Shamra, from the manuscripts and new books that reached Sudan. "Al-Fattash" 2.

The scribes in the Shura Council used to copy these books, and then the Askia would undertake their distribution to the scholars. It was also the custom of the Askias to gift books to the scholars. From this, Askia Dawud the Elder bought a copy of Al-Qamus Al-Khit, valued at one mithqal of gold.

The desire to obtain books was from the North. This is explained by the fact that literary production, despite the existence of a large educated class, was not of the same quality as in the Islamic centers. The books written by Sudanese scholars could not be compared to those that issued from the universities of Al-Azhar, Qas, and Qairawan. Furthermore, there was the issue of language. The elite classes in Sudan were proficient in Arabic, the language of religion, culture, and literature. However, Sudan was far from the established Arab Islamic centers. Sudanese scholars used to go to Fes and Al-Azhar. They went to Fes to study the Maliki school of thought (the only school of thought prevalent in Sudan), and to Al-Azhar and Mecca to study jurisprudence and Sharia. The early scholars from the region were received with great respect and honor. The scholars of the region had a desire to be in constant contact with the latest literary and jurisprudential developments in the world, so their demand for their sources intensified.

Education was highly valued in Sudan, and mosques, foremost among them the Great Mosque of Timbuktu, were funded to become centers of education and jurisprudence. Any family could send their children to the scholars to receive education. However, the high cost of education, the difficulty of obtaining books, the arduous work required to copy them, memorizing the Quran by heart, the long time required to study Hadith, legislation, and Maliki jurisprudence, as well as the cost of traveling abroad, all meant that education was limited to a minority. 101