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Ibn Jubayr Describes the Standing at Arafat during the Hajj
The hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, during Dhu’l Hijjah, the twelfth lunar month in the Islamic calendar, takes place at locations in and around Mecca, including the circumambulation of the Kaaba, the running between Safa and Marwa hills, and…
Ibn Jubayr Describes a 12th Century Hajj Caravan
Khulays has a spring of abundant waters to which are joined underground conduits whence water is drawn... At these men renew their supplies of water, for there is little of it upon the way on account of the continuous drought. May God send rains in…
Paper as a New Technology in Muslim Lands
Al-Jahiz, “The Disadvantages of Parchment” What is it to you that all my books are written on China paper or Khurasan paper? Explain why you have pressed on me the advantages of using parchment and urged me to write on hide, when you…
Ibn Fadlan's Journey to the Land of the Rus
I saw the Rusiya when they came hither on their trading voyages and had encamped by the river Itil. I have never seen people with a more developed bodily stature than they. They are as tall as date palms, blond and ruddy, so that they do not need to…
Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World (film)
This ninety-minute film takes audiences on an epic journey across nine countries and over 1,400 years of history. It explores the richness of Islamic art in objects big and small, from great ornamented palaces and the play of light in monumental…
