Mansa Musa Mansa Musa was a great and very wealthy leader of Mali. He is considered to be the greatest leader that Mali has ever had. But when Mansa Musa journeyed to Mecca with 60,000 other people, was it strictly for religion, or were there other motives for his journey? Clearly, he wanted to go not just for religion. There were other motivating factors.
Mansa Musa was the most known African ruler in the fourteenth century. He was an emperor of the Mali empire. He went on a Religious Pilgrimage to the Mecca which is required now by every Muslim at least once during their entire life. On this four thousand mile trip to Mecca, Musa was able to ensure peace and prosperity in west Africa for decades due to the peace and connections that he established with the middle eastern and European rulers.
An area that was changed due to this, was the city of Timbuktu. It is located about 12 miles North of the southern edge of the River Niger. Subsequent to the pilgrimage, Timbuktu was transformed into a cultural center of the Mali Empire. Trade elevated immensely during this time and as the population grew, a university was created to educate the newcomers. Islam was spread through the merchants and by teachers at the University.
On his journey across East Africa, Ibn Battuta, a Muslim traveler from Morocco, wrote that he“went to the mosque and prayed behind the [sultan’s] screen(Doc 6).” Ibn Battuta demonstrated that the Swahili City-States followed Islam. Islam crossed over large areas of land to influence Africa. Islam in Africa showed a sense of unity and uniformity between the empires. The spread of Islam promoted trade across the Sahara Desert between West and East
Africa was heavily influenced by the Islamic Empire, in source H you can see the top half of the African continent is shaded green. This shows the spread of their religion which influenced the majority of Africa. Arabic became a dominant language among African scholars and merchants which helped them trade and communicate in the Islamic world. Islamic Architecture and art also spread to Africa as you can see in the similar patterns and styles that were unique to the Islamic empire, and spread to Africa. Regions in Europe were also influenced by the majority of Islamic ideas being spread through trade which helped spread ideas of the Islamic religion.
In North Africa the Berber merchants were one of the major groups that traded with Sub-Saharan West Africa through the Trans-Saharan trade routes. The Berber merchants played an essential part in dispersing the Islam and its traditions into Sub-Saharan West Africa since they frequently used the Sahara to trade. When Islam made its way into Sub-Saharan West Africa, it was absorbed into their society but unlike in other societies, Islam merged with the existing animistic culture. A majority of the Sub-Saharan West African population didn’t convert to Islam but remained animistic. The people who converted were merchants and elite rulers.
They used the water of the river for irrigation and cultivation of the crops, leading to less drought in the country. The Malian Empire was able to use the waterway to do limited trading along the river and enrich itself to some extent. However, the reign of Mansa Musa led to the growth of Islam in the Malian Empire.
The societies of West Africa, Europe, and North America exhibited similarities and differences in their religious beliefs, values, and government systems. These contrasts and similarities were further made apparent during European expansion across the Atlantic and the subsequent new cross cultural interactions that were created. One way in which the societies of West Africa, Europe, and North America diverged was in their belief systems. Unlike Europe and North America, West Africa gradually adopted Islam in addition to its traditional religions. Islam diffused through the trans-Saharan trade with North Africa and by the 1200’s was assimilated into the Mali and Songhai Empire.
Mansa Musa and his wealth was one reason Mali, lead to a site of cultural exchange, but Mali also became a site of cultural exchange because of the effects of trade, which also lead to spread of knowledge, ideas, and religion. Not only did Mali become a site of cultural exchange from the effects
In the Mali Empire, education was a significant part of their culture. It started with Mansa Musa, the leader of the Mali empire who focused on spreading Islamic religion throughout Mali after his trip to Mecca. Whilst spreading Islam, Timbuktu
Mansa Musa, who ruled from 1312 to 1337 CE (often referred to as “the golden age of the Mali Empire”), was the tenth mansa, or king, of the Mali Empire, which was located in the Sahara Desert and “stretched across two thousand miles from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Chad” (Alkhateeb; Tesfu). In 1324 CE, Musa, a Muslim ruler, decided to begin his pilgrimage to Mecca, called the Hajj, which is the fifth pillar of Islam. Mansa Musa’s visit to Cairo, Egypt during his Hajj to Mecca had an incredibly negative impact on the economy in Egypt for over a decade. Mahmud Kali, a native scholar and Islamic judge of Timbuktu, provided insight into Mansa Musa’s initial reason for deciding to set out on his pilgrimage to Mecca: Muhammad Quma, a scholar, had told Kali that “the Mali-koy Kankan Musa had killed his mother, Nana Kankan, by mistake. For this he felt deep regret and remorse and feared
The biggest impact of Mansa Musa's journey was in Mali itself, which became a religious and educational place based on the amount of exceptional people Mansa Musa recruited upon his return. He instituted mosques at Timbuktu and Gao. During his reign, Timbuktu became an important trade stop for caravans in the region, and an educational center that evolved into a university where history, law and theology were supported by royal funds. His influence on his people was to instill Islam into their lives, so much that his subjects became educated in religious and secular matters.
Before the 1500 ce Africa had many trades, cultures, and also some encounters with Islam. In 1000 ce Islam invaded the West African State, in Dr. Mayers, 2012 study of Africa he stated that the spread of Islam revealed the power of the religion, commercial, and also the military qualities. Many civilizations were being change without being close to at least one Islamic statement. Islam had spread so much in Africa that Islamization had served to connect with Africa and connected more with the outside world through trade, religion, and
Mansa Musa, king of the Malian empire, in specific was a large influence on the religion of the population. Other pieces of Muslim architecture, such as the great Mosque of Djenne, are evidence of the religion’s dominance in Sub-Saharan Africa. Along the Indian Ocean trade routes, we also see Islam as a dominant religion, but there is much more of a variety. Evidence of Islam in Eastern Africa can be found in the language itself. Swahili, the dominant language of the region, is influenced heavily by Arabic.
Mansa Musa helped Islam spread by leaving to pilgrimage and introduced the empire to the Islamic World. He encouraged learning to read the Arabic language to read the Qur’an. He hired architects to build mosques as well. Another example is the Songhai empire. Songhai leaders were Muslims as well.
