1185: Ibn Ǧubayr and a Local Muslim Leader Assess the Situation of Muslims in Sicily

Abstract

Between 578/1182–1183 and 581/1185, Ibn Ǧubayr al-Kinānī, a functionary of the Almohad governor of Granada, went on the pilgrimage to Mecca. On his journey home via the Mediterranean Sea, shipwreck forced him to spend the winter 580/1184–1185 in Sicily. During his stay, he travelled through the island and recorded the living conditions of the local Muslim population, already living under Christian rule since 120 years. This article focusses on Ibn Ǧubayr’s meeting with Abū l-Qāsim Muḥammad b. Ḥammūd b. al-Ḥaǧar, a leading figure among the Sicilian Muslims. Balancing the traveller’s account with information from parallel sources, the article shows that both Ibn Ǧubayr and his interlocutor took great care to present Muslim life under Norman rule in way that would enlist the support of a transmediterranean Muslim audience for the Muslim community of Sicily.