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Read this report from NPR on a recent threat to the Islamic heritage of Timbuktu, then speculate...  Would Mansa Musa feel that those who have threatened Timbuktu are living up to the true ideals of Islam?  Use specific evidence to support your answer.

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The universities in Timbuktu contain hundreds of thousands of manuscripts. Why did Timbuktu become such an important economic and cultural center?   Use this website to research and describe at least three Muslim contributions to science and culture.  Then this evidence to support or refute the following statement: Human civilization is a collaborative effort, made possible by the contributions and achievements of diverse cultures and societies.

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How did Mansa Musa come to power?  Identify and describe the ways in which Mansa Musa lived out at least three of the five pillars of Islam during his reign.

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How did Islam arrive in West Africa?  How did it shape Mali's development?

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According to www.celebritynetworth.com, how much money did Mansa Musa accumulate during his reign?  Visit this page on the Sahara Trade to find out on what this wealth was based.

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The Trans-Saharan Trade and the rise of Mali Empire.

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The kabah (Arabic: الكعبة‎‎ al-Kaʿbah IPA: [alˈkaʕba], "The Cube") is a building at the center of Islam's most sacred mosque, Al-Masjid al-Haram, in Mecca, al-Hejaz, Saudi Arabia. It is the most sacred Muslim site in the world. It is considered the "House of God" and has a similar role to the Tabernacle and Holy of Holies in Judaism. Wherever they are in the world, Muslims are expected to face the Kaaba when performing salat (prayer). From any point in the world, the direction facing the Kaaba is called the qibla.

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According to Islamic Tradition, there are five basic things that Muslims should do. They are called "The Five Pillars of Islam":

1. Tawhid: The Testimony (faith in English) is the Muslim belief that there is no god but Allah himself, and that Muhammad is his messenger.

2. Sallah: Muslims pray five times a day, at special times of the day. When they pray, they face the holy city of Mecca.

3. Zakah: Muslims who have money must give [[|Zakat|1/40th of their money]] (charity in English) to help people who do not have money or need help.

4. Sawm: Fasting during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic year. Muslims do not eat or drink from dawn till sunset for one lunar month. After Ramadan, there is a holiday called Eid al-Fitr (which means "festival of end-fast" in English). On Eid al-Fitr, Muslims usually go to the mosque in the morning for a special religious service, and then have a party with families and friends.

5. Pilgrimage (Hajj in Arabic): During the pilgrimage season, many Muslims go to Mecca, the holiest city of Islam. If a Muslim cannot make the hajj because they do not have the money or are not healthy enough, they do not have to

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Merchants transported more than valuable commodities along the trans-Saharan routes. Just as Buddhism reached the Chinese Empire via Indian merchants traveling the Silk Road, Islam reached West Africa through Arab merchants on Saharan caravan routes. Arab merchants brought the Koran and the written language of Arabic to traditionally oral cultures in West Africa. The extensive trade networks throughout North and West Africa created a medium through which Islam spread peacefully, initially through the merchant class. By sharing a common religion and a common language (Arabic), traders showed greater willingness to trust, and therefore invest, in one another.

The British Museum describes the process of conversion in West Africa:

It was Arab traders who first brought the new religion to the kingdom of Mali. Many of them were educated and religious men who through speech and the books of learned writers managed to spread the word. Malians who became traders, and who moved further from their roots, began abandoning their old religion and adopting Islam which proved a passport for entry into northern markets. Traders were followed by Arab immigrants who came as judges, imams and teachers and who settled in the country. They were treated with respect and one Mansa (king) even married his daughters to two of them. Mosques were built, and Islamic influences were felt in architecture, poetry, cooking and even dress. Men were sent to study in Moroccan madrasas (religious schools). Timbuktu became a major centre of Islamic culture and learning. Even so, in the villages much of the old religion remained, and Ibn Battuta was shocked to discover, even at court, old ceremonial dances being performed during an Islamic religious festival.

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/KingdomOfMali_TeachersNotes.pdf)

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Common Core History Lesson Plan: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.10, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.4, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.8

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Open Ended Social Studies exists to produce and share high-quality, thought-provoking lessons with teachers everywhere - free of charge.  Every effort has been made to use open-sourced text and media as the basis of these lessons, but if you see something here that belongs to you, please consider our mission - there is no money changing hands here, and we exist to help kids.  If you're still concerned about some media that belongs to you, please politely let us know.  Thanks.  Peace.  2015.

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From the far reaches of the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus River, the faithful approached the city of Mecca. All had the same objective to worship together at the most sacred shrine of Islam, the Kaaba in Mecca. One such traveler was Mansa Musa, Sultan of Mali in Western Africa. Mansa Musa had prepared carefully for the long journey he and his attendants would take. He was determined to travel not only for his own religious fulfillment, but also for recruiting teachers and leaders, so that his realms could learn more of the Prophet's teachings.
–Mahmud Kati, Chronicle of the Seeker

Musa was a devout Muslim, and his pilgrimage to Mecca (known as the Hajj, a duty ordained by Allah, according to Islam) made him well-known across northern Africa and the Middle East. To Musa, Islam was "an entry into the cultured world of the Eastern Mediterranean." He would spend much time fostering the growth of the religion both on his Hajj and within his empire.

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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Decline of Saharan trade and the fall of the Mali Empire

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Decline of Saharan trade and the fall of the Mali Empire

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There were a number of challenges to Malian rule. One came in 1343, when the Mossi, a rival kingdom, attacked Timbuktu. A source says: 'The Mossi sultan entered Timbuktu and sacked and burned it, killing many persons and looting it before returning to his land.' Timbuktu, however, recovered and the Malians continued to rule it for the next hundred years. Later, desert nomads known as the Tuaregs began to raid and cause havoc on all sides. Mali lost control of Timbuktu in 1433.

Further, there was internal division within the empire as Mansa Musa's successors struggled amongst themselves for control, and also to live up to his powerful legacy.  Subsequent mansas failed to distinguish themselves and eventually gave way to rival kingdoms such as the Songhai.

Simultaneously, Portuguese journeys around the West African coast opened up new avenues for trade between Europe and West Africa. By the early 16th century, European trading bases, known as "Factories," established on the coast beginning 1445 came to dominate North African trade.  These European trading posts - flush with novel manufactured goods in high demand throughout West Africa - were located closer to sources of gold, salt, and slaves, while the Saharan crossing remained long and treacherous.  In short, trading with coast simply made more economic sense, especially as trade routes to the West African coast became increasingly easy, particularly after the French conquest of the 1890s and subsequent construction of railways to the interior.

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Timbuktu had long been a major stop on the trading route from the Middle East and North Africa. It wasn't long before ideas as well as merchandise began passing through the fabled city. Since most if not all these traders were Muslim, the mosque would see visitors constantly.  The temple accumulated a wealth of books from throughout the Muslim world, becoming not only a center of worship but a center of learning because of its advantageous position as a trade center.  Books became as valuable than any other commodity in the city, and private libraries sprouted up in the homes of local scholars.

The curriculum of Sankoré and other masjids in the area had four levels of schooling. On graduating from each level, students would receive a turban symbolizing their mastery. The schooling was not secular as arguments that could not be backed by the Qur'an were inadmissible in debates. However, secular teaching (geometry, mathematics) were included and stressed to develop well-rounded individuals.

By the end of Mansa Musa's reign (early 14th century CE), the Sankoré Masjid had been converted into a fully staffed Madrassa (Islamic school or in this case university) with the largest collections of books in Africa since the Library of Alexandria. The level of learning at Timbuktu's Sankoré University was superior to that of many other Islamic centers in the world. The Sankoré Masjid was capable of housing 25,000 students and had one of the largest libraries in the world with between 400,000 to 700,000 manuscripts.

Hidden in cellars or buried, secreted between the mosque's mud walls and safeguarded by their patrons, many of these manuscripts survived the city's decline.

Four basic types have survived:

key texts of Islam, including Korans, collections of Hadiths  (actions or sayings of the Prophet), Sufi texts and devotional texts

works of Islamic law

texts representative of the Islamic sciences, including grammar, mathematics and astronomy

original works from the region, including contracts, commentaries, historical chronicles, poetry, and marginal notes and jottings, which have proved to be a surprisingly fertile source of historical data.

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The rulers of Mali came to be called mansa, meaning “emperor” or “master.” Mansa Musa was Mali’s most renowned king, ruling from 1312 to 1337 CE. He was the grandson of Sundiata’s half brother, and ruled Mali at a time of great prosperity, during which trade tripled. During his rule, he doubled the land area of Mali; it became a larger kingdom than any in Europe at the time.

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Timbuktu, center of trade and education under Mansa Musa

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Timbuktu, center of trade and education under Mansa Musa

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Timbuktu, an important city in Mali, became one of the major cultural centers not only of Africa but of the entire world. Vast libraries and Islamic universities were built. These became meeting places of the finest poets, scholars, and artists of Africa and the Middle East. Mansa Musa brought architects from Moorish Spain and Cairo, Egypt to build his grand palace in Timbuktu and the great Djinguereber Mosque that still stands today.

"Timbuktu is at the northward extension of the Sahel region and also the northernmost part of where the Niger River flows," says Robert Launay, an anthropology professor at Northwestern University. "It was the port of entry through the desert to North Africa. There was trade up the Niger River to Timbuktu and then a caravan trade across the desert."

Timbuktu soon became a center of trade, culture, and Islam; a university was founded in the city (as well as in the Malian cities of Djenné and Ségou), and Islam was spread through the markets and university, making Timbuktu a new area for Islamic scholarship. News of the Malian empire's city of wealth even traveled across the Mediterranean to southern Europe, where traders from Venice, Granada, and Genoa soon added Timbuktu to their maps to trade manufactured goods for gold.

The University of Sankore in Timbuktu was restaffed under Musa's reign with jurists, astronomers, and mathematicians.  The university became a center of learning and culture, drawing Muslim scholars from around Africa and the Middle East to Timbuktu.

By the end of Mansa Musa's reign, the Sankoré University had been converted into a fully staffed University with the largest collections of books in Africa since the Library of Alexandria . The Sankoré University was capable of housing 25,000 students and had one of the largest libraries in the world with roughly 1,000,000 manuscripts.

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Musa made his Hajj between 1325-1326. His procession reportedly included 60,000 men, including 12,000 slaves who each carried four pounds of gold bars and heralds dressed in silks who bore gold staffs, organized horses, and handled bags. Musa provided all necessities for the procession, feeding the entire company of men and animals. Those animals included 80 camels which each carried between 50 and 300 pounds of gold dust. Musa gave the gold to the poor he met along his route. Musa not only gave to the cities he passed on the way to Mecca, including Cairo and Medina, but also traded gold for souvenirs. It was reported that he built a mosque each and every Friday.

But Musa's generous actions inadvertently devastated the economy of the regions through which he passed. In the cities of Cairo, Medina, and Mecca, the sudden influx of gold devalued the metal for the next decade. Prices on goods and wares greatly inflated.  This is the only time recorded in history that one man directly controlled the price of gold in the Mediterranean.

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Mansa Musa came to the throne through a practice of appointing a deputy when a king goes on his pilgrimage to Mecca or some other endeavor, and later naming the deputy as heir. According to primary sources, Musa was appointed deputy of Abubakari Keita II, the king before him, who had reportedly embarked on an expedition to explore the limits of the Atlantic Ocean, and never returned. Musa told this story about how he came to be Mansa:

The ruler who preceded me did not believe that it was impossible to reach the extremity of the ocean that encircles the earth (the Atlantic Ocean). He wanted to reach that (end) and was determined to pursue his plan. So he equipped two hundred boats full of men, and many others full of gold, water and provisions sufficient for several years. He ordered the captain not to return until they had reached the other end of the ocean, or until he had exhausted the provisions and water. So they set out on their journey. They were absent for a long period, and, at last just one boat returned. When questioned the captain replied: 'O Prince, we navigated for a long period, until we saw in the midst of the ocean a great river which was flowing massively.. My boat was the last one; others were ahead of me, and they were drowned in the great whirlpool and never came out again. I sailed back to escape this current.' But the Mansa would not believe him. He ordered two thousand boats to be equipped for him and his men, and one thousand more for water and provisions. Then he conferred the regency on me for the term of his absence, and departed with his men, never to return nor to give a sign of life.