“The travels of Ibn Battutah” is a book that was written in order to tell about the journeys that Battutah undertook. The book describes his life journey from the day that he left Tangier; his birth place, to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca; until twenty nine years later he reached the city of Fez in which he decided to settle and make his home. As Battutah travels through the great land of Islam, Africa, India and China, he encounters different cultures and communities, and people of different beliefs and ways of living that have a great influence him. It happen especially when he travels further away from his homeland; his comfort zone that his identity starts to change from the influence of other, not so well know cultures.
Battutah starts his pilgrimage through the land of Africa. On his way to Cairo, he describes the cities and people that he met along the way, and some of the things that amazed or surprised him, as well as the things that people did differently from the way that he was thought. When Battutah reached Cairo, he shows a side of himself that might have not been expected from him; which is his bias. In Cairo he watches the pyramids and is not amazed by how great and big they are, or how much hard work had to be performed in order to achieve such great architectural structures. Instead, he describes them as pointed figures. He also criticizes the pharaoh as a ruler consumed with power who does not govern fairly. However, criticism of the government is not the only thing that Battutah does; other things involve the way in which people worship their religion. When he notices that people are praying in a different way than he is, or are just doing some small details differently, right away Battutah is trying to correct them and teach them how it supposed to be done. He does not even show respect regarding the funeral ceremony that was held in Baghdad, when sultan’s son had died. At that time his actions make him look as a person who has a hard time either accepting or understanding the fact that there are different religions; even though a lot of them are related; and different ways of worshipping them. This will be a major point for Battutah to understand, especially when he will travel further east.
At the time when Battutah started his pilgrimage, he was a person who was very motivated and eager to reach the Holy House at Mecca, and of visiting the tomb of the Prophet, but then he changed into someone who is very confident of himself, who knows what he wants and how to get it, and says what he thinks. Those things occur when he visits different cities and is provided with great hospitality by the cities citizens. The citizens always welcome Battutah and his fellow travelers, provide him with shelter and food, and the rulers or people with high positions in the city provide him with gifts such as gold, clothing, slaves, horses and things that he would need along the way. And although he receives those things willingly, there are times when he asks for them, and his wishes are granted to him.
His identity and behavior are reveled further in the readings where Battutah meets people of high position, such as rulers, judges and governors, in which company he enjoys a time of common prayer and meal. As well as having long conversations with them. One of the things that contribute to making them interesting is Battutah’s response to the questions being asked. He does not look like he takes under great consideration the fact of who he is talking with or the answers that are proper to reply, rather he always say what he thinks. And people are interested in what he has to say, and they ask him for more. So then he talks about the thinks that he saw so far, and places he would like to visit, as well as things that he like and dislikes, along with things that could be changed or made differently. These things provided him with the opportunity of becoming a judge and an ambassador; which gave him a chance of traveling to China.
Battutah spends a lot of time, during his travels on describing things that are happening around him. This is helpful as well as interesting because of the fact that he is an outsider. A person who is of different background, and who has been raised is different religion and culture than the cultures that he encounters. The food that he eats or actions being performed are opposite regarding some cultures that he goes into. For example, Battutah feels disgusted when he sees people eating animals that are not properly cleaned, with blood still dripping from them, and are stuffed. Another situation that he noticed is when men go into bathhouses not wearing towels, but being accompanied by women who “keep them company”. He also noticed how some societies do not use number ten instead they say nine and one (this happens on markets or during trade).
Battutah shows that he is not always able to understand those customs. To him they are new, strange and maybe even fascinating. However, he is always accompanied by a translator who provides him with explanations of the local customs.
“The travels of Ibn Battuath” make him the greatest traveler of all times. He traveled through the great land of Islam, Africa, and Asia, and achieving as well as loosing more than anyone possibly could. He had high position jobs and received many precious gifts; he went through sicknesses, the lost his family and escaped from robbers and soldiers. He never showed a sign of regretting what he had done, instead he shared it with others, proving that he was a man of wisdom, courage and curiosity.
