Destruction In Mali
Posted: 30 July 2012 Filed under: History, International Situations, News, Observations, War | Tags: Armed Conflict, Historical Events, Islamic Extremist, Mali, Postaday 2012, Sub-Saharan Africa 15 Comments »This is not a country that many Americans give two shakes in Hell about…..but that is a mistake to take the happenings in Mali, with their current civil war, with a grain of salt. There could be far reaching consequences for not paying attention.
I know what could happen in some far off country that could effect me here in the US?
Let me explain. Recall back to the days after the USSR removed itself from Afghanistan…..the semi civil war that took place and finally brought the Taleban to power…..and recall that they are extremists in Islam….one of their first acts after seizing power was to destroy some 1000 year old Buddhist statues that had been carved inside mountains…..(if you do not remember just Google it)…..
Something similar is happening in Mali…..the people in control of the North of the country are Salafist….an extreme form of Islam coming out of Saudi Arabia…..and these “people” and I use the term loosely have fallen into the same rhythm as the Taleban……
West African Islam has been deeply influenced by Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam that favours a metaphorical interpretation of the Qur’an and focuses on the spiritual development of the individual. West African Sufism is also known for its cult of the Marabouts, ‘enlightened’ individuals who mediate between God and humankind and who are also worshipped after they die.
The groups who have now seized power in northern Mali are followers of a very different movement: fundamentalist Salafism from Saudi Arabia. Their brand of Islam has no historical roots in West Africa and it rejects Sufism and the mystical veneration of saints as a heresy.
It is the fundamentalist Islam imported from Saudi Arabia and its animosity towards Sufism that has led to the tragic destruction of irreplaceable symbols of West Africa’s cultural heritage. Salafist literalists have already destroyed at least three historical mausoleums and they say they intend to raze them all to the ground. Historic mosques and libraries with manuscripts are not safe from these barbarians either. The manuscripts would fetch a fortune on the black market. There is a risk that important testimonies of a rich African scholarly tradition will disappear forever.
I know….what is the big deal?
European historians long claimed that Africa had no written history or intellectual tradition and that the first light of civilization arrived there with the European colonization. But if there is one city in Africa that dispels this myth, it is Timbuktu.
This city on the northernmost part of the river Niger, at the edge of the Sahara, was a thriving centre of commerce from the 13th century. There, Arabs from the north traded with various African tribes in gold, salt and other commodities. Europeans first arrived to the city in the 19th century, but Arabic scribes like the famous Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta described the city with admiration some five hundred years earlier.
Timbuktu is best known for its historic mosques and mausoleums, where Sufi saints are entombed. But only recently did people realize that, aside from a centre of trade, the city was also a significant centre of intellectual life. In the late 1990s, an international research team found a number of private libraries where prominent families from Timbuktu kept tens of thousands of medieval manuscripts. Written in Arabic and in African languages, the manuscripts showed the world that 13th-century West African scholars were deeply engaged in the study of religious subjects but also logic, mathematics, astronomy, medicine and natural sciences.
I was in Mali when I was working as a researcher and visited many of the places mentioned……would be a real shame to have this much history destroyed…especially in the name of God.
Once again extreme fundamentalists are endangering history! Just as the Catholic Church destroyed Maya texts and the Taleban destroyed Buddhist sites….these pigs are endangering a rich cultural history by their moronic attitudes. And keep in mind that the Taleban let AQ show up and work their magic and we could be looking at the same for Mali. And if that occurs how long will it be before drones start destroying what is left of their history in the name of killing AQ operatives?
Lobotero,
I think a distinction between Sub-Saharhan Africa and North Africa needs to be made. I realize that Timbuktu isn’t technically considered North Africa, but it might as well be considering its close proximity. I bring this up because it’s worth mentioning that Timbuktu was founded by the Taureg. They are Berbers, but definately not black as the term is understood.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuareg
So this idea that Timbuktu boasts a rich history of intellectual curosity and development is certainly true, but it cannot be credited to black African tribes, which many people attempt to do for political reasons. I’m not saying you were doing that, but I figured I’d clarify anyway.
I think the following photo illustrates the problems that exist in black Africa, for whatever reason.
For some reason, it didn’t post the photo. Hmm. Here is the link…
http://www.mybroadband.co.za/photos/data/500/1211822953rdhaqwn.jpg
I gonna let this one go……
You don’t have to let it go. I know what you’re thinking. “That’s racist.” Etc, etc, etc…I get it all the time from liberals on some of the forums I post at.
If it’s racist to repeat facts, then I guess I’m a racist.
See mistaken again….I was not thinking it was racist……..I was thinking that if I told a pic of Chicago and then a pic of the Mississippi Delta….it would be the same….just that there should be no comparison….
Yep, Taureg were Arab nomads that brought Islam to the northern province in 800 CE, I believe once that began we can use the word civilize if you like, we could go on with the geopolitical reasons but that would bore each of us to death……thew only difference in the Taureg and the black tribes is that they embraced a religion and they did not run around in lion cloths….but if we are talking about race then the Taureg, at least those in sub-Saharan Africa are very similar….
I honestly don’t believe the Taureg and black (as the term is used and understood) are the same people, or closely related. The Taureg are descendants of the Sanhaja, an Arab people.
I guess that DNA does not lie……unless we are paid to make it lie….I know what you are saying and we are coming at this from two different angles…..I was just saying that in appearance, not DNA….but I know what you are saying and you are right…..genetically they are separate….
Terrance, my concern is not so much which are true Tauregs but rather the fundamentalists that have destroyed religious grave sites and are threatening to destroy manuscripts that are hundreds of years old…..it it Mali’s version of the Taleban…..
Here is another disturbing thing….
http://allafrica.com/stories/201207300947.html
More problems…..
http://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00018212.html
Forgot to post these before….
I’m going to bring this up because you talk about it quite a bit, and because you’re not one to scream racism so easily.
Have you ever read the book “Homo Erectus Walks Amongst Us?” In it, the author claims that Australian Aborigines are really Homo Erectus, and that black people actually have close to 3% Homo Erectus DNA, whereas whites, Hispanics, and Asians do not.
You should read the book. It’s quite interesting. It’s not politically correct, but it’s a good read and scientifically accurate. Which brings me back to my point that the Taureg and black people are not as similar as people think.
I say “scientifically accurate” in that the DNA profiles and comparisons are accurate. But the conclusion drawn from it may not be. I’ve always liked Anthropology, and I remember you saying that you and your daughter discuss it a lot, so I was curious if that book or the contents were ever one of your discussions. What do you think?
To be more accurate….my daughter and I argue a lot…..LOL But thanx for remembering it…..if it leads to more arguments I may have to consider it seriously……I do enjoy the back and forth with my daughter…..she gets a lot more angry than I do…..so it does have its small rewards….LOL
I have not read it….who is the author? I may check into it…..I am running low on books….
Lobotero,
The book is written by Richard D. Fuerle. But don’t worry about buying it, because the entire thing can be read online.
http://erectuswalksamongst.us
I understand the point of your post, but I figured I’d throw that out there for a little discussion because you and I seem to share a fondness for anthropology. Like I said, I always remember your stories about you and your daughter bantering back and forth. LOL.
I think what’s happening in Mali is terrible. But what’s the solution? Should the United States get involved?
Terrance, thanx for the link…I have bookmarked it and will check it out soon…
I wish I knew the answer…there are so many variables that without being there a solution would be damn near impossible….I only know that there is a repeat of 1990 Afghanistan in the making….and that could be a problem for US Africa command….