Sudan was a basis for comprehensive prosperity in Africa and Andalusia. Gold played its role in the history of the Mediterranean basin, where the trade of this gold began in the 14th century. The monthly pilgrimage of King Mansa Musa is a testament to this. If we refer to Al-Saadi's History of Sudan, we notice that he exaggerated in estimating the Sultan's wealth, setting it at five hundred mithqals of gold. If such an estimate has some truth, it leads us to question the problems of its expenditure during the pilgrimage journey.

I am inclined to believe that Mansa Musa wanted to draw closer to the rulers and scholars of Egypt, Medina, and Mecca, and thus consolidate the cultural relations between his kingdom and the Arab East. This orientation also had internal motives; meaning that Mansa Musa's pilgrimage came in response to an Islamic religious movement in Sudan that was spreading among various social groups. Therefore, Mansa Musa did not want to isolate himself from this development and wished to appear as a legitimate ruler defending the new religion. We find him boasting in Cairo that he was a follower of the Maliki school.

In the same context, can we not say that the goal of this pilgrimage, in addition to performing this obligation, was to learn about the prevailing Islamic civilization in the Arab East, especially to learn about the educational movement and its efforts in the Sudanese lands, given that openness to Islamic traditions requires delving into religious knowledge; i.e., understanding most of the sciences related to Islamic law. We believe that the same interpretation explains Mansa Musa's sending of a group of students to Fez to study under its scholars.

In parallel with the above, we notice that Mansa Musa, after his return from the pilgrimage, began building a number of mosques, which were at the same time places of worship and centers of learning. Al-Saadi says: "Musa returned from the pilgrimage and built a mosque and a mihrab outside the city of Kag, and he also built other mosques in scattered places in the country."

Some sources indicate that mosques were sacred sanctuaries for the Maliki people, both officially and popularly, so they would resort to them when a tyrannical ruler oppressed them.

Conclusion: We can therefore say that the numerous pilgrimages of the sultans of the Mali kingdom signify the spread of the Islamic religious movement in Sudan. The pilgrimage of the king, with its expenses and the potential danger to the throne after the ruler's absence from the capital for nearly two years, reflects the ruling class's acceptance of Islam. There is nothing in this orientation to justify the claim by some that the pilgrimage of the Sudanese sultans was merely a desire to gain political legitimacy. If we can take their intentions into consideration to some extent, how can we explain the attachment of the people of Mali to performing the pilgrimage? Were they, in turn, looking for a legitimate justification to overthrow the ruling authority?

Therefore, we can say that the pilgrimage in this form reflected a positive development in the Islamization of Sudan, which would be strengthened by new achievements.