Ibn Battuta — "In this city, I saw a strange thing. The women do not veil themselves, and they …"
In this city, I saw a strange thing. The women do not veil themselves, and they do not show any shame for this.
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More from Ibn Battuta
"The women here are very beautiful, and they do not cover their faces. This is a custom that is not found in other Muslim lands."
"The children in this land run around naked, even in the marketplace. It is a strange sight to behold."
"Never did I see a man who was more eager to make gifts and to shed blood."
"The people of this country are very fond of chess, and they play it all day long."
"Traveling offers you a hundred roads to adventure, and gives your heart wings!"
About Ibn Battuta (1304-1369)
Moroccan Muslim scholar and explorer whose Rihla (travels) covered ~75,000 miles across the Islamic world from Mali to China — the most-traveled person of the medieval world. Closely associated with Marco Polo (his Venetian counterpart, traveling 50 years earlier in the opposite direction). For an intellectual contrast, see medieval European Christian insularity, the sheltered monastic-feudal worldview of 14th-century Latin Christendom — Ibn Battuta's 30-year journey demonstrates that the 14th-century Dar al-Islam was a single intellectual ecosystem from West Africa to Beijing, while medieval Europe was still tribal and parochial. The cleanest 'connectedness vs insularity' contrast in pre-modern history — Battuta could find a familiar Maliki judge in any city from Mali to Sumatra.