From: Mohamed Bokreta
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 10:45 AM
Subject: The 29th of April 1492- The Songhai Empire. IN THE NAME OF GOD THE COMPASSIONATE THE
MERCIFUL “Do they not Travel through the Earth, and see what the
end of those before them was? But the home of the Hereafter is best, Will Ye not
then Understand?” Holy-Quran 12-109. ISLAM’s HISTORIC DAILY * Subject: the Muslim Songhai Empire in *Date: 29th of April 1492 *Place: *Elapsed Time: Day for Day: 513
Years *Main historic Figure: Mohamed Askia
Touré.
The Songhai Empire began when the
By the
ninth century this middle region of the
Gao attracted Muslim merchants and scholars and became the
most important settlement and commercial centre and afterwards the capital, it
was in the fifteenth century, when the empire of
Sonni Ali is remembered in Songhai oral tradition as a
magician of great power rather than
following the Mali Empire system of Islamic city rule over a non-Islamic rural
people, Sonni Ali mixed an unorthodox observance of Islam (Ibadite-Khawarij
rite) with traditional African religion. He was a man of the people rather than
the elite ruling class of Muslim clerics and
scholars.
He is
regarded as a great military commander who carried out a strategic campaign of
conquest along the
In the
16th century chronicle of Abd Arrahman Assadi, a historian based in
With the death of Sunni Ali in 1492, his son proved unable
fill the vacuum. This signalled the end of the Sonni Dynasty and the rise to
power of Askia Mohammed. Askia Mohammed continued in the footsteps of Sonni Ali,
building the largest state ever seen in the history of
As with Mansa Musa of the Mali Empire before him, Askia
Mohammed made a spectacular Hajj to
During Askia Mohammad Toure's brilliant reign, the Songhai
Empire was characterized by order, stability, and prosperity. His most
important innovation was to open up the ranks of government service.
Previously, the status of the leaders of the empire was determined upon the
basis of birth. Under Askia Muhammad Toure, however, men could achieve
high office based upon their scholarship and intellect regardless of their
social position.
Askia Muhammad Toure also organized and established a
permanent professional army which enabled him to expand the
Askia Mohamed Toure met the Algerian Scholar and great
Warrior Sheikh Bin Abdulkarim Al Maghili around the year 1500 AD who fresh from
his campaign against the Jews due to their all out mischief in the land of Touat
(Tamentit and Adrar present Algeria) Al Maghili gave him a Fatwa (Religious
edict) regarding his
power-taking and warned him against the infidel and pagan plots against his
Islamic rule [Les Grandes Dates de L’Islam –Robert Mantran –Page
110].
The expansion of the Songhai Empire had caused
consternation amongst its neighbours. In 1591,
*************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". Yahoo! Groups Links
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