Mali was an important commercial kingdom in Sudan, and it remained so until the arrival of his son Mansa Musa, whose title means Sultan or Lord in Mandi. He followed the same path as his father and ruled from 1330 to 1377 AD. He also performed the Hajj to the holy places like other sultans.

Mali reached its peak in the 14th century AD, extending north into the desert where the city of Walata, also known as Timbuktu, is located, and south to the edges of the savanna at the sources of gold, and west to the Atlantic Ocean. As for its eastern borders, they approached the copper mines of Tekedda. Given these geographical data, we find ourselves before a vast empire, so much so that some Arab historians estimated its length to be a four-month journey from west to east, and its width a three-month journey from south to north.

Mali also took control of the Songhai emirate and its capital, Gao, in 1235 AD, during the reign of Mansa Musa. Al-Sa'di says in this regard: "The people of Songhai submitted to him after he crossed to perform the Hajj via their land, and upon his return, he built a mosque and a house outside the city of Gao." In addition to the Songhai emirate, it is stated that "Timbuktu was its capital, and it was the first capital of its king, and he made his successor there and built the seat of government there."

The kingdom of Mali inherited not only the kingdom of Ghana but also wealth and riches, especially in Sudanese trade, particularly gold and salt. Mali, like Ghana, sought to organize this trade between the north and south, regulate markets, assist merchants, and impose taxes on trade, which brought significant benefits to its treasuries and made its kings famous outside Sudan in the Islamic world and Europe.

However, in the 9th century AH (15th century AD), weakness set into the kingdom of Mali for several reasons, including the struggle for power, the tyranny of high officials, ministers, and advisors, as well as the involvement of rulers in pleasures and the invasion of the Tuareg from the north. The kingdom of Mali, due to its weakness, fell, and they entered Timbuktu and Djenné, which were centers of trade for Mali. This coincided with the arrival of the Portuguese on the coasts of West Africa in search of the riches of the kingdom of Mali. This weakness also led to the secession of several small kingdoms from the influence of the kingdom of Mali, including the kingdom of Tekedda in the east.

In addition to what has been mentioned, there was a kingdom that was more opportunistic than others to attack Mali, and that was the kingdom of Songhai, which had pledged allegiance to Mali since 1325 AD.

Circumstances and conditions of the Malian Hajj and the problem of the route taken. Some researchers believe that the issue of the Malian sultans' Hajj was related to the rulers' lack of interest. In reality, Eastern sources, in particular, did not seem to be interested in our Malian pilgrims. If it weren't for Ibn Khaldun and some brief mentions by Al-Maqrizi, we would not have been able to confirm the continuation and success of the Malians in performing their pilgrimage.

We can assume that the Easterners' neglect of these Hajj journeys before the end of the 7th century AH (12th century AD) was due to two main reasons: the preoccupation of the people of Egypt and the Levant with the Crusades, which consumed their lives and left them no room to be concerned with the Hajj of a sultan of the kingdom of Mali.