I shall long remember the wise actions of Ibn Battutah, the great qadi and traveler who, when he found that the people of the Maldives required correction and edification in the sacred law, imposed harsh penalties upon those who absented themselves from Friday prayers. I saw how the wise man had those who had not prayed beaten and paraded for their crimes and I encouraged him to record the event in his rihla. He thus taught the importance of Friday prayers to the people of the Maldives, but also displayed the proper actions of a qadi. The wise man showed me the importance of enforcing the letter of sharia law in a position of authority over fellow Muslims.
It was well and good that he did this, for my cousin, who soon afterwards became qadi in Turkestan, allowed his citizens to practice Islam loosely and ignore the sacred tenets of the law. He was struck down by the plague for his infidelity.
Truly, Ibn Battutah showed himself the wisest and most generous of Muslims that day, on par with the great sultans and caliphs of the East. The inhabitants of the Maldives so punished by Qadi Battutah told me after their beatings that they gave thanks to God that the wise traveler had reprimanded them thus, for he showed his own goodness and saved those he punished from their vices. Truly, Ibn Battutah inspired all Muslims with his great wisdom and leadership. I submit this narrative of his triumph to the record of history in the hope that future qadis will read it and find in it a most excellent example.
