King Mansa Musa Research Paper

Imagine being a poor slave in ancient Africa and a king wearing a gold crown was giving pounds of gold to you. Mansa Musa was “the king of all kings” in the Mali Empire. He was a true believer of the Muslim religion and followed the five pillars of Islam. In January of 1324, Mansa Musa traveled on a journey to Mecca. This pilgrimage or hajj was for only religious purposes so that he could complete two pillars of the Muslim religion-the hajj and zakat (charity) and he could alsk follow the Qur'an.
During Mansa Musa’s hajj to Mecca he visited many different cities and civilizations in Africa but only for religious tasks. According to Abu the man that Al-Umari quoted, when he asked Mansa Musa to meet his sultan, he replied “I came for the

Pilgrimage and nothing else” (Doc E). Mansa Musa’s response gives historians another piece of evidence that he made the hajj for religious reasons only and not to make alliances. Another piece of evidence that historians have uncovered was that when making the hajj, Mansa Musa also completed another pillar of the Islam religion-charity. He did not visit cities to make alliances but visited the slaves to give gold to them for charity. According to the information that Ibn Battuta said about the town Mansa Musa visited, in the town “nobody lives there except the slaves of Masufa” (Doc C) . This shows that Mansa Musa did not travel to other cities for alliances but for charity on his pilgrimage to Mecca. Which explains why he went out of his way to different cities on his hajj. They believe that Mansa Musa gave the poor slaves and poor people gold. Thus, on top of making the hajj, Mansa Musa traveled to Mecca to complete the Zakat pillar of Islam. Finally, the last piece of evidence that researchers have found was that in the Muslim Qur'an it states to “give generously for the cause of good [...] God loves the charitable” (Doc D). Historians think that Mansa Musa brought that much gold because he wanted to be charitable for god. Hence, one of the reasons Mansa Musa traveled on the hajj was for zakat which leads historians think that his pilgrimage was for religious purposes only.
In conclusion, researchers think that Mansa Musa traveled on the hajj for religious purposes only because he refused to make alliances, donated gold to the less wealthy, and follow the Qur’an. Thus, Mansa Musa was a true Muslim who traveled to Mecca for religious reasons only.