Ahmad Baba

West African scholar who resisted cultural erasure during the Moroccan invasion of Songhai

Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti (1556–1627) preserved Timbuktu's intellectual heritage after the 1591 Moroccan conquest destroyed the Songhai Empire. As the last rector of Sankore University, he wrote over 40 works covering Islamic law, astronomy, and anti-slavery theology while imprisoned in Marrakesh.

His "Mi'raj al-Su'ud" legally argued against enslaving West African Muslims—a direct challenge to trans-Saharan slave traders. Baba's 30,000-volume personal library became the core of Timbuktu's manuscript preservation efforts, surviving through hidden desert archives. He introduced critical isnad verification to Maliki jurisprudence, blending North African and Sahelian scholarly traditions.

Modern researchers using his "Kifayat al-Muhtaj" have reconstructed pre-colonial West African astronomy. The Ahmad Baba Institute now holds over 18,000 manuscripts proving Africa's rich written history, countering Eurocentric narratives of oral-only traditions.