The purpose of this interdisciplinary study was to explore the experiences of al-rihla of International Muslim Graduate Students and to compare them to those of the Medieval Muslim Travelers. This qualitative study expands on the sparse existing literature by providing a new perspective for International Muslim Graduate Students' experiences of al-rihla and their role as cultural agents through an autoethnographic account and in-depth interviews with international Muslim graduate students. The study also makes a comparison of al-rihla in search of knowledge between International Muslim Graduate Students and Medieval Muslim Travelers. The naturalistic paradigm of inquiry was used in this study to acquire and analyze data. The data were collected from three resources: the auto-ethnographic account of the researcher, in-depth interviews with seven international Muslim graduate students, and the al-rihla accounts of three Medieval Muslim Travelers. Data analysis showed that educational experiences of Muslim travelers, over time, have been strongly influenced by three major factors: 1) religious beliefs about knowledge and the search for knowledge, 2) culture and cultural identity, and 3) issues of political power and positionality. Discussions of the al-rihla of international Muslim graduate students include the role of institutions of higher education as places and spaces for public pedagogy that can eliminate cultural differences and bridge cultural gaps by raising awareness of Islam as a culture and the empowerment of international Muslim graduate students as cultural agents of peace.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-05-07T13:39:49Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Thiago Damasceno Pinto Milhomem - 2018.pdf: 14290151 bytes, checksum: 86ef286d465a454e620f90c2592bfcb4 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-05-07T14:00:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Thiago Damasceno Pinto Milhomem - 2018.pdf: 14290151 bytes, checksum: 86ef286d465a454e620f90c2592bfcb4 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-07T14:00:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Thiago Damasceno Pinto Milhomem - 2018.pdf: 14290151 bytes, checksum: 86ef286d465a454e620f90c2592bfcb4 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-27 / Pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca (ḥajj) has been one of the pillars of Islam since the seventh century, the time of the advent of the religion in the Arabian Peninsula, as an ordering in the Holy Qur'an and in the sayings and deeds of Prophet Muḥammad. Being this pilgrimage mandatory for all faithful adults in good enough physical and material conditions, different personalities of the Islamic world have realized the sacred journey in different times. Many have left their written testimonies, as a legacy of their observations and impressions on societies and historical events of Islamic and non-Islamic domains, thus influencing the emergence of a specific literary genre of Arab-Islamic culture, the travel journal (rihla). One of the pioneers of this genre was Ibn Jubayr (1145-1217), a Muslim from the city of Valencia, writer of a journal of his travels to the region that today corresponds to the Middle East, between 1183 and 1185, a period between the Second and the Third Crusade. We use Ibn Jubayr's travel journal edited as “Through the East (Rihla)”, a version published by Alianza Literaria in 2007, and which consists of a translation from Arabic into Spanish by Felipe Maíllo Salgado. From this testimony, centered on the religious journey of the writer-traveler to Mecca, we analyze the possibilities and social conditions of ḥajj at the end of the twelfth century, in the context of the Crusades, a long-lasting historical phenomenon permeated by important religious, political, economic, military and cultural aspects / A peregrinação à cidade santa de Meca (ḥajj) é um dos pilares do Islã desde o século VII, época do advento da religião na Península Arábica, configurando como uma ordenação no Alcorão Sagrado e nos ditos e feitos do Profeta Muḥammad. Sendo essa peregrinação obrigatória para todo fiel adulto e são e em condições físicas e materiais para tal, diferentes personalidades do mundo islâmico realizaram a jornada sagrada em diversas épocas. Muitos deixaram seus testemunhos por escrito, legando à posteridade suas observações e impressões sobre sociedades e eventos históricos de domínios islâmicos e não islâmicos, influenciando assim no surgimento de um gênero literário específico da cultura árabe-islâmica, o relato de viagem (rihla). Um dos pioneiros do gênero foi Ibn Jubayr (1145-1217), muçulmano natural da cidade de Valência, escritor de um relato referente às suas viagens à região que hoje corresponde ao Oriente Médio, entre 1183 e 1185, período situado entre a Segunda e a Terceira Cruzada. Utilizamos o relato de viagens de Ibn Jubayr editado como A través del Oriente (Rihla), versão publicada pela editora Alianza Literaria em 2007 e que consiste em uma tradução do árabe para o espanhol feita por Felipe Maíllo Salgado. A partir desse testemunho, centrado no périplo religioso do viajante-escritor a Meca, analisaremos as possibilidades e condições sociais de realização do ḥajj em fins do século XII, contexto de Cruzadas, fenômeno histórico de longa duração permeado por importantes aspectos religiosos, políticos, econômicos, militares e culturais.

Submitted by Bruno Rafael Véras de Morais e Silva (profbrunov@gmail.com) on 2017-09-29T19:04:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Bruno Rafael Véras de Morais e Silva.pdf: 3827187 bytes, checksum: f1dafdd71e040faadc42a8c4599a4632 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Biblioteca Isaías Alves (reposiufbat@hotmail.com) on 2017-10-02T14:20:00Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Bruno Rafael Véras de Morais e Silva.pdf: 3827187 bytes, checksum: f1dafdd71e040faadc42a8c4599a4632 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-02T14:20:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Bruno Rafael Véras de Morais e Silva.pdf: 3827187 bytes, checksum: f1dafdd71e040faadc42a8c4599a4632 (MD5) / CNPQ - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / A viagem sempre foi um tema caro ao mundo muçulmano. Este fato não é vão, visto que um dos pilares da própria religião é a peregrinação religiosa à cidade sagrada de Meca (Hajj). A primeira metade do século XIV foi um período ímpar dentro do Dar al-Islam (Terra do Islã) e, consequentemente, para as viagens comerciais, religiosas ou diplomáticas que se realizavam neste espaço que ia desde o sul da península Ibérica até o extremo oeste da China. Tal qual o próprio ato de viajar, a escrita de viagens possuía grande importância dentro de diferentes reinos islâmicos que muito valor davam à escrita e a cultura erudita (adab). Neste contexto, destacamos um relato em específico, intitulado Tuhfat al-Nuzzar fi Ghara ‘ib al-Amsar wa-‘Aja ‘ib al-Asfar, podendo ser tra¬duzido como Um presente para aqueles que contemplam as Belezas das Cidades e as Maravilhas da Viagem. Esta obra, mais conhecida como Rihla, é resultado da escrita das viagens estendida por quase 30 anos pelo qadi maghrebino Ibn Battuta (1304-1377). Tal livro foi escrito com auxílio do poeta e erudito Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi (1321-1357), natural de Al-Andalus. Ele era então secretário do sultão Merínida Abu ‘Inan (1348-1358). O citado viajante percorreu boa parte do mundo islâmico de então e boa parte de suas bordas (da China à África Ocidental). O recorte geográfico da Rihla em que privilegiamos nossa análise foi o das viagens realizadas em Al-Andalus (1351) e ao Bilad al-Sudan (1352-1353). Para tanto, através de bibliografia especializada, procuramos contextualizar estes espaços, para então analisar os relatos reservados a estes lugares dentro da Rihla. Pensar o viajante e seus escritos, dentro de uma reflexão teórico-conceitual, foi algo percebido como essencial. Logo, uma reflexão metodológica foi ensaiada antes de partir para uma análise da representação do outro e da alteridade construída pelo viajante Ibn Battuta em seu relato. Escolhemos, para uma análise mais detida, as descrições de três tipologias do outro dentro da Rihla: o caso dos cristãos de Al-Andalus, dos berberes massufi bidan e dos negros do Bilad al-Sudan. / Travel has always been a central theme in the Muslim world. This is not a minor fact, considering that one of the pillars of the religion is the annual pilgrimage (Hajj) to the holy city of Mecca. The first half of the fourteenth century was a unique period in the Dar al-Islam (land of Islam) and, consequently, for business, religious snd diplomatic travel that happened in the regions between the south of the Iberian Peninsula and the west of China. Just like the act of traveling, travel writing had great importance within different Islamic kingdoms that valued writing and high culture (adab). In this context, we highlighted a particular account, entitled Tuhfat al-Nuzzar fi Ghara ‘ib al-Amsar wa-‘Aja ‘ib al-Asfar, which can be translated as A Gift to Those who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling. This work, known as Rihla, is the result of travel writing documented by the Maghrebian qadi Ibn Battuta (1304-1377) which extended for nearly 30 years. Accordingly, this book was written with the help of the poet and scholar Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi (1321-1357), born in Al-Andalus. He was, at that time, secretary of the Marinid Sultan Abu 'Inan (1348-1358). The mentioned traveler visited much of the Islamic world and its borders, from China to West Africa. The geographic area of the Rihla, which we are focusing our analysis on, was connected with the journeys made in Al-Andalus (1351) and Bilad al-Sudan (1352-1353). For that purpose, through specialized literature, we attempted to contextualize these spaces, and thereafter analyze the reports related to these places within the Rihla. Ultimately, thinking about Ibn Battutta and his travel writings, in both a theoretical and conceptual reflection, are essential for our purposes. In this regard, a methodological reflection was undertaken before making an analysis of the representation of the other and of the alterity built on the account of Ibn Battuta and his writings. We chose, for a more detailed analysis, the descriptions of three typologies of the representation of the other within the Rihla: the cases of the Al-Andalusian Christians, the massufi bidan Berbers and the blacks from Bilad al-Sudan.

This thesis explores the nature of the late medieval European worldview in the context of the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century European journeys to Asia. It aims to determine the precise influence of these journeys on the wider European Weltbild. In lending equal weight to the accounts of the eastward travellers and the sources authored by their counterparts in Europe, who did not travel to Asia, the present study draws together two related strands in medieval historiography: the study of medieval European cosmology and worldview, and the study of medieval travel and travel literature. This thesis treats the journeys as medieval Europe’s interaction with Asia, outlining how travellers formed their perceptions of ‘the East’ through their encounters with Asian people and places. It also explores the transmission of information and ideas from travellers to their European contemporaries, suggesting that the peculiar textual culture of the Middle Ages complicated this process greatly and so minimised the transfer of ‘intact’ perceptions as the travellers originally formed them. The study contends instead that the eastward journeys shaped the late medieval European world picture in a different way, without overturning the concepts that underpinned it. Rather, this thesis argues, thirteenth- and fourteenth-century eastward voyages subtly altered how Europeans were inclined to understand these underpinning concepts. It suggests that the journeys intensified and made the concepts more immediate in Europeans’ minds and that they ‘normalised’ travel itself to the point where it became an essential part of the way Europeans could most readily make sense of the vast and kaleidoscopic world around them.