Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa
Feodosia (Theodosia, Kefe, al-Kafā)
Title
Muslim travellers frightened by churches' bells
Short description
Muslim travellers frightened by churches' bells, rush to recite the Islamic call for prayer. Muslims of the time held the ringing of bells in the greatest abhorrence, and a Prophetic Tradition says: "The angels will not enter any house in which bells are rung." (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2113).
Text on source
ولما نزلنا بهذا المسجد أقمنا ساعة ثم سمعنا أصوات النواقيس من كل ناحية، ولم أكن سَمِعْتُها قطُّ فهالني ذلك، وأمرت أصحابي أن يصعدوا الصومعة ويقرءوا القرآن ويَذْكُروا لله ويؤذنوا ففعلوا ذلك، فإذا برجل قد دَخَلَ علينا وعليه الدرع والسلاح فسَلّمَ علينا واستفهمناه عن شأنه، فأخبرنا أنه قاضي المسلمين هنالك، وقال: لما سمعت القراءة والأذان خِفْتُ عليكم فجئت كما ترون، ثم انصرف عنا وما رأينا إلا خيرًا [ص. ٢٢٨]
English translation
When we alighted at this mosque and stayed in it for an hour or so, we heard the sounds of clappers [nawāqīs] on every side, and never having heard them before I was alarmed at this and bade my companions ascend the minaret and chant the Qurʾān and praises to God, and recite the call to prayer. They did so, when suddenly a man came in wearing breastplate and weapons and saluted us. We asked
him what was his business, and he told us that he was the qāḍī of the Muslims there, and said 'When I heard the chanting and the call to prayer, I feared for your safety and came as you see.' Then he went away, but no evil befell us.
Folios/Pages
470-471
Date
1333 circa
Observations on the events description
Gibb (Vol. II, p. 470, n. 214) notes that the Arab 'nawāqīs' "is strictly the term for the wooden clappers or church-gongs", but that in this case very likely Ibn Baṭṭūṭa means the bells of Latin churches.
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.
Participants
No other participants in this event description.
How to quote
Pintimalli A., "Muslim travellers frightened by churches' bells" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 07 11.doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.130
This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 
