The author of Tarikh al-Fattash mentions that Sultan Musa is said to have taken his wife with him on his Hajj journey. Ibn Khaldun confirms that in Cairo, at the end of the eighth century AH, he met Sheikh Othman, the jurist of the people of Ghana, and a great scholar and religious figure. He then added that the aforementioned Sheikh came "on Hajj with his family and children."

The conclusion we draw from this information is that wealthy Malians who were able to perform the pilgrimage encouraged their families and were keen to take their wives, children, and relatives with them on their Hajj journeys. This feature, in addition to the ability of the Malian sultans to perform their religious duty, represents two unique features that characterized the history of the Malian Hajj caravan and were imprinted upon it.

The Hajj of Sultan Musa

Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam. Allah Almighty says in His Book: "And proclaim the Hajj to mankind. They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, they will come from every distant pass." (Quran 22:27). Indeed, Allah is self-sufficient, beyond need of the worlds.

However, the Hajj of a Sudanese sultan in the 12th or 14th century AD raises some questions and question marks. Does this mean the Sultan's desire to implement the pillars of Islam, knowing that leaving his subjects and undertaking a journey to the holy lands would take a long time, ranging between 11 and 34 months, which could pose a danger to his kingdom?

Can we explain this by the Sultan's desire to learn about the conditions and systems of the Arab East and to emulate some of them?

Does this also indicate the Sultan's desire to strengthen his country's cultural relations with these countries, and thus bring a group of senior scholars to oversee the formation of an educated local elite, and consequently move from the stage of practicing religious behavior as Islam called for to another stage, which is the formation of an elite knowledgeable about Islamic heritage and Islamic civilization systems, to transfer it to Sudan?

Finally, can we say that all these factors made the Malian sultans who performed the Hajj spend generously large sums of money on their journeys to Cairo, Mecca, and Medina, which are centers of cultural weight in the Islamic world?

Musa I (1312-1337 AD) is considered one of the first Malian sultans to perform Hajj in 1324 AD, during the reign of Al-Malik Al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun in Egypt. Then Sakura (died 1340 AD), who was killed in Tripoli on his return at the end of the 13th century AD.

Musa is considered the most famous of the Malian sultans for his Hajj, due to the vast amount he spent on his journey. He had "five hundred slaves walking before him when he rode, and each of them held a staff of gold, each weighing five hundred mithqals." This journey led to the arrival of large numbers of merchants and scholars to Mali, contributing to the flourishing of economic and cultural activity, which Musa encouraged. He brought with him on his return journey a collection of religious books, which left a noticeable scientific impact.

It can be said that Musa's Hajj became a landmark in the history of Mali and the land of Sudan, and its mention appeared in Islamic, and even European, sources, meaning that the echo of his Hajj journey extended beyond the borders of Dar al-Islam. Ferdinand Braudel says about Musa's fame after his Hajj: "His gold..."

1. Al-Qadi Mahmud Kuti, Tarikh al-Fattash fi Akhbar al-Bilad wa al-Juyush wa Akabir al-Nas wa Dhikr Waqai' al-Tukrur wa A'dham al-Umur wa Tafriq Ansab al-'Abid min al-Hurar, Paris, Maisonneuve; This is the second edition of the original edition published in 1900-1902. It was reviewed for publication with a translation into French by Octave Houdas and Maurice Delafosse, p. 24. Ibn Khaldun, Al-'Ibar, vol. 3, p. 412.

2. Surah Al-Imran: Verse 97.

3. Ibn Khaldun, Kitab al-'Ibar, op. cit., vol. 3, p. 337. Al-Qalqashandi, Subh al-A'sha fi Sina'at al-Insha, op. cit., vol. 5, p. 314.

4. His Hajj was in 1324 AD, and it was a good precedent followed by the sultans of the land of Sudan, led by Askia Al-Hajj Muhammad.

5. Abd al-Rahman al-Sa'di, Tarikh al-Sudan, op. cit., p. 7.