ality, edited by John C. Reeves, 61–85 (Atlanta: Society
for Biblical Literature, 2003).
tradition See customary law; hadith; ijmaa; ijti-
had; sharia; sunna.
travel
Muslims have traveled the world for centuries to
visit holy sites and search for knowledge. Travel
has played an important role in the Islamic world.
Natural inclinations to travel have been reinforced
with Islamic traditions inciting Muslims to jour-
ney for knowledge and pilgrimage. A central tenet
of islam has been the haJJ, the annual pilgrimage
to mecca. As one of the Five pillars of Islam,
many Muslims over the generations have made
the journey to fulfill their religious duty and
strengthen their commitment to the Faith. Large
annual pilgrimage caravans would be formed
and sponsored by local rulers to help pilgrims
make their way to their destination. This tradi-
tion has been a powerful unifying force for the
Islamic community, drawing together Muslims
from diverse regions for a common purpose.
The prophet mUhammad (d. 632) also urged his
followers to travel in search of knowledge, “even
as far as China” and many Muslims wandered from
morocco to China and beyond in their quest for
deeper insight and spiritual wisdom. Gradually,
a mobile network of religious scholars (Ulama)
developed throughout the Islamic world. Edu-
cated men such as ibn bat tUta (d. 1377) would
travel from one center of learning to another, lis-
tening to lectures, attending classes, and gaining
employment as teachers, judges, and bureaucrats.
A literary genre of travel accounts developed,
attesting to the popularity of this activity. This
network has been damaged in the modern period,
when colonial powers established hard nationalist
borders in a world that had been more porous.
With the imposition of controls such as passports
and visas, the traditions of traveling across the
Islamic world became more limited, although this
has been partially offset by technological advances
such as the train and the airplane. Nonetheless,
the tradition of travel remains an important tenet
of Islam as Muslims continue to make the hajj in
the millions and Islamic scholars from everywhere
flock to study in the Islamic universities of cairo,
damascUs, Fez, and Saudi Arabia.
See also boat; camel; colonialism; horse; tariqa.
Eric StaplesFurther reading: Dale Eickelman and James Piscatori,
eds., Muslim Travelers (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Uni-
versity Press, 1996); F. E. Peters, The Hajj (Princeton,
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996); Hamilton A.
R. Gibb, The Travels of Ibn Battuta 1325–1354, 5 vols.
(Cambridge: Hakylut Society at the University Press,
1954–2000); Ian R. Netton, Seek Knowledge: Thought
and Travel in the House of Islam (Richmond, England:
Curzon Press, 1996).truth See haqiqa; philosophy.
Tunisia (Official name: Tunisian Republic)
The northernmost country in Africa, Tunisia juts
out into the Mediterranean Sea, bordered on the
west by algeria and on the south by libya, forming
a link between three different cultures: sub-Saha-
ran Africa to the south, eUrope and the Mediter-
ranean region to the north, and the Maghreb, the
countries of northwestern Africa. Tunisia has a
population of about 10.5 million people (2008
estimate) and an area of about 63,000 square miles
(163,610 sq. km), slightly larger than the state of
Georgia. The people of Tunisia include Berbers,
Arabs. Europeans, and other groups. The vast
majority of the population—some 98 percent—are
Sunni Muslims, most of whom follow the maliki
legal school. Others, claiming Turkish ancestry,
follow the hanaFi legal school. A small number
of Tunisians, living mainly on Jerba Island, belong
to the ibadiyya sect of Islam. The official languageK 672 tradition