Event tomorrow: IMAX Film "Journey to Mecca: In the Footsteps of Ibn Battuta"

To give your kids a beautiful taste of Hajj and history, please consider attending tomorrow's screening of the IMAX Film "Journey to Mecca: In the footsteps of Ibn Battuta" at the Museum of Science and Industry, courtesy of the Webb Foundation.

Ibn Battuta has been described as the "Muslim Marco Polo". This exceptional traveler not only made Hajj at a time when first class airline seats and swanky hotel rooms were unfathomable. He traveled beyond there, all the way to China, visiting Iraq, Persia, East Africa, India and Central Asia as well.

I saw the film with my kids back in the summer and it offered not only awesome scenes of the Kaba up close, IMAX style, but a good glimpse of how brave the pilgrims of yesteryear were. Scenes from his miles-long caravan heading to Hajj are awe-inspiring, and the accompanying narrative helps keep the film interesting for those who don't enjoy documentaries.

The only caveat is don't take kids under the age of seven. The music can get somewhat eerie and the scene where Ibn Battuta is attacked by vandals in the night scared my younger two. My husband and I had to cover their eyes.

Details of the screenings tomorrow are here:

For the 7:45 pm showing of the film:
https://www. z2systems. com/np/clients/ webb/event. jsp?event= 27

Forthe 8:45 pm showing of the film:
https://www. z2systems. com/np/clients/ webb/event. jsp?event= 28

And if you want to read up on Ibn Battuta, a nice book I found for my kids was Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta, 1325-1354 by James Rumford. It's good for more advanced readers but makes a nice, adventurous bedtime story to read to the kids as well.