The Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library is a private manuscript library in Timbuktu, Mali. Founded by Abdel Kader Haidara in 2000 and named in honor of his father, the library preserves one of the oldest and largest private manuscript collections in Timbuktu, with about 22,000 items. [1] [2]
The library houses a collection founded in the 16th century by Mohamed El Mawlud. After the sack of Timbuktu by Moroccan soldiers in 1591, El Mawlud's descendants in the Haidara family kept their manuscripts in relative safety within the family home, as did other scholarly households in Timbuktu. [3]
During the 20th century, Mamma Haidara collected other Malian manuscripts and bought manuscripts in Egypt and Sudan. He had also helped collect over 2,500 historic manuscripts for the Ahmed Baba Institute before his death. [4] A judge, scholar, and teacher, Mamma Haidara amassed a large and historic personal collection of books and manuscripts over his lifetime. [5] By his death in 1981, he had built cooperative relationships with other manuscript libraries to promote the research, conservation, and exchange of manuscripts throughout Mali. [1]
After his father's death in 1981, Abdel Kader Haidara was left his personal library. In 1984, Haidara was invited by the head of the Ahmed Baba Institute to continue his father's work and head the acquisition efforts of manuscripts for the library's collection. [4] [6] Haidara agreed, and spent 12 years collecting manuscripts across the country from families and individuals. [6] These manuscripts, known as the Timbuktu Manuscripts, date from the 12th to early 20th centuries, and cover a wide range of subjects including history, philosophy and religion, science, medicine, and poetry, written in various languages. [7] Haidara began cataloging the library with support from the al-Furqan Heritage Foundation in London. [1] Haidara left the Ahmed Baba Institute in 1991 to focus on his personal collection. [8] In 1996, Haidara established a foundation for other families with large collections of Timbuktu Manuscripts called Savama-DCI, which received a grant from the Ford Foundation in Nigeria to build two new libraries in Mali, the Al-Wangari Library and the Allimam Ben Essayoutiand Library, and to hire professional archivists and conservators to preserve the texts. [4] Haidara became well-known for this work, hosting visitors like Henry Louis-Gates, who helped Haidara secure a grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation to open the Mamma Haidara Library in 2000. [4]
Beginning in 2008, some manuscripts from the library were digitized with the aid of funds from the Ford Foundation. Haidara traveled to New York in 2009, where manuscripts from his library were exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. [9]
In 2010, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., included manuscripts from the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library in a web exhibit, "Ancient Manuscripts from the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu." [10]
In 2012, as al-Queda allied militants threatened to occupy Timbuktu, Abdel Kader Haidara moved more than 350,000 of the library's manuscripts to Bamako for safekeeping. [11] [12] The manuscripts were feared to be a target by militants because they were viewed as haram according to a very strict interpretation of Islamic belief, and held tremendous value for looters. [8] [6] Haidara and his team packed the works of astronomy, poetry, history, and jurisprudence into metal chests which were then transported from the library using mule carts and small vehicles to safe-houses throughout the city, eventually making the 500 mile journey to Bamako. [8] A boat full of manuscripts being relocated was seized and held for ransom on the Niger River in one instance, and in others, Jihadists and Malian soldiers searched the cases, damaging some of the fragile documents. [8] In addition to militant threats, the manuscripts faced a danger in the climate of Bamako, which is much more humid than Timbuktu, and poses a risk to the condition and preservation of the texts. [7] As of 2016, the manuscripts Haidara and his team saved from the Mamma Haidara Library were still being held in safe-houses and storage lockers throughout Bamako. [6]
A manuscript was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has come to be understood to further include any written, typed, or word-processed copy of an author's work, as distinguished from the rendition as a printed version of the same.
Timbuktu is a city in Mali, situated twenty kilometres (12 mi) north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 54,453 in the 2009 census.
Sankoré Madrasa is one of three ancient centers of learning located in Timbuktu, Mali. It is believed to be established by Mansa Musa, who was the ruler of the Mali Empire, though the Sankoré mosque itself was founded by an unknown Malinke patron. The three mosques of Sankoré: Sankoré, Djinguereber, and Sidi Yahya comprise the University of Timbuktu. The madrasa went through multiple periods of patronage and renovation under both the Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire until the Battle of Tondibi in 1591 led to its looting. Madrasa (مدرسة) means school/university in Arabic and also in other languages that have been influenced by Islam.
Jews of the Bilad al-Sudan describes West African Jewish communities connected to known Jewish communities who migrated to West Africa as merchants for trading opportunities. Various historical records state that at one time, they were present in the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, the Mossi Kingdoms and the Songhai Empire, which was then called the Bilad al-Sudan "Land of the Blacks".
Timbuktu Manuscripts is a blanket term for the large number of historically significant manuscripts that have been preserved for centuries in private households in Timbuktu, a city in northern Mali. The collections include manuscripts about art, medicine, philosophy, and science, as well as copies of the Quran.
Articles related to Mali include:
Mohammed Bagayogo Es Sudane Al Wangari Al Timbukti was an eminent scholar from Timbuktu, Mali. He was the Sheik and professor of highly esteemed scholar, Ahmed Baba and teacher at the Sankore Madrasah, one of three philosophical schools in Mali during West Africa's golden age ; the other two were Sidi Yahya Mosque and Djinguereber Mosque. He was born in Djenné in 1523. A significant amount of his writing has been preserved in manuscript form at the Ahmed Baba Institute, a repository for African literature. Some of the manuscripts found their way into French museums. A project is under way to digitalise these manuscripts which will lead to better understanding of the culture that flourished in Mali in the medieval period.
The University of Timbuktu is a collective term for the teaching associated with three mosques in the city of Timbuktu in what is now Mali: the mosques of Sankore, Djinguereber, and Sidi Yahya. It was an organized scholastic community that endured for many centuries during the medieval period. The university contributed to the modern understanding of Islamic and academic studies in West Africa during the medieval period and produced a number of scholars and manuscripts taught under the Maliki school of thought.
The 2012 Tuareg rebellion was the early phase of the Mali War; from January to April 2012, a war was waged against the Malian government by rebels with the goal of attaining independence for the northern region of Mali, known as Azawad. It was led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and was part of a series of insurgencies by traditionally nomadic Tuaregs which date back at least to 1916. The MNLA was formed by former insurgents and a significant number of heavily armed Tuaregs who fought in the Libyan Civil War.
Malian literature is the literature of the modern country of Mali.
Columba Andrew Stewart is an American Benedictine monk, scholar, and the executive director of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) in Collegeville, Minnesota. His principal scholarly contributions have been in the field of monastic studies—both Benedictine and Eastern Christian.
Operation Serval was a French military operation in Mali. The aim of the operation was to oust Islamic militants from the north of Mali, who had begun a push into the center of Mali.
The following is a timeline of major events during the Northern Mali conflict.
The Ahmed Baba Institute, officially the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Learning and Islamic Research, is a library and research centre in Timbuktu. The centre was founded in 1973, with financing primarily from Kuwait. It was named after 17th-century Timbuktu scholar Ahmad Baba al Massufi.
The following lists events that happened during 2013 in the Republic of Mali.
The Fall of Timbuktu took place during the war in northern Mali. It was one of the first clashes between the MNLA and Ansar Dine, and led to the latter taking control of the city in June 2012.
The Imghad Tuareg Self-Defense Group and Allies is an armed group in Azawad, Mali. Most of its 500 to 1,000 fighters are Imghad Tuaregs, and the group supports the Malian government.
Islamic manuscripts had a variety of functions ranging from Qur'anic recitation to Scientific notation. These manuscripts were produced in many different ways depending on their use and time period. Parchment (vellum) was a common way to produce manuscripts. Manuscript creators eventually transitioned to using paper in later centuries with the diffusion of paper making in the Islamic empire. When Muslims encountered paper in Central Asia, its use and production spread to Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and North Africa during the 8th century.
The history of the Jews in Mali dates back to the 8th century CE. Today, around 1,000 descendants of Jews live in Mali, mostly in or near Timbuktu.
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