S a n k o r e    M a s j i d

[by Mutmainaa]
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The Sankore Masjid in Timbuktu, Mali, became an important Islamic house of worship in the Mali Empire, one of the great empires of the western Sudan, in northern Africa. It was first built in 989, (the early 15th century A.D) by al-Qadi Aqib.

The masjid is in traditional Sahelian style out of dried mud, has architecturally, a large unique pyramidal mihrab, and is one of the three great masjids there; the Djingareyber and Sidi Yahia being the other two. The emperor at that time, Mansa Musa commissioned the Granada architect abu Ishaq as-Sahil to design the Sankore masjid The Sankore masjid at its peak was the religious, scientific and literary center of the Bilad’s-Sudan. It is famous for being the centere of the great Islamic scholarly community. It was the intellectual magnet where pious scholars were drawn from all over the Muslim world. As well as being a masjid, it was also the home of a teaching institute/university. Leading Islamic scholars from all over the Middle East taught at a school established in the masjid during the 16th century, and students came from all over to learn from there. Scholars who were mainly interested in history, Qur'anic theology, and law made the Sankore masjid a teaching centre, and laid the foundations of the University of Sankore.

By the 1450s, the population in Timbuktu itself reached some 100,000, a quarter of these were scholars, many of whom had studied in Egypt or Makkah.

The Mali empire originated in the 11th century, reached its peak in the 14th century, and subsequently declined, but the masjid and university continued to play an important role in the country’s culture and society. In time the eminence of the masjid and university declined; with many of the scholars teaching there being deported, and the invasion of the country.
Timbuktu itself was in the 15th and 16th centuries an intellectual and spiritual capital and a centre for the expansion of Islam throughout Africa and the Muslim world.

 

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