Ibn Fattoma Sparknotes

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The Journey of Ibn Fattouma by Naguib Mahfouz, is a folklore that pertains to the traditional cultural beliefs and practices of the pre – Islamic World. The storyline is a representation of a Medieval allegory that is fictional on its face but does hold some truth that is consistent with the set of ideas that is the framework of the State of Islam. The allegory describes the series of event that occur during the pilgrimage of an Egyptian Muslim traveler. Twenty-one-year-old Ibn Fattouma, is the narrator of the folklore. It is an explanation as to why the Muslim traveler embarks on a journey across the historical Middle East in the effort to find a utopian society. However, the abstract idea of such a society only symbolizes that characteristics …show more content…

The average Muslim traveler wanted to experience some form of traveling in one’s lifetime. The premise of the journey throughout the Islamic World was to have a life-changing experience in the effort to seek wisdom (Maḥfūẓ, 2011). The Muslim traveler set forth the objective of one’s journey to be an informal educational methodology and used the means of the process of observation and comprehension. The Muslim traveler had the opportunity to go on the journey of the Middle East in the effort to be introduced to unfamiliar organized societies. The individual would observe the cultural and social activity in which was present in the organized society of interest. The process of observation allowed the Muslim traveler to record the role of the regime and one’s encounters with the members of the society. As a result, it allowed the Muslim traveler to become knowledgeable of the structure of each continental landmass, each country that makes up the Islamic region by which the said traveler can compare and contrast the different ideas that give some contribution to the State of Islam. Although, the basis of the Islamic faith is concrete in its fundamental principles, the role of the regime effects each organized society under its jurisdiction different from another

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