Ibn Battutah
 In the evening, while Tricia was rehearsing with the Manama Singers, I went to the La Fontaine where the Centre was putting on the first of three BBC films of Tim Mackintosh-Smith, following in the footsteps the 14thC Moroccan Muslim traveler Ibn Battutah. Over a period of thirty years, he travelled over 75,000 miles to 40 countries in three continents (three times that of his near contemporary Marco Polo) visiting most of the known Islamic world as well as many non-Muslim lands.In the first film we followed his journeys to India , Mauritius and to China. He explores the place of Islam in Hindu-dominated India and communist China, and tells the story of the Islamic trade empire of the 14th century. In China, he meets a clan who trace their ancestry back to Arabs, and witnesses an illegal Arabic lesson.
Sadly I will miss the following two films, but these are marked as books to read! |
