Editing Ahmad ibn Fadlan (section)

===Background===
Ahmad ibn Fadlan was described as an [[Arabs|Arab]] in contemporaneous sources.{{sfn|Frye|2005|page=8}}{{sfn|Lunde|Stone|2011|page=xiii}} However, the ''[[Encyclopedia of Islam]]'' and [[Richard N. Frye]] add that nothing can be said with certainty about his origin, his ethnicity, his education, or even the dates of his birth and death.{{sfn|Zadeh|2017}}{{sfn|Frye|2005|page=8}}

Primary source documents and historical texts show that Ahmad Ibn Fadlan was a ''[[Fiqh|faqih]]'', an expert in [[Islam]]ic jurisprudence and faith, in the court of the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] [[Caliph]] [[al-Muqtadir]].{{sfn|Gabriel|1999|p=36-42}} It appears certain from his writing that prior to his departure on his historic mission, he had already been serving for some time in the court of al-Muqtadir. Other than the fact that he was both a traveler and a [[theologian]] in service of the Abbasid Caliphate, little is known about Ahmad Ibn Fadlan prior to 921 and his self-reported travels.