Muslim travelers.

Her timing was right.

“In Europe the Muslim community is now in its third or fourth generation. They are educated and have good paying jobs,” said Ufuk Secgin, chief marketing officer for Halal Booking , a Muslim-focused vacation search engine. “For the first generation, their idea of a holiday was visiting the family in the home country. This has changed.”

At ITB Asia this October, a leading travel show held in Singapore, organizers partnered with two halal travel authorities, Crescent Rating and Halal Trip , to offer specialized panel discussions and showcases targeting the estimated 156 million Muslims who will book travel between now and 2020.

At the heart of much of the discussion was matters of the belly. For Muslim travelers, “the number one factor is good quality halal food,” Ms. Hamdi said in an email exchange. “I’m not talking about curry or biryani — I’m talking about authentic local food that is halal. After that, it’s usually prayer facilities.”

Tourists’ global demand for halal food has grown so much, in fact, that Have Halal Will Travel , a Singapore-based online community for Muslim travelers, has also partnered with ITB Asia with a three-hour conference and special booth space focusing on foodie-centric outreach to the Muslim tourism sector.

Like Halal Travel Guide , Have Halal Will Travel was founded in 2015. Today, their content reaches 9.1 million users each month, according to their founder, Mikhael Goh. Mr. Goh dreamed up the site with three friends while studying abroad in Seoul; he found himself frustrated on a daily basis with a lack of information about where to find quality halal food.

“We were thinking, why is it in 2015, when there is Yelp and TripAdvisor and so many popular apps and services to tell you where to eat and where to travel, why on earth is there so little information for Muslims?” Mr. Goh said in a phone interview. “Not just about food — yes, halal food is the basis of a lot of things, but also about safety and prayer. There was a general lack of information out there and the information that did exist was so fragmented.”

Only a handful of years later, that gap in the market is now teeming with niche sites, many of them written specifically for young Muslim women. At Passport and Plates , the Los Angeles-based blogger Sally Elbassir chronicles her global foodie adventures where pork and alcohol are always off the menu; at Arabian Wanderess , Esra Alhamal writes about traveling as a female, Muslim millennial on a budget; and at the popular Muslim Travel Girl , run by the Bulgaria-born, Britain-based Elena Nikolova, readers can learn about Muslim-friendly honeymoon resorts with private pools and get tips for a D.I.Y. Umrah (Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca).

Many of the bloggers interviewed for this article echoed the same sentiment: Their goal is not just to make it easier for Muslim travelers to find food, prayer spaces and alcohol-free activities that appeal to them. It’s also to support those travelers to branch out of their comfort zones and feel empowered exploring the world.

“We specialize in pushing people to non-Muslim majority countries,” said Mr. Goh. “The most popular destinations we work on are Japan and Korea. Our audience is young — 25 to 30 years old — and very influenced by K-pop and Instagram, so we write a lot about how welcoming those places are.”

Ms. Hamdi of Halal Travel Guide agreed. “We encourage Muslims to seek culturally immersive travel experiences outside of the traditional Muslim-friendly destinations such as Dubai and Morocco,” she said. “Muslims are looking for added value to their trips — from private beaches where women can bathe without men to disturb them, and more than this, trips that offer the Muslim traveler the chance to experience something completely different.”

Follow NY Times Travel on Twitter , Instagram and Facebook . Get weekly updates from our Travel Dispatch newsletter, with tips on traveling smarter, destination coverage and photos from all over the world.

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Tourism in Islam

Answered by Molana Muhammad Adnan

Question:

I wanted to know the ruling of tourism in Islam as I’ve heard from some brothers that its haraam. I would like some clarification in regards to the matter please.

Answer:

The concept of travel/tourism in Islam is referred to as siyaahah. The ruling on siyaahah depends a lot on situations which vary from person to person, but as a general guide it needs to be understood that if there is anything impermissible attached to the siyaahah then its blameworthy. A few examples would be, a woman travelling without a mahram, over expenditure, travelling to places that are known for immorality and strife etc.

If there is no element of impermissibility then tourism is permitted, with the intention that it is to see the wonders and blessings of Allah (The most glorified, the most high) and to seek reminders of the doom of the predecessors.

ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him)

[al-Naml 27:69]

Only Allah Knows Best

Written by Molana Muhammad Adnan

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

This answer was collected from DarulIftaBirmingham.co.uk , which is run under the supervision of Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah from the United Kingdom.

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Contact between China and the Near East predates the advent of Islam in the seventh century; sea and land routes connected the two regions as early as the third century B.C. The main route was the Silk Road , named after the most important commodity that was traded along it—Chinese silk ( see map ). The ease of travel across Asia and the Middle East was facilitated in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by the Pax Mongolica (literally, " Mongol peace")—the unification under the Mongol conquerors, who swept through Asia establishing control over territories stretching from East Asia to eastern Europe ( see map ).

In addition to traveling by land routes, merchants also traded via sea routes, carrying luxury commodities such as ceramics, carpets, rice wine, musk, perfumes, paper, dyestuffs, pearls, ink, and ivory in great quantities.

During the reign of the Abbasids (750–1258) there was remarkable expansion in international trade. Sea routes stretched all the way from Iraq to Indonesia, and ships traveling back and forth would stop at many ports along the way to buy and sell goods. Abbasid merchants returned home with finished goods (such as ceramics, paper, silk, and ink from China) as well as raw materials (like spices from India and teakwood from Southeast Asia). This boom in trade transformed Iraq into an international marketplace in which prized Chinese and Southeast Asian imports such as silk, paper, tea, and ceramics were sold.

RELATED AUDIO FROM THE GALLERY GUIDE

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Denise Leidy: The term "Silk Road" is, of course, a metaphor for a series of overland trade routes, some of which ran north and south, but the two biggest of which ran from east—so, technically from China—all the way through what we often refer to as central Asia and into the Islamic world, and, ultimately, of course, from the Islamic world into the European world. So it was probably the first great global highway in world history. If silk and a certain kind of luxury textile went from east to west, then a taste for luxury metalwork clearly went from west—in which case, I mean the ancient Near East and the Islamic world—to east, because the Chinese prior to the sixth century or so really didn't have gold and silver very much.

Maryam Ekhtiar: Another material that was brought into the Islamic world from China is paper.

Denise Leidy: That's a very good point. You know, it's one of these commonplace things that we take for granted but in fact it changed how the world wrote, and how they recorded things. In museums, we tend to end up focusing on things that are very tangible—ceramics or textiles or even paper—but in fact so much more was traded.

Maryam Ekhtiar: That's right.

Denise Leidy: Spices.

Maryam Ekhtiar: Spices and pearls and ivory and incense.

Denise Leidy: And so it's, I think, very interesting to look at all the great objects in a museum and imagine them moving with all these other things as people discovered each other through their visual and material cultures.

From DIY pilgrimages to halal restaurant tips: how this travel blogger built a community of Muslim travelers

Jan 21, 2022 • 6 min read

Elena Nikolova (pictured) has spent years building a resource for Muslim travelers who are looking for relevant information and good deals.

Elena Nikolova converted to Islam in 2009. Four years later, she channeled her wanderlust into a new endeavor: helping other Muslims travel the world.

On one of Elena Nikolova’s first trips as a Muslim, she realized travel for her had changed forever. Visiting Bulgaria from the United Kingdom , she saw how her new halal diet was at odds with her pork-heavy, Bulgarian-Greek upbringing. It wasn’t long before Nikolova also noticed she was getting extra checks at the airport and more attention once she landed because of her hijab.

“I realized that whether we wanted it or not, there is prejudice against those who wear a hijab,” Nikolova said. “I realized that kind of puts Muslims off traveling.”

Since she converted to Islam in 2009, Nikolova has worked to make travel more accessible and comfortable for Muslims. A lover of deals, she began to share cheap fares and travel hacks on social media to encourage others in her new community to travel too. As a student in the UK, she often booked the longest layovers possible on her way back home to Greece just so she could explore new places.

An online forum for advocating Muslim travel

Upon the urging of a friend, Nikolova transformed her expertise into the blog Muslim Travel Girl in 2013, with the goal of helping Muslims travel while being confident in their identities and without breaking the bank. Right away, she started receiving questions related to airport security and whether certain countries were welcoming to Muslims. Her readers, mostly based in North America and Europe , were apprehensive. One of Muslim Travel Girl’s most popular videos , for example, is on navigating airports as a hijab-wearing Muslim woman.

Building a comfort zone

“Throughout the past seven years, we've gone through [issues with] the media and Muslims, and the hijab and problems with women traveling,” she said. “The whole point of a Muslim travel blog is to help and encourage those people, to give them the resources to actually find destination information.”

While other resources exist, Nikolova says it was especially hard to find information that spoke directly to the experience of traveling as a Muslim when she started the blog. “Even though travel [for Muslims] in general is not so different, we have some differences, like [needing] places to pray or [specific] food to eat,” she said. “Not every Muslim needs these, but it should be there.”

A recent survey found the availability of halal food and prayer facilities among the most cited faith-based needs of Muslim travelers. Since 9/11, many Muslim travelers say they’ve faced discrimination at airports and on airplanes, ranging from extra security searches and intense questioning by airport staff to unexplainable visa troubles and hostility from fellow passengers.

A display at a restaurant noting halal food is available

The 'halal tourism' boom

At the same time, the Muslim-friendly travel market, or “halal tourism” as some call it, has been booming. The industry caters to Muslim travelers looking for destinations that meet their faith-based needs, be it a place to pray, alcohol-free hotels or women-only pools and spas. Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it was estimated that by 2026, 230 million Muslim tourists would travel, locally and abroad, up from 98 million in 2010. By that time, Muslim travelers were expected to inject $300 billion into the global economy. With COVID-19, it’s now estimated it will take until 2023 to return to the same levels of Muslim tourists seen in 2019.

Nikolova attributes this increase in Muslim travelers to the global aspirations of younger Muslims, more disposable income and the persuasive power of social media. With more travelers, she says, has also come more blogs on Muslim-friendly travel, more interest from big brands and companies, conferences on the topic, and travel agencies like Halalbooking.com .

From credit card rewards to dinner recommendations

As the demographic makeup of Muslim travelers has changed, so has what Nikolova’s readers want. While initially some of Muslim Travel Girl’s most popular and requested posts were on the practicalities of traveling as a Muslim, she says now that more Muslims are traveling, the interest has shifted to what destinations to visit, insider travel tips and halal food recommendations in those places. One of their most popular topics is advice on DIY Umrah , so travelers can take the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca without using a travel agent or expensive tour package.

Bassam Ansari, who is based in Saudi Arabia , first discovered Muslim Travel Girl in 2013 through a friend. He says he often visits the site for its hotel and flight deals and has saved significant money through the site’s advice, which he finds to be personable and genuine.

“Using her reviews and travel advice I have found the best possible hotel options in quite a few different destinations,” he said. For example, Ansari says he saved 70 percent on the cost of a standard hotel room in Mecca during Ramadan, finding a room for $300 instead of the usual $1,000, because of Nikolova’s advice on how to effectively buy and use hotel reward points.

Small changes that make a big difference

Nikolova, who splits her time between Saudi Arabia and the UK, says Muslim Travel Girl is now one of the largest Muslim-friendly blogs in the West. She works on it full-time and also offers consultancy services to hotels and resorts on how to be more accommodating to Muslim guests. Even simple changes like providing soft drinks, non-alcoholic wine or fresh fruit in a welcome package, instead of wine, which is customary in places like Greece, can make a big difference in making someone feel more comfortable, she says.

“It's important to feel safe when you travel and that your needs as a Muslim traveler are taken care of. This is why I'm passionate about…working with hotels in the industry to provide more facilities and more knowledge for Muslims,” she said. “Every destination should be Muslim friendly.”

Having converted to Islam as an adult, Nikolova says she is able to identify with both non-Muslims and Muslims, and that sense of empathy helped in the initial stages of writing Muslim Travel Girl. She says her expertise hasn’t been questioned because she converted to the religion, instead of being born into it, though she can understand that point of view.

“When you are writing about something that is on a specific inclusivity, whether it's halal travel or whether it is accessibility travel, you have to have a basic understanding and principles in order to be accurate in your writing,” she said. “For me, I'm a Muslim, I'm a travel expert, and I have that knowledge because I've worked and lived that life for the past 10 years.”

Elena Nikolova Courtesy of Muslim Girl Travel

Travel opens your mindset

Part of why travel is so important, Nikolova says, is because it can counter misconceptions and prejudice. When she converted to Islam, for instance, her Greek Orthodox parents were not happy about it. But after she and her mother traveled to numerous countries together, including her mother spending a year in Doha, Qatar when Nikolova’s daughter was born, things changed.

“It's one of the reasons why I'm so passionate about traveling and encouraging Muslims to travel, because you open your mindset,” Nikolova said. “Traveling brings us closer. You wouldn't know your neighbor if you didn’t talk to them. It's the same thing with going and exploring a different city; you wouldn't meet locals and talk to them if you didn't visit.”

You might also like: Hajj Diaries: returning home How Muslims around the world are celebrating Ramadan during the pandemic Hajj Diaries: performing the Hajj

Safety recommendations and restrictions during a pandemic can change rapidly. Lonely Planet recommends that travelers always check with local authorities for up-to-date guidance before traveling during Covid-19 .

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Science, Faith, and the Heavens: Astronomy in the Islamic World

By Adler Planetarium

More than 1200 years ago, astronomy gained a prominent place in the Islamic world, which stretched from the Iberian Peninsula to the Indian subcontinent. In this exhibit we highlight important contributions of astronomers and instrument makers from the Islamic world, while also highlighting current scholars and educators who study, cultivate, and share this important legacy.

Soltan-Mohammad, Eid Al-Fitr (1527) by Soltan-Mohammad Adler Planetarium

Following the Moon

This 16th-century illustration represents the celebration of the eid al-fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month, Ramadan. The religious practices of Muslims are regulated by the Hijrī calendar, a lunar calendar beginning with the migration of the prophet of Islam from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD. Since a lunar year is just 354 days long, constant calculations and observations are essential for determining important religious dates within Islam. Nowadays, Muslims combine traditional naked-eye observations of the crescent of the Moon, which signals the beginning and end of Ramadan, with nanosecond-precision level calculations made by astrophysicists.

Astrolabe-Quadrant: Eastern by Unidentified Original Source: https://adler-ais.axiellhosting.com/Details/collect/1837

Time, Faith, and the Sun

For Muslims, determining the times of the five daily prayers requires observations and calculations related to the daily apparent motion of the Sun. These could be carried out in a relatively easier manner by using instruments such as the portable quadrant shown here. It was likely made in the 19th century in the Ottoman realm, which extended over the Balkans, Anatolia, the western part of the Middle East, Egypt, Algeria, and Tunisia. The basic design of this quadrant emerged in Northeast Africa between the 13th and the 15th centuries. Ottoman timekeepers continued to produce and use similar instruments well into the 20th century.

Qibla Indicator, Eastern by Unidentified Original Source: https://adler-ais.axiellhosting.com/Details/collect/217

Finding the Qibla

This instrument is a qibla indicator from 19th-century Iran. The qibla is the direction to Mecca, which Muslims must face when performing their five daily prayers, wherever they are in the world. Finding the qibla requires an advanced knowledge of spherical trigonometry, but a qibla finder makes that operation easier. In this example, the lid contains a circular list of places with their respective qibla directions, called a gazetteer. After consulting the gazetteer, the desired direction could be found by using the instrument’s compass. Nowadays, Muslims use mobile apps that show a virtual compass and the direction to Mecca, in the manner of the old qibla indicators, but in digital format.

Book of the Constellations (Kitāb al-Suwar al-Kawākib) by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī Adler Planetarium

Heavenly Accuracy

Astronomers in the Islamic world preserved and developed the knowledge of stars and constellations received from Mesopotamia and Ancient Greece, and many of the star names still used today are of Arabic origin. A fundamental work in this regard is the "Book of the Constellations" (Kitāb al-Suwar al-Kawākib), compiled by the 10th century Persian astronomer ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣūfī. These pages from a manuscript of his "Book…" show the constellation of Leo the Lion and a table with the positions and brightnesses of its stars. al-Ṣūfī carried out meticulous observations in order to make these tables as accurate as possible. The endless pursuit of accuracy was seen as a key to the advancement of science in the Islamic world.

Globe: Celestial, Eastern (1650) by Unidentified Original Source: https://adler-ais.axiellhosting.com/Details/collect/740

Touching the Stars

This celestial globe was likely made in Lahore (now in Pakistan) in the 17th century. It is formed by a hollow, seamless brass sphere on which figures representing 48 classical constellations are engraved, with more than a thousand stars marked by silver inlays. Celestial globes are instruments for observation, calculation, and demonstration that simulate the apparent motion of the sky, literally allowing their users to touch the stars. This example is also a remarkable combination of art and science. The constellation figures and other details denote the combined influence of Arab, Persian, and Indian culture in the Mughal empire, which extended from Central Asia through the Indian subcontinent between the 16th century and the 19th century.

Horoscopion Apiani generale dignoscendis horis cvivscvmque generis aptissimum : nunc ab illo primum & inuentum & aeditum. (1533) by Peter Apian Original Source: https://adler-ais.axiellhosting.com/Details/fullCatalogue/7612

A Glimpse of Arab Constellations

In the “Book of Fixed Stars” al-Ṣūfī mentions some traditional Arab constellations. Following al-Ṣūfī, the 16th-century German cartographer Peter Apian included a few in this star map. The four female figures at the center represent the Daughters of the Great Bear (corresponding to the classical Little Bear). Immediately to the left sit the Shepherd, the Dog, and the Sheep. Below the Daughters are the Five Dromedaries, and to their left, a ring of feathers that Apianus labelled as the Two Wings (possibly a misinterpretation, since that does not to appear in al-Ṣūfī work).

Astrolabe: Eastern (1130) by Badr ibn`Abdallah Original Source: https://adler-ais.axiellhosting.com/Details/collect/462

Mirrors of the Universe

The instrument shown here is an astrolabe made by Badr ibn ʿAbd Allāh in 1130-31 AD for Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn Muḥammad ibn Malikshāh, the sultan of Iraqi Seljuks. Astrolabes are instruments for observation and calculation, and models of the Universe as it was understood in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. For that reason, they were referred to in the Islamic world as “Mirrors of the Universe”. Astrolabes were used for a variety of functions, including: to find the time of the day; to calculate the time of sunrise and sunset and the length of the day or night for a given date; to measure the height of buildings and other landmarks, or the depth of wells; and to carry out a variety of calculations.

Astrolabe: Eastern by Unidentified Original Source: https://adler-ais.axiellhosting.com/Details/collect/448

Pushing the Limits

The astrolabe has its roots in Ancient Greece. In the Islamic world, it came to symbolize the advancement of the mathematical sciences, including astronomy, geometry, and trigonometry. Between the 9th and the 13th centuries several scholars played with astrolabe design, seeking to push the limits of what could be observed, measured, and calculated. An example of that creative process is the universal astrolabe shown here, which was probably made in Muslim Spain or North Africa in the 13th century. It is called ‘universal’ because it could be used anywhere in the world. Astrolabes come in varied forms and designs, but this type is almost exclusive to the Islamic West.

Astrolabe: Eastern (1601) by `Isa ibn Allahdad Original Source: https://adler-ais.axiellhosting.com/Details/collect/1371

Science, Art, and Craftsmanship

Fine astronomical instruments were valued not only by astronomers, but by all those who could afford them. As a consequence, astrolabes evolved into highly decorated pieces. One particular workshop based in Lahore, run by four generations of the same family during the 17th century, excelled in combining scientific rigor, artistry, and craftsmanship. The image shows a rete from an astrolabe made in 1601 by a member of that family, ʿIsā ibn Allāhdād. The rete is the celestial map in an astrolabe. The curved pointers protruding from the strapwork indicate the positions of selected stars in the sky. The inner, off-centered circle represents the apparent annual path of the sun in the celestial sphere. It was mainly in the rete that instrument makers showcased their technical and artistic skills.

Zijes Original Source: https://adler-ais.axiellhosting.com/Details/archive/110006142

Shared Knowledge About a Common Sky

Astronomers in the Islamic world conducted long-term observations in order to produce zījes. A zīj is an astronomical handbook with instructions and tables for creating calendars and calculating the positions of celestial objects as accurately as possible. The table shown here is included in a zij manuscript and provides elements for finding the beginning of the daily afternoon prayer. Zijes and timekeeping tables were highly valued in the Islamic world and beyond. Many Arabic and Persian works of this kind were translated into European languages from the 13th century through the 19th century. Astronomy in the Islamic world was not just a matter of providing for religious and social needs and of attaining ever-greater precision, but also of connecting varied peoples and cultures in the human endeavor to understand the sky that we all share. Today these connections remain vital. People all over the world continue to study and retain this heritage.

Dr. Pouyan Rezvani Adler Planetarium

Connecting Cultures: Dr. Pouyan Rezvani

Dr. Pouyan Rezvani is an Iranian postdoctoral researcher at the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften in Munich, Germany, with a particular interest in the history of astronomical instruments in medieval Islam. Dr. Rezvani has analyzed and translated two previously unpublished astrolabe texts by the prominent astronomer Abū al-Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī (973 – c. 1050 AD), and in the course of research on unusual astrolabes, he carried out the first reconstruction of a crescent-shaped astrolabe made by Abū Saʿīd al-Sijzī in the 10th century AD. Dr. Rezvani was led into this field of study by “the collaboration of scholars with different languages, religions, and cultural backgrounds in the Islamic world, and their remarkable achievements in the history of science”. He says “studying the history of science shows how science connected different cultures to each other during centuries. Interestingly, even now ‘the history of science’ as an academic discipline brings together scholars from different countries.”

Abdullah Mohamad Alkhalaf Adler Planetarium

A Masterpiece of History: Abdullah Mohamad Alkhalaf

Abdullah Mohamad Alkhalaf is a volunteer for the Multaka-Oxford project, which is jointly delivered by the Pitt Rivers Museum and the History of Science Museum in Oxford, England. The project is run in collaboration in local organizations with the aim of creating volunteer opportunities and to use museums and collections as a ‘meeting point’ (‘Multaka’ in Arabic) for bringing people together. Abdullah has been contributing as a tour guide and in assisting visitors. He finds these activities extremely important for reminding the public of the importance of Islamic culture. “I am a Muslim and this is my history and the legacy of the civilization to which I belong”, says Abdullah, who has a particular interest in astrolabes. Abdullah sees the Islamic astrolabe as “a unique piece, a masterpiece of history”, and has researched its uses among Muslims as well as the accuracy of calculations made with it.

Dr. Azucena Hernandez Adler Planetarium

Time to Balance Everything: Dr. Azucena Hernández

With a degree in physics and 30 years working in telecommunications research, Dr. Azucena Hernández decided to study art history and received a PhD in that field in 2017. Since then Dr. Hernández has been researching medieval scientific instruments at the University Complutense of Madrid, Spain. Dr. Hernández studied Arabic for three years, and is committed to highlighting the achievements in science and technology written in Arabic in al-Andalus (the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula lasting from the 8th to the 15th century, that covered part of what is today Portugal and Spain). According to Dr. Hernández, this provides “a good case of a brilliant but mostly unknown contribution to the development of science and technology in my country, Spain. Medieval science written in Arabic has not had as much visibility as science written in Latin or other languages and now is the time to balance everything”.

Eva Haghighi Adler Planetarium

Cultures and Individual Experiences Coming Together: Eva Haghighi

Eva Haghighi is a volunteer for the Multaka-Oxford project, and has contributed as a co-producer and researcher to exhibitions dealing with metalwork and collections from the Islamic world hosted by the History of Science Museum and Pitt Rivers Museum. “I was looking for a dynamic and creative way to further explore my Middle Eastern heritage. As I immersed myself in the history of these extraordinary objects, I was able to more truly and fully appreciate the immense contribution of Islamic culture to human civilisation”, says Eva. “In a dangerously polarised world, it is vital to explore our past and (re)discover the many ways in which we are connected. By providing a platform for audiences to rethink their relationship with other cultures, we want to encourage them to celebrate what brings us together as well as what makes each culture unique.” This has been a very rewarding experience for Eva, who adds that the “sense of coming together of cultures and individual experiences will stay with me forever”.

Convin Splettsen Adler Planetarium

Creating Shared Experiences: Convin Splettsen

Convin Splettsen divides his time between a degree in history, history and philosophy of science, and anthropology at Goethe-University in Frankfurt, and his activity as a magician and voice actor. He came across the astrolabe while attending a course on divinatory practices (such as astrology) in medieval Arabic and Latin texts, and was immediately struck by the allure of the instrument. Convin has since been exploring the connections between scientific instruments, history of science, and historical magic books. He believes that presenting these topics in an engaging way can help connect people: “in a globalized world it is important to know about each other’s history and culture. It will create an understanding for the other and the unknown, and might take away the fear of the unknown. Voice acting and magic have really helped me understand the importance of performing and presenting as a way of creating shared experiences and connecting people.”

Mohammad Al Awad Adler Planetarium

A Dialogue of Cultures and Civilizations: Mohammad Al Awad

Mohammad Al Awad has contributed to the Oxford-Multaka project as a tour guide, producer, and curator of the photography exhibition “Syrian moonlight over Oxford skies” (History of Science Museum, Oxford, 2019). When Mohammad saw the astronomical and mathematical instruments from the Islamic world at the Museum of the History of Science, he felt compelled to expand on what he had already learned in his university studies. “This history is part of my history and identity”, says Mohammad, adding that “this culture is also part of human heritage”. Mohammad is particularly fond of celestial globes. When sharing his knowledge about these objects with museum visitors, he feels “as if I were in my country, with my students and professors at the University in Damascus (Syria)” in an exchange of knowledge where the more he listens to his audience, the more he learns himself. Mohammad sees it as part of “a dialogue of cultures and civilizations that is much needed, especially now”.

Dr. Gaye Danışan Adler Planetarium

Astronomy, Culture, and Society: Dr. Gaye Danışan

Dr. Gaye Danışan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of the History of Science, Istanbul University, Turkey. Dr. Danışan studies the history of practical applications of astronomy in the Ottoman context, namely in navigation, astrometeorology (a discipline that sought to establish connections between celestial phenomena and the weather), calendars, and the production and use of portable astronomical instruments. “This allows me to examine different perspectives from Ottoman culture and social life”, says Dr. Danışan. “There are countless manuscripts and numerous astronomical instruments awaiting to be studied and examined in Turkey. I firmly believe that this research, and interdisciplinary studies in particular, will shed light on many unanswered questions about the history of science in the Ottoman space, and also cultural history in general.”

Khadeje Karkora Adler Planetarium

A Journey Through History: Khadeje Karkora

A passion for reading about the development of science and the role of scientists in history led Khadeje Karkora to study scientific subjects at university. Khadeje is fond of the collections and exhibits of the History of Science Museum in Oxford that evince the contributions of Islamic civilization to the sciences. As a volunteer for the Multaka-Oxford project, Khadeje is particularly interested in exploring the role of women in the development of science in the Islamic world. Khadeje’s favorite instrument is a spherical astrolabe made in the Middle East in the 15th century. According to Khadeje, “the study of these subjects leads to the reformulation of historical narratives in a tangible and more influential way that takes the audience on a time journey through history, to navigate varied cultures across different eras.”

Dr. Taha Yasin Arslan Adler Planetarium

Revamping Perspectives on Modern Science: Dr. Taha Yasin Arslan

Our guest curator for this exhibition, Dr. Taha Yasin Arslan is a professor at Istanbul Medeniyet University, Turkey, and a research fellow at Oxford University, England. Dr. Arslan’s research focuses on astronomical instruments in the Islamic world, particularly the instruments from Mamluk Egypt and Syria between the 13th and the 15th centuries, as well as their reception in 15th- and 16th-century Ottoman Turkey. As part of his work, Dr. Arslan makes accurate replicas of original instruments, and hopes to eventually replicate the spherical astrolabe he is holding in the photo, which is his favorite instrument. As a lifelong astronomy enthusiast, and after studying Islamic philosophy, Dr. Arslan embarked on a journey at once intellectual and hands-on to better understand the deep connections between philosophy, culture, religion, and science and its instruments in the Islamic world. He is especially interested in how science was nurtured by Islam, conferring a dimension of accuracy on its religious practices. Dr. Arslan considers that these studies help “rethink the history of science, allowing us to revamp our perspective on modern science.”

Thank you to the staff of the Adler Planetarium, Dr. Taha Yasin Arslan, and the Multaka Project at Oxford University for their assistance in creating this exhibition. The Adler also thanks Dr. Pouyan Rezvani, Dr. Azucena Hernandez, Convin Splettsen, Dr. Gaye Danışan, Mr. Abolala Soudavar, Mohammad Al Awad, Khadeje Karkora, Eva Haghighi, and Abdullah Mohamad Alkhalaf for contributing to the creation of this exhibition and sharing their stories. A recognition and thanks to Dr. Randa Muhammed and Dr. Taha Yasin Arslan as well for their work in translating this exhibition into Arabic and Turkish. Special thanks to our generous supporters: Amy and Steve Louis Foundation Roderick and Marjorie Webster Fund at The Chicago Community Trust The Arabic translation of this exhibition can be found here: https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/science-faith-and-the-heavens-astronomy-in-the-islamic-world/iAIynKRM35tLJw?hl=ar The Turkish translation of this exhibition can be found here: https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/science-faith-and-the-heavens-astronomy-in-the-islamic-world/iAIynKRM35tLJw?hl=tr

13 Stories with Captain James Lovell

Adler planetarium, highlights of the adler planetarium: archives, highlights of the adler planetarium: rare books & works on paper, pictures in the sky, voices of apollo, the kepler code, our shining star — the sun, written in the stars, reading, gaming, and making, oh my: steam education throughout history, raíces bajo las estrellas: rooted under the stars.

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Art of the Islamic world 640 to now

Course: art of the islamic world 640 to now > unit 1.

Introduction to Islam
About chronological periods in the Islamic world
Arts of the Islamic World
The Five Pillars of Islam

Islamic pilgrimages and sacred spaces

Stories of the modern pilgrimage
Pre-Islamic Arabia, an overview

What is hajj ?

"God made the Kabah the Sacred House maintaining it for humanity and the Sacred Month and the sacrificial gift and the garlanded. That is so that you will know that God knows Whatever is in the heavens And whatever is in the earth. (Bakhtiar’s translation)"

Why is Mecca so important to Muslims?

Are there other islamic pilgrimages, what pilgrimages are important to shi‘a muslims, sainthood in islam, sacred space in islam, want to join the conversation.

4.1 A Connected Islamic World

Learning objectives.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Identify the factors that characterized and often united the Muslim ummah after 1500
Explain the relationships among politics, religion, technology, and trade in the Islamic world after 1500
Analyze the impact of Islamic political and legal institutions on the larger Muslim community

Beginning with its emergence during the life of the prophet Muhammad at the beginning of the seventh century CE, the religion of Islam spread far and wide for several centuries and led to the establishment of several caliphates , areas under the control of Muslim rulers called caliphs. Early expansion occurred largely through conquests, such as those undertaken by the Prophet himself, the Rashidun Caliphate (the name given to the rule of the four caliphs who succeeded Muhammad), and the Umayyad Caliphate, which emerged decades after Muhammad’s death and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty based in Syria. These conquests expanded the ummah , or the community of Muslims, into Iran, Spain, and the vast lands in between.

In 750, the Umayyad Caliphate succumbed to rebellion and gave way to the Abbasid Caliphate. This dynastic transformation not only led to the elevation of Baghdad as the capital of the Abbasid world, but it also brought with it a larger political division in the Islamic world. The Umayyads in Spain refused to recognize the new Abbasid rulers and eventually established their own rival caliphate. In the centuries that followed, other parts of the Islamic world did the same. By the year 1000, there were three rival caliphates: the Sunni Abbasids ruling from Baghdad, the Shi‘ite Fatimids ruling from Cairo, and a rival Sunni caliphate, the Umayyads, ruling from Cordoba in Spain.

Over the next few centuries, a combination of trade and conquest expanded the ummah into West Africa and India. The arrival of the Mongols in the thirteenth century resulted in increased expansion but also the end of the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258. During the following few hundred years, the rise of the Ottoman Empire brought a larger Islamic presence to southeastern Europe, and the Safavids came to power in Iran. (The land once called Persia became known as Iran during the Abbasid era, although foreigners still commonly referred to it as Persia until the twentieth century.) Steady Islamic trade in the Indian Ocean also expanded Islam into Southeast Asia. By 1500, the Islamic world was geographically expansive and politically, ethnically, and linguistically very diverse.

Politics and Religion in the Ummah

In the sixteenth century, the ummah was composed of a number of large and small Islamic empires and states. Among the large empires were the Mughal Empire of India (discussed in India and International Connections ), the Safavid Empire of Iran, and the Ottoman Empire of the Mediterranean. There were many more small kingdoms in places like Morocco, Indonesia, the Swahili Coast, and parts of central Asia. However, despite this political fragmentation, the various parts of the larger Islamic world maintained an element of cohesiveness derived largely from their religion. Rival Islamic kingdoms might disagree with each other on issues of official doctrine or politics, but members of the ulama , a class of religious clerics and scholars who act as the primary interpreters of Islamic law, engaged in scholarly debates and collaborated with each other through correspondence. Shared basic beliefs and a reverence for the teachings of Muhammad united all Muslims. Religious and political institutions tended to maintain a similar structure and function in different locations: judges oversaw legal and religious disputes, and the ulama advised political rulers and ordinary citizens alike on policy by issuing nonbinding legal opinions called fatwas . In this way, the ulama helped unify the increasingly diverse Islamic world.

Also helping to expand and unify Islam were communities of Islamic mystics called Sufi s. Like mystics in other religions, Sufis engaged in ascetic practices, meditation, and ritual prayer in order to have a personal experience with God and directly gain access to divine love and wisdom. Often they used music, poetry, and dancing to transcend their connection to the world and enter a trance-like state in which they could experience the divine presence. Sufism began in the seventh century, during the Umayyad Caliphate. By the sixteenth century, Sufi orders had been established throughout the Islamic world. These orders, often described as “brotherhoods” even though some admitted women, formed around a leader who also served as the group’s religious teacher. Sufis who achieved a special closeness with God were revered as saints, and their graves became sites of pilgrimage. Because Sufi practices often attracted the attention of ordinary people for whom complex theological treatises and abstruse legal debates held little interest, Sufis helped introduce Islam to places as far-flung as North and West Africa, central Asia, and India and served as missionaries of the expanding religion.

Through a combination of imperial conquest, trade, Sufi missionary work, and migration, by 1500 the religion of Islam had expanded far and wide. As Muslims migrated to other lands, they usually established familiar Islamic religious institutions in their new communities. This provided a level of consistency for local people as well as for travelers, traders, and visitors. It also facilitated movement and exchange within the Islamic world and helped to unify Muslims as individual polities rose, fell, and were replaced. The result was a great geographic and ethnic diversity of the faith, and in places like India and Indonesia, new converts blended Islamic practices with indigenous traditions ( Figure 4.4 ). Throughout the Islamic world, Arabic script was also adapted to write the local languages, such as Kurdish , Pashto , Urdu , and Punjabi .

Not everyone exposed to Islam or incorporated into the Islamic world adopted Islam . Many Christians in southeastern Europe and southwest Asia continued to practice their religion within the larger Islamic environment. The expansion of Islam into India occasionally invigorated Hinduism and other religions there. While allowed to practice their religions, people in these non-Muslim communities granted protection by Muslim rulers, called dhimmis , were required to acknowledge the sovereignty of Muslim leadership. The dhimmi system was intended to provide religious minorities with official standing within the Muslim community and grant them legal protection, but it usually also included some restrictions on their public lives, such as their clothing choices, and it limited the jobs they could hold and thus their social mobility. The most common hardship was the jizya , or poll tax ( Figure 4.5 ).

Life was often harder for dhimmis than for Muslims of the same social class, and non-Muslims in many places converted to improve their social standing and chances for upward mobility. Merchants often converted to Islam to gain access to Islamic trading networks and potential business partners. Non-Muslim men seeking to marry Muslim women, whether for love or to gain connections to a prominent family, were required to convert. Christian and Jewish women could marry Muslim men without converting, but a Muslim woman could marry only a Muslim man.

Islamic Trade Networks

Islam had arisen in a region defined by trade and travel. Many prominent early Muslims, including Muhammad himself, were traders or members of trading families. And thanks to the institutional continuity specified under sharia , Islamic religious law, trade soon became closely regulated, the taxes levied on imported goods were systematized, and markets were inspected and administered in the same way throughout the Islamic world. By the sixteenth century, the flags of Islam flew from Spain and Morocco in the west to the gates of China in the east. However, these territories were not unified under one political leader. Instead, what brought them together into one collective ummah despite their political, ethnic, and linguistic differences was a network based on trade and travel, which carried Islam farther than its armies ever could.

Trade routes crisscrossed the larger Islamic world, connecting far-flung regions. By sea, Muslim merchants traded from India and Southeast Asia (especially the country of Indonesia) to East Africa, Egypt, and the Arabian Peninsula. Muslims in central Asia and China traded overland with merchants in Iran, East and North Africa, and the Balkans. Caravans crossing the Sahara extended trade into West Africa. Along these trade routes traveled merchants, missionaries, scholars, and many others. Their movement facilitated not only the expansion of Islam but also the spread of languages like Arabic and Persian , which became the languages of commerce, scholarship, and literary expression. It also allowed for the flow and exchange of new technologies, ideas, precious metals, writing and numerical systems, and a great variety of agricultural products once available only in small corners of the world ( Figure 4.6 ).

Dhimmi and other non-Muslim populations were frequently encouraged to participate in trade because of their specializations and contacts in distant areas. Armenian Christians, for example, were heavily involved in the silk trade, and their presence was welcomed in major trade centers. Jewish communities were linked by a trade network they had established between Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Being exempt from the financial provisions of sharia, which forbade charging interest on loans, Jewish people rose to prominence as moneylenders and bankers, usually serving both Muslim and Christian clients. (Jewish law forbade them to loan money at interest to other Jewish people.) And Muslims traveled and traded widely, guided by Muhammad’s often-cited hadith , or saying, “Seek knowledge, even unto China.”

Islamic communities sprang up along the Silk Roads, the land routes between the Middle East and China, and in other places where Muslim merchants traveled, such as East Africa, West Africa, and India. When merchants established themselves in non-Muslim communities, they often intermarried with the local population, and the children resulting from these marriages were usually raised as Muslims. Members of the existing merchant community often converted to Islam to forge closer relationships with Muslim traders. Once a Muslim community had been established, religious scholars often followed to found mosques, schools, and charitable organizations. In this way, Islam spread throughout Asia, Africa, and the Balkans.

When merchants arrived in a new city, they usually selected a prayer leader, often a member of the ulama who also served as a judge. A Muslim market inspector vouched for the accuracy of weights and measures, verified business contracts between Muslim merchants, certified the sizes of loads being shipped out, and ensured that businesses adhered to sharia . The consistency with which Muslim merchants and traders operated was a key advantage of contracting with them to transport goods long distances. Another benefit was the widespread use of letters of credit, which were recognized in other Islamic lands and allowed merchants to travel without carrying large amounts of gold.

Trade earned profits for participating states in two ways. The first was by bringing in direct income from importing and selling goods, including spices, ivory, salt, silks, and other luxury items, as well as enslaved people. Given their central location at the crossroads of Europe, Africa, and Asia, Muslim merchants frequently acted as intermediaries who purchased goods from one area and sold them to merchants from another. The second financial benefit of trade was the receipt of taxes that states levied on goods being transported through their territory.

Given the profit potential of the goods traded, robbers and bandits were a constant threat. Governments thus sponsored inns called caravansaries at regular intervals on major trade routes, usually one day’s journey apart, where traders could rest and store their goods securely ( Figure 4.7 ). Wealthy individuals might also build caravansaries, providing shelter for travelers as an act of piety. Weak states that could not guarantee security for traders and travelers often found trade routes shifting out of their territory if they became too risky.

Link to Learning

The influence of caravansaries on trade and images of architectural elements of caravansaries and floor plans are available.

Some caravansaries are still in existence. Check out caravansaries of the Silk Road and caravansaries in Turkey to learn more.

In addition to the shipment of material goods like agricultural products, precious metals, and spices, the transportation of enslaved people was also facilitated along Islamic trading routes. Since sharia forbids Muslims from enslaving other Muslims, it became common practice to enslave non-Muslims from regions within reach of Islamic slavers. Common sources included North and sub-Saharan Africa, central and eastern Europe, India, and Indonesia. Enslaved people being moved around the Islamic world were traded for a great variety of goods like cloth, pottery, glassware, and precious metals. Muslim traders also acted as intermediaries, passing enslaved people from Africa to merchants in central Asia and Europe, and they were the primary traders engaged in transporting enslaved people across the Sahara Desert ( Figure 4.8 ).

Within the Islam ic world, women outnumbered men among the enslaved two to one. Men were primarily employed in domestic work or service within the estates of the rich, laboring on irrigation projects and in mines or taking care of animals. Most women were kept in wealthy households, where they became domestic servants such as nursemaids or were kept for sexual purposes. Although enslaved people did have legal recourse if mistreated or abused, it was difficult for them to access the courts without the aid of a sympathetic free person. There was no social stigma to prevent a slave owner from recognizing his children with an enslaved woman; the children were born free, and the mother gained her freedom upon the death of her owner.

Muhammad encouraged the freeing of enslaved people, and many Muslims did so. Enslaved men and women were also allowed to purchase their own freedom. This, together with the fact that the children of enslaved women and their owners were born free, meant that it was difficult to maintain a permanently enslaved population in the Islamic world or to make the enslaved population self-reproducing. Those who sought to use enslaved workers thus frequently needed to replenish their labor force by making new purchases, ensuring that the trade in enslaved people remained important in the Islamic world until the nineteenth century.

Technology in the Islamic World

Despite the absence of centralized political authority, communication across long distances was possible in the Islamic world because Arabic , the language of the Quran, also served for most scholarly and administrative purposes as well as religious ones. Scholars were widely scattered but rarely were they isolated, and most traders carried letters across long distances as part of their cargo. Scientists were thus able to compare their observations, students learned from advisers and mentors in far-off lands, and members of the ulama sought counsel from colleagues they might never meet.

Because of the dominance of trade and travel in the Islamic world, scientific and technological innovations that supported these endeavors were especially prized. Mapmaking, for example, was particularly valued. Maps were created by geographers who collected information about the known world through either their own observations or knowledge disseminated by others. For example, in 1513, the Ottoman admiral and cartographer Piri Reis completed a map of the known world ( Figure 4.9 ). To do so, he relied on observations made by Christopher Columbus, Portuguese explorers in India, and several Arab sources. Unfortunately, only about one-third of his map has survived.

One of the travelers who produced a wealth of geographic information for Islamic mapmakers was Ibn Battuta , a fourteenth-century Moroccan reputed to have traveled more than seventy-three thousand miles during his lifetime. He initially journeyed to Mecca to perform the hajj , the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, but then decided to continue exploring north and east of Arabia instead of going home. He eventually made his way to China, returning via East Africa and crossing the Sahara to Mali as an envoy of the king of Morocco. Toward the end of his life, Ibn Battuta dictated his memoirs of his travels, which not only were important for mapmakers of his time but also remain a valuable primary source for historians today. Other travelers also produced hajj narratives that pilgrims often used as guides to the lands they passed through.

Beyond developing devices useful for trade and travel, Islamic innovators also devised systems for using location and compass headings to calculate the qibla , the direction toward Mecca that Muslims must face while praying. Early methods relied on crude directions (“Mecca is east”), but by the ninth century, mathematical calculations were being used. By the fourteenth century, mathematics had progressed to the degree that Shams al-Din al-Khalili, the official timekeeper of Damascus, applied advanced trigonometry to calculate the qibla for a range of locations with such precision that today’s satellite technology is barely able to improve on it. These and other efforts to fix a person’s location on the globe led to advancements in astronomical measurements, as did the need to calculate prayer times each day based on the sun’s position in the sky.

Military technology , especially the use of gunpowder , also greatly advanced in this period. Originally developed in China, gunpowder was transmitted to the Islamic world in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, possibly first introduced by the Mongols. By the fifteenth century, the Janissary corps of the Ottoman Empire were using firearms like the arquebus, an early long gun, in battle. And it was the Ottomans who famously used artillery in the siege of Constantinople in 1453. The Ottoman Empire was not the only Islamic state to use and improve upon gunpowder arms. Both the Safavid s in Iran and the Mughal s in India were famous for their ability to arm their soldiers with firearms like the powerful matchlock rifle ( Figure 4.10 ).

In 1974, historians Marshall G. S. Hodgson and William H. McNeill theorized that the adoption of gunpowder technology was what led to the rise of the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal realms, coining the term “gunpowder empires” as a description of them. Today that theory is largely disputed, but the name has remained. What these empires had in common was their conception of the entire state as a military force, in which all political, economic, and cultural resources were coordinated by the central government to strengthen the army and maintain internal and external security. Their view of the state and their ability to consolidate resources in order to pay for technological advances also enabled these three empires to research, develop, and deploy new military technologies, including firearms and cannon, much more quickly than their enemies did. For more than two centuries, they were among the strongest and most stable economies in the world, and their patronage of art and culture produced works of visual art, architecture, and literature that are still considered among the best ever produced. Collectively, the so-called gunpowder empires earned the awe, envy, respect, and fear of their contemporaries in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Dueling Voices

Perspectives on trade in the muslim world.

An emphasis on how Muslims should conduct business affairs is found in some of the hadith or sayings of the prophet Muhammad, himself a trader. Sunni Muslims consider hadiths collected by al-Bukhari, Abu Dawud, and Ibn Majah among the most authentic guides to behavior. Shi‘ites place more faith in stories narrated by Muhammad’s daughter Fatima and her husband, Muhammad’s cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, whom they recognize as the Prophet’s direct successor as leader of the Muslim community.

There will be three types of people whom Allah will neither speak to them on the Day of Resurrection nor will purify them from sins, and they will have a painful punishment: They are, (1) a man who possesses superfluous water along the road who withholds it from travelers. . . . (3) a man who sells something to another man . . . and swears a false oath that he has been offered so much for it whereupon the buyer believes him and buys it although in fact, the seller has not been offered such a price. —Sahih al-Bukhari 7212

Hakim asked [Muhammad]: “A man comes to me and wants me to sell him something which is not in my possession. Should I buy it for him from the market?” [Muhammad] replied: “Do not sell what you do not possess.” —Sunan Abi Dawud 3503

Transactions may only be done by mutual consent. —Ibn Majah Vol. 3, Book 12, Hadith 2185

Almost a millennium later, the philosopher and historian Ibn Khaldun wrote about the importance of governments allowing trade:

As we have stated, the dynasty is the greatest market, the mother and base of all trade. [It is the market that provides] the substance of income and expenditures [for trade]. If government business slumps and the volume of trade is small, the dependent markets will naturally show the same symptoms, and to a greater degree. Furthermore, money circulates between subjects and ruler, moving back and forth. Now, if the ruler keeps it to himself, it is lost to the subjects. This is how God proceeds with His servants. — Muqaddimah , Chapter 3, section 40

According to the hadith, what are some of the ethical standards that should govern business? Why do you think these were made part of religious law?
According to Ibn Khaldun, why is allowing trade important for a government? What would happen if governments restricted it?

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Islam and Travel in the Middle Ages

Houari Touati

In the Middle Ages, Muslim travelers embarked on a rihla , or world tour, as surveyors, emissaries, and educators. On these journeys, voyagers not only interacted with foreign cultures—touring Greek civilization, exploring the Middle East and North Africa, and seeing parts of Europe—they also established both philosophical and geographic boundaries between the faithful and the heathen. These voyages thus gave the Islamic world, which at the time extended from the Maghreb to the Indus Valley, a coherent identity.

Islam and Travel in the Middle Ages assesses both the religious and philosophical aspects of travel, as well as the economic and cultural conditions that made the rihla possible. Houari Touati tracks the compilers of the hadith who culled oral traditions linked to the prophet, the linguists and lexicologists who journeyed to the desert to learn Bedouin Arabic, the geographers who mapped the Muslim world, and the students who ventured to study with holy men and scholars. Travel, with its costs, discomforts, and dangers, emerges in this study as both a means of spiritual growth and a metaphor for progress. Touati’s book will interest a broad range of scholars in history, literature, and anthropology.

Geography: Cultural and Historical Geography

History: Middle Eastern History

Literature and Literary Criticism: Classical Languages

Medieval Studies

Middle Eastern Studies

Religion: Islam

Table of contents
Author Events

Related Titles

“Much learning supports Touati’s book, which gives us a richer sense of the driving forces behind travel in the Islamic Middle Ages than we have had before.”

Francis Robinson | Times Literary Supplement

“This is an elegant work of exploration and synthesis, linking Greek analysis of the sensorium to Muslim debates concerning the priority of seeing over hearing. The range of original sources from Islamic civilization is stunning, including medieval litterateurs from al-Jāhiz to al-Bīrūnī to Ibn Khallikān. Travel as both experience and metaphor, practice and trope, is illumined here by Touati in cogent vignettes that engage—and advance—current debates about knowledge, its acquisition, its soundness, and its permeable boundaries. No other book like it exists in the library of scholarship on Islam and the Muslim world.”

Bruce B. Lawrence, Duke University

“Many of us appreciate the unique importance of travel and exile for Islamic literature and thought. In English, however, we have had nothing to rival Touati’s Islam and Travel in the Middle Ages , with its subtle, original argument, its elegant style, and its wide and profound coverage of original sources. Touati brings together a rich variety of topics and themes, with an underlying epistemological distinction—between ‘audition’ and ‘eyewitnessing’—that informed the experience of Muslim travelers and their literary output. We are fortunate to have this fluent, precise English translation.”

Michael Bonner, University of Michigan

“ Islam and Travel in the Middle Ages considers travel from an unorthodox and engaging perspective—not as a question of commerce, transportation, or engineering, but as conceptual category, intellectual quest, and epistemological value. By thoughtful engagement with Arabic texts of various genres, including but by no means limited to travelogues, Touati shows how knowledge was acquired, valued, packaged, and disseminated, as well as the categories by which it was conceived and defined. The publication of this work in French revealed a noticeable gap in our synthetic understanding of the voyage as both a mode of knowledge and a means for the production of knowledge in medieval Islamicate societies; it has now been enhanced in this painstaking English translation.”

Franklin D. Lewis, University of Chicago

“Elegantly written, superbly documented, and imaginative in scope and analysis, this erudite and interesting book is the definitive account of how travel in Islam was knowledge, practice, combat, image, and absence.”

Brannon Wheeler, United States Naval Academy

Preface to the English-Language Edition (2010)

Acknowledgments (2000)

Introduction

Chapter 1: Invitation to the Voyage

The ‘ilm , an Onomastic Emblem

A Catastrophic Theory of Knowledge

The Genealogical Structure of Knowledge

Chapter 2: The School of the Desert

Linguists and Bedouins

The Stay in the Desert

A Geography of Pure Language

A Theory of the Stay in the Desert

Chapter 3: The Price of Travel

Financing a Voyage

Paying a Personal Price

Terminus

Chapter 4: Autopsy of a Gaze

The Eye of the Popeyed Man

A Geographer in His Study

The Experience of the Voyage

A Clinical Look at Muslim Verismo

Muqaddasi, Strabo, and Greek Science

Chapter 5: Attaining God

The Theory of the Errant Life

Topographical Writing

Sufism as a Crossing of the Desert

The Voyage to Syria

Entering into the Desert

Society and Its Obverse

Chapter 6: Going to the Borderlands

The Ulemas and Jihad

An Ideology of Combat

Jihad and Hagiography

Chapter 7: Writing the Voyage

Narrating an Absence

The Extraordinary in the Voyage

The Travel Letter

An Art of Travel

A Return to the Travel Narrative

Conclusion: The Journey to the End of the Same

Chronological List of Principal Travel Accounts

Bibliography

Al-Ghazali’s "Moderation in Belief"

Reading darwin in arabic, 1860-1950.

Marwa Elshakry

Knot of the Soul

Stefania Pandolfo

Mullahs on the Mainframe

Jonah Blank

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Explore the Museum / Astronomy and Navigation

9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m | Sunday to Thursday

The many contributions made by Muslim scholars to astronomy and navigation are reviewed in this cluster. Also, highlighted are the practical uses of astronomy – to determine the dates of the holy months, the time of prayer and the direction of the “qibla”.

Explorer’s Map

This interactive world map allows you to compare the routes traveled by the famous Muslim traveler, Ibn Battuta, with those of other famous travelers.

Armillary Sphere

A tabletop Armillary Sphere is a basic model of the solar system. Large Armillary Spheres were used for observation.

Celestial Globe

Celestial globes recorded the distribution of celestial bodies (planets, moons, stars) in the night sky.

The Great Explorers

This video reviews the journeys made by four great Muslim travelers, navigators and cartographers, including Ibn Battuta, Ibn Majid, Piri Re’is and Zheng He.

Astronomy and Navigation Theater

This six-minute video provides an overview of the significant contributions made by Islamic scholars to astronomy and navigation.

The Quadrant was one of the most important astronomical and navigational instruments used by early Muslim scholars. It is used to determine the height of a celestial body above the horizon.

Terrestrial Globe of al-Idrisi

The flat map of the known world produced by al-Idrisi in 1154 is shown here on a spherical globe. The outlines of the continents that we know today are also shown on the globe.

Living Earth

The remarkably accurate calculations made by Muslim astronomers and navigators of the circumference, radius and diameter of the Earth, as well as their discoveries in relation to the phases of the moon and the way in which the Earth revolves around its axis, are shown in this display. Some of the features on the Earth’s moon that are named after Muslim scholars are also on display

Ibn Battuta Game

When Ibn Battuta set out from his home in Tangiers in 1325 at the age of 21 years on his hajj to Makkah, he did not realize that he would spend 29 years on the road. During his epic journey, Ibn Battuta met 60 Heads of State and visited over 40 modern-day countries on his extended pilgrimage.

During his extensive travels he visited nearly every part of the Islamic world, from Andalusia in the west, West and East Africa in the south, the Gulf region and Asia Minor in the north, to India and China in the east.

models of astronomy instruments

In the niches along one wall of the ‘Astronomy and Navigation’ theater, exact scale model replicas of famous astronomical and navigational tools made by Muslim scholars are displayed.

Astrolabe components

The different components of an Astrolabe are displayed in the drawer.

The Astrolabe was the equivalent of a medieval calculator. They were used for a wide variety of observations and calculations in astronomy and navigation.

Four stages in the development of the magnetic compass are displayed.

Astronomy books and diagrams

Diagram of the Universe

This drawer displays an early Islamic diagram of the universe.

Piri Re’is map

A replica of Piri Re’is famous map, the first to show the Antarctic Peninsula and the east coasts of South and North America, is displayed.

Book of Curiosities

This drawer displays a 11th century map from the ‘Book of Curiosities’.

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The crisis of globalization.

Globalization, the war on terror, and Islamic fundamentalism—followed closely by a rise in Islamophobia—have escalated tensions between Western nations and the Muslim world. Yet internationally renowned Islamic scholar Akbar Ahmed believes that through dialogue and understanding, these cultures can coexist peacefully and respectfully. That hope and belief result in an extraordinary journey. To learn what Muslims think and how they really view America, Ahmed traveled to the three major regions of the Muslim world the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia. Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization is the riveting story of his search for common ground. His absorbing narrative and personal photos bring the reader on a tour of Islam and its peoples. Ahmed sought to understand the experiences and perceptions of ordinary Muslims. Visiting mosques, madrassahs, and universities, he met with people ranging from Pakastan President Pervez Musharraf to prime ministers, princes, sheikhs, professors, and students. He observed, listened, and asked them questions. For example, who inspires them? What are they reading? How do the Internet and international media impact their lives? How do they view America, the West, and changes in society? Ahmed’s anthropological expedition enjoyed extensive access to women and youths, revealing unique information on large yet often misunderstood populations. Lamentably, he found high levels of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism and a widespread perception that Islam is under attack from the West. But he also brought back reason for hope. He returned from his groundbreaking travels both impressed with the concerned, kind nature of the individuals he encountered and invigorated with the vitality and passion they displayed. Journey into Islam makes a powerful plea for forming friendships across religion, race, and tradition to create lasting peace between Islam and the West.

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Akbar Ahmed is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University and a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution. He is former high commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain, and he has taught at Princeton, Harvard, and Cambridge Universities.

Trade and Commerce During the Islamic Golden Age

Ahmed Danyal Arif, London, UK

From the 8 th to the 11 th centuries, the Muslim world exerted, on the East as on the West, an undisputed economic supremacy. Take the example of Iraq, the first centre of the Abbasid dynasty (750 AD-1258 AD), where commercial exchange had existed throughout the Late Antiquity period (284 AD-700 AD). But there is a contrast between the agrarian-based economy of that earlier period and the more urban and commercialized orientation during the Islamic golden age.

The ‘Islamic market’, a large and unified economic bloc stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to Central Asia, is assumed to have been created by Muslim conquests and political as well as social conditions favourable for economic growth in general and for commerce in particular.[1] Commerce was seen as positive and encouraged by the elimination of previous political boundaries, especially between the Byzantine Empire and Sassanian Iran, through the abolition of transit tolls and through greater security. Along with the emergence of a single monetary system based on both gold (dinar) and silver (dirham) and the use of Arabic as a single commercial language, these factors contributed to greater regional exchange and interdependence, regional agricultural and industrial specialisation, and the export of raw material, agricultural products and textiles for mass consumption . [2]

However, it would be unjust if we focused on the achievements of the Islamic world without considering the context in which they arose. Before recounting the specifics, we must not forget that it was not only its power which helped the Abbasids to achieve such great economic growth. The foundation for this growth was the teaching of the Holy Prophet (sa), who set forth a magnificent example of honesty and integrity, and stressed his believers to emulate these qualities as well. For example, the Holy Prophet (sa) once came upon a merchant who was selling some grain or rice. He put his hand deeper into the hand of rice and found that the grain inside was wet. He admonished the seller, explaining that he should represent his goods honestly so that the buyer could make an informed decision as to the quality of the product. This emphasis on honesty and integrity in buying and selling led to strong mutual trust – trust that is essential to the development and growth of trade, and thereby triggering an economic revolution.

Islam, Trade and Commerce

Since ancient times at the very least, the Arabian peninsula’s inhabitants were professional and experienced merchants. Arab tribes settled mostly near the coast (more specifically the southwestern corner, called ‘Arabia Felix’, which enjoyed more productive fields and fertile soil), with their mercantile caravans travelling regularly, serving as a commercial link between Syria and Egypt on one side and the coasts of the Indian Sea on the other.[3] There was also a custom of arranging commercial fairs at various locations during different times of the year, wherein merchants coming from distant places would engage in trade. Regions such as Dumat al-Jandal, Mushaqqar, San’a and Ukaz, among others, were quite noteworthy in the observance of these fairs. Before the advent of Islam and during the time of the Holy Prophet (sa), the mercantile caravans of the Quraish regularly travelled to Syria, Yemen and other regions as well. Exports consisted mainly of valuable minerals, pearls, spices and fragrant materials, while imports were generally comprised of grain, clothing, weaponry, liquor and dry foods.[4]

When the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) reached the age of adulthood, he was also involved in commerce upon the desire and encouragement of his uncle Abu Talib. He (sa) travelled to many places, including Yemen, Syria and Bahrain. Every time, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) fulfilled his commercial engagements with remarkable honesty, trust and skill. Because of this, he received the title of Amin (honest) among the Makkans. As a result of this honesty, the Holy Prophet (sa) was also greatly revered in Makkah and was known as an exceptionally righteous individual who always spoke the truth.

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa), before his claim to prophethood, also acted as agent in a partnership in which the investment was provided by the illustrious and noble Hazrat Khadijah (ra). Once, she sent Muhammad (sa) to Syria with her commercial goods and because of his exceptional honesty and truthfulness, this trade venture was successful and much profit was generated. Witnessing his great moral qualities and capabilities, she herself proposed marriage to him and thus became Muhammad’s (sa) first wife.

Since the earliest converts to Islam had included members of the Quraish, the tribe of the Holy Prophet (sa) himself, , the region’s lengthy legacy of experience in mercantile endeavours and trade was perpetuated in the formative years of the Islam. Many of the followers and eminent companions of the Prophet Muhammad (sa) were traders. They increased their wealth through trade and the Holy Prophet (sa) did not stop them from doing so. On the contrary, the Holy Qur’an encouraged it in the following words:

‘O ye who believe! Devour not your property among yourselves by unlawful means, except that you earn by trade and mutual consent.’[5]

‘Allah has made trade lawful and made interest unlawful.’[6]

After the demise of Holy Prophet (sa), enthusiasm for trade only expanded along with the first conquests and increasing acceptance of Islam’s message. Despite Islam’s meteoric rise, it did not disturb either the surrounding regions’ underlying operating parameters or their economic motivations – as trade continued unabated. The mass of Arab immigrants did not impede normal economic activity, and the healthy transitional integration was accomplished because of the introduction of an ingenious system of stipends under the Caliphate of Hazrat Umar (ra) . With the regular financial assistance provided under the Caliphate of Umar (ra), the immigrants, far from becoming an economic liability, reactivated cash mobility in new territories, since they reinvigorated the economy by spending those stipends.[7] Muslim rulers maintained political and administrative cohesiveness and did not levy any taxes that the population of the Near East had not already been paying for the benefit of the earlier political regimes.

It is obvious that the rise of a political and administrative structure in the central regions of Near East, in Syria under the Umayyads (661 AD-750 AD), and in Mesopotamia under the Abbasids (750 AD-1258 AD), was accompanied by a powerful injection of ready cash into the economy. People who received that cash were then able to spread that wealth to the wider community by spending it on goods. As a consequence, new urban settlements created new consumer centres and this contributed to a substantial increase in economic productivity. Later, with the transfer of the Islamic caliphate from the Umayyads to the Abbasids dynasty in 750, the Dar al-Islam found itself even more directly situated at the concourse of trans-continental commerce.

Economic Geography and the Commercial Network

In 750, the first dynasty ruling the Islamic world, the Umayyads of Damascus (661-750), collapsed following a revolution in the Khurasan region (in modern-day Iran). However, it would take another ten years or so for the next dynasty, the Abbasids, to truly establish itself. After consolidating his political leadership, Caliph Ja’far al-Mansur quickly laid the foundations for the new Abbasid state by shifting the centre of the Islamic Empire towards the East, in the heart of Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq).

More broadly, the geographical location of Iraq made it a land bridge between Iran, India, Central Asia and China on one side; and the Arabian Peninsula, Syria, Egypt and the West on the other. Thus, under suitable conditions, the inhabitants of Iraq were able to become the effective intermediaries of world commerce, being at the intersection of multiple land and sea trade routes and that made it a centre of transit trade for surrounding regions.[8] According to the economic historian Michael G. Morony, ‘the major overland routes intersecting in central Iraq in the late Sasanian period radiated north-eastwards through Hamadan and Ray to Khurasan and the Silk Road to China, eastwards along the lower Tigris to Khuzestan, Fars and Sistan, southwards through Bahrain and the Yamamah to Sasanian Yemen, westwards from al-Hira across the Syrian desert to Gerasa and Egypt, and to the northwest along the Royal Road east of the Tigris from Daskara to Kirkuk, Altun Kupri and Irbil, then west across the Khazir River and the Tigris at Gomel to Nusaybin and Byzantine Mesopotamia. A transit route went through Iraq from the Gulf to Byzantine Mesopotamia.’[9]

Major new port facilities were constructed at Basra and served as arteries for commercial transport, and neighbouring Ubulla on the Arabian Gulf was the terminus of seaborne trade to India and China. From these seaports, merchants could proceed to Oman and Yemen, from whence they could embark on one of two major trade routes — westward to East Africa, Zanzibar, and the Comoros Islands; or eastward to India, Malaysia and China. These overland routes continued to be used in early Islamic times, with the most important being the Khurasan road to north-eastern Iran. The Khuzistan road from Basra to Kirman was used in the ninth century by Jewish merchants who went as far as India. Also, new trade routes connected Basra and Kufa with the Hijaz, went up the Euphrates River to Raqqa with overland connections to Syria, went up the Tigris River to Mosul displacing the old Royal Road and then overland to Nasibin, brought Russian merchants via the Volga and Caspian overland from the south shore of the Caspian to Baghdad, and connected al-Basra by sea with East Africa and the Red Sea.

The Central Position of Baghdad

From the late eighth century, Baghdad ( Madinat al-Salam ), the new capital of the Abbasids, developed as the economic nexus of the network just described. But the image of trade converging on and radiating out from this great metropolis should be qualified by noting the existence of multidirectional exchange between all of Iraq’s urban commercial centres along with transit trade through Iraq.

Regarding the capital, the Caliph al-Mansur himself laid the first brick on the west bank of the Tigris, and to build it, he employed 100,000 architects, artisans, smiths, carpenters and other laborers. They worked for four years (762-766), and its total cost amounted to 4,883,000 dirhams. Destined to be a major urban centre, by the 9 th century, Baghdad covered over 25 square miles and boasted a population approaching a half million people.[10]

When Ja’far al-Mansur founded this ‘Round City’ to become his capital (which until then had been located in Damascus) he was fully aware that he had made the centre of the Islamic world (the caliphate) coincide with the centre of the world. Indeed, sources clearly show that the location of the site was chosen, not just for its defensive advantages, but also for its economic potential. Tabari attributes to its founder the following words: “ This is a good place for an army camp. Here’s the Tigris, with nothing between us and China, and on it arrives all that the sea can bring, as well as provisions from the Jazirah, Armenia and surrounding areas. Further, there is the Euphrates on which can arrive everything from Syria, al-Raqqah, and surrounding areas. ”[11]

In another passage, as he was looking for a suitable site for his new capital, he was advised to go to a place called Barimma, which was known for its convenience and healthiness. After spending the night there, he rejected the site and said: ‘It could not support the army, the people, and the various groups. What I want is a place that is comfortable for the people and congenial for them as well as for me, a place where the prices will not become too high for them and the food supplies will not prove too hard to obtain. If I live in a place where it is impossible to import anything by land or sea, the prices will be high, goods will be scarce, and shortages in the food supply will cause hardship for the people . ’[12]

It is hard to be certain that such words were actually spoken, but they reflect the thinking of the Caliph and his advisers when they see the advantages of the site in Baghdad. And as indicated by medieval Arab sources, the direction and dispersion of Abbasid trade clearly made the Dar al-Islam a veritable emporium of merchandise – a vast trade mart produced by the Islamic administration’s intense commitment to promoting mercantile activities.

A Variety of Goods Exchanged

The essential goods for Iraq’s urban centres were foodstuffs and edible agricultural products.[13] Many grains (wheat, barley, rice) were grown in Iraq but were also imported from Egypt, Mosul and India. Dates were grown around Basra and Kufa and exported to Sri Lanka, apples came from Isfahan and Syria and peaches from Iran. Quinces, pears, prunes, citrons, jujubes, olives and figs respectively came from Syria, Iran, Isfahan, Rayy, Susa, Jurjan and Raqqa. Fruit syrup, dried fruit and various kinds of nuts came from the Jazira or India. Cheese and honey came from Mosul and the Volga region, mushrooms from Balkh and dried fish from Iran. Sugar and vegetable oil for cooking came from Syria, Yemen and Iran. Mosul and Isfahan were also sources of salt, spices came from Iran and India, while cinnamon and ginger came from China.[14]

Among important objects of exchange, there were also raw materials, manufactured cloth, articles of clothing and carpets. Although produced and exported from Iraq, cotton cloth and silk textiles also came from Syria, Central Asia or Andalus, wool and felts from Armenia or North Africa, and silk from Iran, Samarqand, India and China. Specific articles of clothing included undergarments, scarves, turbans, veils, hats, waistbands, belts, cushions, mattresses, bedspreads, and prayer mats. Although the best textile dyes are said to have been prepared at Wasit, most dyes for textile production seem to have been imported to Iraq. Saffron, indigo, curcuma, sumac for tanning and dying and acacia leaves for tanning came from Yemen, Iran, India, Egypt but also North Africa. Leather, tiger skins, shoes or fennec arrived from Yemen, northern Arabia, Central Asia, India, and the Volga region.[15]

Already used by early Islamic times, aromatic substances and the use of perfumes appears to have increased. Perfumes generally came from Azerbaijan, Tibet or India. Musk came from Tibet and China, camphor from India, frankincense and myrrh from Yemen, and oils of jasmine from Fars. Various drugs came from India and China and medicinal preparations were also traded.

Precious stones were also articles of commerce. Rubies and diamonds came from India and Sri Lanka, emeralds from Iran, the best pearls came from Oman and ivory reached Baghdad from East Africa. Metals and wood had to be imported into Iraq. Silver came from Yemen, gold from East Africa and China, and the best kinds of copper from Andalus. Wood, especially teak for houses and ships as well as white sandalwood came from India.[16]

Finally, a variety of other manufactured articles was traded. Soap came from various places like Raqqa and fish glue from the Volga region. Paper came from Egypt, Samarqand and China, ink from China, and reed pens from Raqqa. Glass utensils came from Baghdad and Syria. Pottery goods were likewise produced in the capital and jars for filtering water came from Maysan, while porcelain was imported from China.[17]

As described, a massive international trading network rapidly spread out under the early Abbasids. Actively promoted by the caliphate’s government itself, the resulting commercial achievements thereby became the capstone of longstanding productive early Arab trade. Considerable quantities of articles destined for mass consumption, textiles and victuals were exchanged between distant provinces of the vast empire. There can be no doubt that this increase in the volume of trade ushered in a flourishing period for many. Industrial production was growing steadily, prices and salaries were rising, the demand for skilled labour was considerable and the population of the urban areas increased more and more. In other words, the major trends of social and economic development in the Islamic world were exactly contrary to those characteristics of the history of Europe during the same period, which, at the time, was going through a period of population decline along with a decline in trade

Founded upon a powerful legacy of mercantile tradition and lent structure by the economic tenets of Islam – an intricate trading network that had begun in pre-Islamic Arabia, was impelled by the early Muslims, and culminated, in its full fruition, under the early Abbasid dynasts. The result was a vibrant economic outcome that would ultimately empower the Dar al-Islam to forge the most far-reaching and dynamic commercial empire that the world to date had known.

About the Author: Ahmed Danyal Arif is a French economist by education and currently working in London. He has a Master’s degree in Economics and Politics. After working for the French tax administration system, he published two books in French: Islam & Capitalism: For an Economic Justice (2016), and Economic History of the Islamic World: From Pre-Islamic Arabia to the Umayyad Dynasty (2019). He currently serves as the Editor for the Economics Section in The Review of Religions.

[1] M Shatzmiller, “Economic Performance and Economic Growth in the Early Islamic World,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient , vol. 54, (2011) pp. 132-184; F Bessard, Caliphs and Merchants: Cities and Economies of Power in the Near East (700-950) , (Oxford University Press, Oxford: 2020).

[2] M Lombard, The Golden Age of Islam , (Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2009), translated by Joan Spencer; M. Rodinson, Islam and Capitalism (New York: Penguin Books Ltd., 1973), 56, translated by Brian Pearce.

[3] A D Arif, “Meccan Capitalism & the Economic Revolution of Islam”, Rational Religion , 2018, Accessed September, 2022. https://rationalreligion.co.uk/meccan-capitalism-the-economic-revolution-of-islam/.

[4] Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra), The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) (Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin) , volume 1, (Tilford: Islam International Publications: 2011), 69.

[5] The Holy Quran, 4:30.

[6] The Holy Quran, 2:276.

[7] A. D. Arif, “The Forgotten Economic Genius of Hazrat Umar ibn Al-Khattab”, Rational Religion . March, 2020. Accessed September, 2022. https://rationalreligion.co.uk/the-forgotten-economic-genius-of-hazrat-umar-ibn-al-khattab-islams-second-caliph/.

[8] A. A. al-Duri, Ta’rikh al-‘Iraq al-Iqtisadi fi’l-Qarn ar-Rabi al-Hijri, (Economic History of Iraq at the 4 th Century A.H. ) (Beirut: 1974), 119.

[9] M Morony, “Commerce in Early Islamic Iraq”, Asien Afrika Lateinamerika , vol. 20, (1993): p. 701; Al-Duri, pp. 141-151.

[10] P. K. Hitti, Capital Cities of Arab Islam , (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press: 1973), 88.; G W Heck, Charlemagne, Muhammad and the Arab Roots of Capitalism (Berlin & New York: De Gruyter, 2006), 67.

[11] A. Y. Al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari (Ta‘rikh al-rusul wa‘l muluk) , Volume XXVIII: ‘Abbasid Authority Affirmed, Bibliotheca Persica, State University of New York Press, edited by E. Yar-Shater, (2001): p. 238.

[12] Al-Tabari, p. 240.

[13] H. N. Kennedy, “The Feeding of the Five Hundred Thousand: Cities and Agriculture in Early Islamic Mesopotamia”, Iraq . vol. 73, (2011): pp. 177-199.; A. M. Watson, Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World: The Diffusion of Crops and Farming Techniques, 700-1100 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1983).

[14] E. Ashtor, A Social and Economic History of the Near East in the Middle Ages (London: William Collins Sons & Co Ltd: 1976), 78.; Al-Duri, pp. 138-140; Morony, p. 702.

[15] Al-Duri, pp. 138-141; Morony, p. 703.

[16] Al-Duri, pp. 138-141; Morony, p. 704; A. J. Naji, Y. N. Ali, “ The Suqs of Basrah: Commercial Organization and Activity in a Medieval Islamic City”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient , vol.24. no.3 (1981), pp. 298-309.

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4. The spirituality of Travel

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7. Know thyself

8. Experience something ‘new’

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Travellers and Explorers from a Golden Age

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Al – Muq a d da s i, ( ca 9 45 – 100 0 )

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Al-Di ma s h qi , A 14 th C entur y