Hajji Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta is one of the renowned travelers in the Islamic history and the world as well. Born in Tangier, Morocco in February 1304, Ibn Battuta set out on his voyage with the intention to perform Hajj in 1325 (725H) as a 21 year old. This eventually took him on a fascinating journey through the Muslim world of the 14th Century (8th Century Hijrah).

  ‘Never, so far as possible, to cover a second time any road.’

Abu Abdallah Ibn Battuta may be the Inspiration behind Robert Frost’s ‘the road not taken’ by his quote extracted from the Rihla. ‘Never, so far as possible, to cover a second time any road’.

Ibn Battuta was the greatest traveller of the pre modern time. He has visited even more countries and travelled further than the famed Marco Polo. He had travelled for 75,000 miles (more than any traveller of his time) for 29 years away from home.

February 1304 (Rajab 703) : Haji Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta was born in Tangiers, Morocco

June 1325 (Rajab 725) : Started his journey from Tangiers. His intention of the journey was perform Haj and visit the tomb of prophet (peace be upon him). He sets out with a very heavy heart due being seperated from his parents. He never sees them again.

From Dhofar, Ibn Battuta left for the Kingdom of Hormuz crossing the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is an important stretch of waterway between the Persian Gulf in southwest and Gulf of Oman in southeast.

The Horn of Africa is referred to the area of North-eastern Africa and at times also called as the Somali Peninsula. The area extends into the Arabian Sea and is located on the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. The countries in the region include Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Eritrea.