The Expansion of Dar al-Islam

The "Dar al-Islam," or "Abode of Islam" as Dunn interprets it in the introduction to The Adventures of Ibn Battuta, refers to the overall region of the world where Islamic law is the official law of the land. Within the Dar al-Islam are numerous independent areas which sometimes war with one another, but they all still fall under the umbrella of the larger concept of an Islamic world.

At the time of Ibn Battuta's travels, the Dar al-Islam extends from the sub-Saharan region of Mali through North Africa and into southern Spain, across the Arabian peninsula and north through Palestine and Anatolia into what is modern day Turkey and part of Greece, through Central Asia and India into Southeast Asia. It is an enormous area, and allows Ibn Battuta to travel easily from place to place, always finding educated and observant Muslims similar to...