The Traveling Scholar and His Controversial Views

In the 10th century, as the Islamic world stretched from Spain to Central Asia, few travelers saw as much of this vast domain as Ibn Hawqal. Born in Upper Mesopotamia and educated in Baghdad, this geographer spent three decades journeying across Muslim lands before settling in Sicily during the 970s. His observations would become some of the most detailed – and most scathing – accounts of medieval Mediterranean life.

Ibn Hawqal’s disdain for Sicilians, particularly the residents of Palermo, stands out even among the critical tendencies common to medieval geographers. His complaints ranged from their poor Arabic pronunciation to what he saw as intellectual deficiencies: “Not a single wise man could be found in this city, nor anyone skilled in sciences or motivated by noble or pious sentiments.” Yet paradoxically, he devoted extensive pages to describing Palermo’s remarkable urban landscape – its grand mosques (including one converted from a church that could hold 7,000 worshippers), its 300+ places of Islamic worship, its specialized markets, and its sophisticated irrigation systems supporting lush gardens.

Palermo Under Arab Rule: A City of Contrasts

When Arab forces captured Palermo from Byzantine control in 831, they transformed it into one of the Mediterranean’s most vibrant cities. As the capital of Muslim Sicily, Palermo became:

– An administrative center with a complex bureaucracy
– A commercial hub connecting North Africa, Italy, and the Levant
– A rare center of papyrus production outside Egypt
– A city where mosque minarets created one of Islam’s most distinctive skylines

The city’s agricultural hinterland demonstrated both its potential and what Ibn Hawqal saw as its wasted opportunities. While praising the land’s fertility, he mocked Sicilians for allegedly squandering it on onion cultivation – a critique that may reveal more about the geographer’s biases than agricultural realities. Recent archaeological evidence shows Sicilian farmers actually cultivated diverse crops including citrus, sugarcane, and cotton introduced by Arab agronomists.

Cultural Tensions in a Frontier Society

Ibn Hawqal’s harsh assessment reflects deeper tensions in 10th century Sicily:

1. Language and Identity: Sicilian Arabic had developed distinct local features that Baghdad-educated scholars like Ibn Hawqal viewed as corruptions
2. Religious Practice: Rural areas maintained syncretic traditions blending Islamic, Christian, and local customs
3. Intellectual Life: While Palermo had schools, Ibn Hawqal claimed teachers only worked to avoid military service

The geographer particularly criticized Sicilians for their imperfect grasp of Islamic law and theology, accusing them of knowing “nothing of the real legal and theological thought of the Iraqis.” This reveals Sicily’s peripheral position relative to centers like Baghdad and Cairo, where sophisticated scholarly networks debated fine points of jurisprudence.

The Legacy of Ibn Hawqal’s Account

Despite its biases, Ibn Hawqal’s description remains invaluable for understanding Arab Sicily:

– Urban Geography: His detailed notes allow modern historians to reconstruct Palermo’s layout
– Economic Life: He documents trade networks and specialized crafts like linen production
– Cultural Exchange: His complaints about “incorrect” Arabic show language evolution in action

The geographer’s work also reflects broader trends in Islamic scholarship. His travelogue “The Book of the Depiction of the Earth” exemplifies how medieval Muslim geographers combined empirical observation with philosophical frameworks, seeing the Islamic world as a unified cultural sphere despite political fragmentation.

Modern historians now read Ibn Hawqal against the grain – while acknowledging his prejudices, they use his account to reconstruct daily life in one of medieval Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities. The onions he scorned, for instance, were likely part of a sophisticated cuisine blending Arab, Greek, and Italian influences. What Ibn Hawqal saw as ignorance may have been a distinctive Sicilian culture taking shape at the crossroads of civilizations.

The geographer’s final verdict – that Sicily’s land was remarkably fertile but its people surprisingly poor – continues to spark debate about economic development, colonial exploitation, and how we judge societies different from our own. In this light, Ibn Hawqal’s problematic account becomes not just a historical source, but a case study in cross-cultural perception itself.