Ibn Battuta's trip to West Africa in 1331 offers a contrast between two worlds: Battuta's premodern Islamic culture comes into conflict with the interpretation of Muslim beliefs and tribal traditions of African societies. He is particularly critical of the different roles of the women he observes, allowing us to better understand his own judgments formed by his culture and society. A brief summary of his life is essential to understanding Battuta's impressions and reactions to West African society. Abu Abdallah ibn Battuta was born in Morocco in 1304. In 1325, Battuta undertook his first hajj, or pilgrimage to the holiest Islamic city of Mecca, at the age of twenty-one (Hamdun, King, p. 1 ). Although he was expected to perform this religious duty at least once in his life, Battuta performed the hajj "six or seven times, each time presumably accumulating divine merit" (Dunn, p. xvii). Battuta was a member of the ulama, an elite class of Muslim religious and legal scholars who “traveled to perform the hajj or to further their education in the religious sciences (Dunn, p. xii). Battuta traveled extensively for almost thirty years, visiting around fifty countries, often several times (Dunn, p. ix). He recorded his extensive expeditions in the Rihla (Book of Travels), allowing some of the first and only written accounts of sub-Saharan Africa in the 14th century. Battuta's beliefs regarding the status of women in Islamic society are perhaps first mentioned in her story. from the Massūfa of Īwālātan. He growls: “The condition of these people is strange and their manners bizarre… None of them draws his genealogy from his father, but on the contrary, from his maternal uncle” (Battuta, p. 37). Battuta disagreed with the matrilineal tradition of the Massūfa... middle of paper ... and counted among his associates prominent scholars, royal officials, wealthy merchants, and Mongol kings” (Dunn, p. ix). It is these experiences that also allow us to extrapolate certain realities and experiences of the pre-modern Muslim woman. It is these same experiences during this formative period of Islamic society that established and shaped the contemporary Islamic world. Today, just as Ibn Battuta was able to observe other cultures through camel caravans, Muslim men and women are now exposed to the diverse cultures of our globalized world through technology without having to travel very far . And just like Battuta, these same men and women experience both the strengthening and the testing of their cultural and religious identity. Social constructs of Battuta's era are challenged by revolutions and uprisings throughout Islam..