In 14th century the world as it is today existed on a smaller and slower scale than the one we are used to waking up to, however many of the same concepts that interconnect the world today were at work back then. Nowadays, the pace of the modern world is faster thanks to technology, but the incredible connectedness between continents, countries and peoples is comparable to the 14th century. In the book Ibn Battuta in Black Africa, translated and edited by Said Hamdun and Noel King, the recollections of the young Muslim legal scholar and traveler Ibn Battuta, provide insight to the way the world was connected in the 14th century. Ibn Battuta travelled the expanse of the African continent two times during his many international travels, and this …show more content…
Ibn Battuta’s account of his travels in sub-Saharan Africa conveys the deep religious, commercial and cultural connection that linked sub Saharan Africa to other parts of the world during the 14th century. In Ibn Battuta’s time, the Islamic world was spread from its roots in the Middle East across the entirety of northern Africa, and it was the practice of this religion by so many neighboring peoples that was the most immediate thing that many foreigners had in common with each other. Most of the places to which Ibn Battuta travelled were home to very obedient followers of the Islamic faith, “religious people, trustworthy and righteous” (Ibn Battuta in Black Africa, 22). Battuta admires the way the Africans, “meticulously observe the times of the prayers and the attendance at them,” and therefore come early or otherwise, “not find a place to pray because of the numbers of the crowd” (Ibn Battuta in Black Africa, 58). The strict practices of attending prayers are testimony to how seriously and immensely the Islamic faith influenced the peoples of Africa, they immersed themselves in its teachings, therefore connecting with each other. Since most people living in northern Africa were Muslim, they knew and