Leo 2

In this section of Leo Africanus, we learn more about the traditions of Hasan's family. First we learn about the death of Hasan's grandmother. With the death of his grandmother, there is a 30 day mourning period for her. This event is able to show the readers the practice of a Muslim tradition. The inquisitors take over Granada and force Hasan out of his home, they also force many of the people to become baptized. In this section, the author is also able to show the readers the tradition of an arranged marriage between Hasan's sister, Miriam, and a much older man. This man later turns out to be a thief and Hasan is able to break this engagement. Harun eventually marries Miriam as they ran away together. Hasan later leaves with his uncle to travel on a caravan. With the death of Khali, Haran became in charge of the caravan. This event brings upon the transition of Hasan as a boy to a man. And then Haran marries Khali's youngest daughter Fatima, which was Khali's wish. However, this marriage doesn't become a happy marriage because Fatima did not want to marry Hasan. Hasan and Fatima give birth to a daughter, Sarwat.

I thought this part of the section was pretty interesting because it shows the progression of Hasan from a boy to a man. Every culture has their own way of pronouncing someone as an adult. And it's interesting to see how a young boy is seen as an adult because he becomes in charge of leading a caravan. It's also interesting to see how other cultures have their own tradition with certain events. Like the death of Hasan's grandmother and how the death of someone is respected with mourning of 30 days. I wonder what made each culture to be different if the events are the same. How did one culture stray from another and what makes each event different for others