Response Paper
The text is about an individual’s travelling experience. The individual narrates his voyage from Egypt to Mecca. The individual gives us a picture of how they travelled through different Egyptian towns. At one point, they had to stay in one town for about twenty days. This is because there were two routes and they were not in a position to make a prompt decision on the best route to follow. The author also narrates to the readers of how the city of Mecca looks like. In his/her description, the author gives us a clear picture of the physical outlook of the city of Mecca. According to the author, there are several mosques and milestones set up for people who go to Mecca to perform the pilgrimage. The author also tells us about Yemen which borders Mecca to the south. Other than that, the author describes the Haram Mosque that has something referred to as Ka’ba.
The main arguments of the text are the components of the city of Mecca. The author draws our attention not only to the physical features of the city but also draws our attention to the religious features and occurrences in the city.
According to me, the author did a good job in making these arguments since from the author’s explanation, the readers can easily relate to the text. In fact, someone who has not travelled to Mecca before can vividly picture how the city looks like.
The parts of the of the text that I like most is the description of how the author and the other travelers remained at one point for twenty days due to their inability to make a decision on the road to take. This part is interesting as I like such situations when I am in a dilemma and the alternatives are all unfavorable. I learnt that no matter the situation, one has to make a decision to move on with his or her life.
In summary, the text is about an individual’s experience in Mecca. The text left me wondering how Mecca came into existence. Moreover, I would love to learn more about Yemen.
Wednesday Paper
‘An account of the events that befell upon certain journey’ is a book that gives a chronology of the events during the travels of the author. The author, Ibn Jubayr, left his homeland to travel around the world in 1183. He travelled for slightly over two years and returned on April 1185. This paper explores the account given by the author. Ibn Jubayr account is important because he was not a merchant. Therefore, he had time to make observations and make a journal of what he saw. Secondly, he was an outsider and could take notice of everything that as happening even the most obvious things to merchants’ and sea farers.
Ibn Jubayr was a Muslim from Spain. It is interesting that he travelled on Christian ships. It is an indication of the religious tolerance between Muslims and Christians as well freedom of movement across religious divide. Ibn Jubayr travelled across various countries as merchants were trading and observed their interactions. He points out that merchants were interested in trading with everyone irrespective of religious affiliations. Everyone conducted themselves professionally. He points out that Christians and Muslims gave each other security when they visited each other’s land as long as taxes were paid. It can be observed from his account that violent encounters were as a result of unpaid dues and not religious differences. Ibr Jubayr focuses attention on modern day Egypt. He gives an account Misr and Alexandria. He gives an account of economic, social and religious activities in the communities. He also goes at great length to discuss various antiquities, tombs, monuments among other architectural features embedded in their culture. For instance, he vividly describes the pyramids and tombs for various important persons in modern day Egypt.
Works Cited
Jubayr, Ibn. An Account of the Events that Befell upon Certain Journey. 1183. Print.
n/a. Book of Travels. n/a.
Netton, Ian Richard. Seek Knowledge: Thought and Travel in the House of Islam. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.
