Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Travel as Episteme—an Introductory Journey
- PART I TRANSFORMING THE RIHLA TRADITION: THE SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE IN JEWISH, MUSLIM, AND CHRISTIAN TRAVELLERS
- PART II IMAGINING THE EAST: EGYPT, PERSIA, AND ISTANBUL IN MY MIND
- PART III TO THE EAST AND BACK: EXCHANGING OBJECTS, IDEAS, AND TEXTS
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 2 - Observing Ziyara in Two Medieval Muslim Travel Accounts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 January 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Travel as Episteme—an Introductory Journey
- PART I TRANSFORMING THE RIHLA TRADITION: THE SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE IN JEWISH, MUSLIM, AND CHRISTIAN TRAVELLERS
- PART II IMAGINING THE EAST: EGYPT, PERSIA, AND ISTANBUL IN MY MIND
- PART III TO THE EAST AND BACK: EXCHANGING OBJECTS, IDEAS, AND TEXTS
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
Summary
ABSTRACT
Muslim travel literature is rich with observations about worship in the pre-modern era as it took place in mosques, madrasas, shrines, tombs, and other spaces considered holy by devotees; the accounts include records of ritual— whether prayer, posture, or action— offered by believers. In addition to descriptions of ḥajj, one finds accounts by travellers who observed and/ or participated in ziyara, i.e., visits to tombs and shrines of Muslim saints. The travel writers observed pilgrims who participated in rituals honouring the Prophet's family or Sufi holy men and women. This essay explores the writings of two such travel writers: Ibn Jubayr and Ibn Battuta, sixth/ twelfth and eighth/ fourteenth centuries, respectively, who paid close attention to religious observances— their own and others— and who did not distinguish sectarian identity in what they observed. The records demonstrate an inter-sectarian devotion to saints, mediated by popular Sufi spirituality, which characterized the middle period.
Keywords: ziyara, Ibn Jubayr, Ibn Battuta, rihla, al-Qarafa (or ‘City of the Dead’)
MUSLIM TRAVEL LITERATURE of the medieval and early modern periods is rich with observations about political and economic realities of the pre-modern era, as well as scientific and artistic exchange. The accounts, called rihla, also provide precious information about worship spaces in the pre-modern era as it took place in mosques, madrasas, shrines, tombs, and other spaces considered holy by devotees; they furthermore include records of ritual— whether prayer, posture, or action— offered by believers. Modern representations of ritual (worship, liturgy) often portray it as static, popularly illustrated by the monophonic sound of chant in medieval Christian worship and the voice of the muezzin in the adhan. On the contrary, ritual is dynamic, diverse between regions, and revealing human concerns at their most vulnerable. Moreover, the shahada among Muslims, the shema among the Jews, and the Nicene Creed for Christians, all possess doctrinal and social significance as well as liturgical. In order to enhance worship while striving to keep it within the limits of doctrinal correctness, believers among all three Abrahamic faiths have created new musical forms, drama, poetry, and public processions. In the political arena, liturgical rituals confirmed the accession of rulers; scholars regularly consult ritual texts for ideas about the nature of kingship and the state. The rihla provide first-hand accounts of direct experience with worship and ritual.
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- Remapping Travel Narratives, 1000–1700To the East and Back Again, pp. 47 - 60Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2018