Roberta Fedele Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — In 1325, 21-year-old Abu Abdallah Muhammad Ibn Battuta set off from his home in Tangier, Morocco to perform his first pilgrimage to Makkah. This voyage would continue far beyond the Arabic peninsula and take the young traveler through the wide lands of Dar Al-Islam and earn him the distinction of being one of the greatest travelers and explorers of all time. Ibn Battuta would not return home for the next 28 years. He traveled to 44 present day states from West Africa, Spain and India to China and the Maldives, meeting thousands of people along the way and transcribing his journeys in a famous travel journal “The Rihla.” The story of Ibn Battuta's perilous and spiritually overwhelming pilgrimage to Makkah is narrated in “Journey to Mecca, in the footsteps of Ibn Battuta,” a 45-minute IMAX documentary directed by Canadian Director Bruce Neibaur and produced by Dominic Cunningham-Reid, Taran Davies, Jonathan Barker and Jake Eberts. Filmed in Makkah during the 2007 Haj, the movie was shown in Abu Dhabi in 2009 on the largest outdoor screen ever assembled and in many IMAX theaters in Europe and the United States. Residents of Saudi Arabia had to wait until much later for the first public screening of the movie. In Jeddah, the movie was screened at the 2012 Jeddah Economic Forum. The charm of the movie relies on the exceptionality of its images and unconventional approach. In fact, it is the only film production granted access to the Grand Mosque by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. For the first time, Muslim members of the crew were authorized to enter Makkah with IMAX equipment and film scenes of the movie. The movie covers Ibn Battuta's 18-month journey to Makkah and portrays an incredible phase of Islamic civilization in the 14th century. During his travels, Ibn Battuta faced many obstacles and when a setback prevented him from reaching Hijaz from the Egyptian coast on the Red Sea, he changed course to Syria where he joined the Damascus Caravan to Makkah. Extraordinary and moving IMAX images follow the 14th century caravan route crossed by thousands of pilgrims who traveled for months on carts, horses, camels and dromedaries to reach the holy city. The audience is able to appreciate the efforts it took to perform Haj 700 years ago as well as the invigorating effects of such a difficult yet overwhelming experience. The movie pays homage to the Haj – one of the key tenets of Islam – and tries to bridge cultures by showing the images of Ibn Battuta's first pilgrimage followed by the most stunning scenery of modern day Haj with over 3 million pilgrims. “There is a sense that the Muslim world today is a little under-represented in the media except on political issues,” explained Cunningham-Reid and Davies during interviews following the movie's world premiere. “The genesis of this movie was to promote a better understanding of Islam in the West by showcasing the cultural, spiritual and historical elements of the Islamic world in a non-political way. We wanted the audience to step into the shoes of a young man who is risking his life to reach Makkah, and along the way we would learn about the Islamic world,” they added. Once he had accomplished his pilgrimage, Ibn Battuta proceeded north-east toward Iraq and Persia instead of returning to his native city of Tangier. After returning to Makkah in 1327 and 1332 respectively and visiting the eastern coast of Africa, Oman and Yemen, he began a long and arduous journey through the Asian continent and became the greatest traveler of Islamic times.
