Timbuktu, Islam's Ancient Seat Of Learning, Loses Priceless Manuscripts

[Jetavan]

SEVARE, Mali — Timbuktu, the fabled desert city where retreating Muslim extremists destroyed ancient manuscripts, was a center of Islamic learning hundreds of years before Columbus landed in the Americas.

It is not known how many of the priceless documents were destroyed by al Qaida-linked fighters who set ablaze a state-of-the-art library built with South African funding to conserve the brittle, camel-hide bound manuscripts from the harshness of the Sahara Desert climate and preserve them so researchers can study them.
....
The manuscripts cover subjects ranging from science, astrology and medicine to history, theology, grammar and geography. All are in Arabic script, in the Arabic language and African languages.
....
On Tuesday, Timbuktu was in control of French and Malian troops, including some 250 French paratroopers dropped from the sky. The extremists melted into the desert without firing a shot. Townspeople were jubilant at the city's liberation from intolerant Islamist extremists.

I knew al-Qaida was bad news. I just had a hunch.

[Ebor]

This is depressing indeed.  Unfortunately the destruction of books, manuscripts, schools of thought and more have a long history.  Remember the statues of the Buddha at Bamyan?  But such acts are not limited to groups like Al-Qaida.

[Santagranddad]

Salafi Jihadists with a nihilistic mindset and little respect for absolutely anything that doesn't sit with their grossly intolerant ideology. They, the Wahabi and Deobandi sects are a complete menace. The artifacts lost came from far and wide in the Islamic world, but in particular were a rich source for a rather more generous view of African culture and past achievements than is largely seen in the West today.

What was touching was seeing the touching reception given to the 2nd Company of the Foreign Legion Parachute Regiment by the men, women and above all the children. Two corporals were almost in tears, seeing the children's reaction and thinking of their own kids.

[theistgal]

This is depressing indeed.  Unfortunately the destruction of books, manuscripts, schools of thought and more have a long history.  Remember the statues of the Buddha at Bamyan?  But such acts are not limited to groups like Al-Qaida.

Yes, I was thinking about those two statues when I heard today's news. 

[ialmisry]

Black Africa has such few centers of heritage of ancient civilization, and al-Qa'idah destroys one of their own civilization.

Talk about nihilism.

I was at a conference about Black African Arabic manuscripts at Northwestern a few years ago.  This treasure was just being unraveled. Now is it lost?

[Ansgar]

Black Africa has such few centers of heritage of ancient civilization, and al-Qa'idah destroys one of their own civilization.

Talk about nihilism.

I was at a conference about Black African Arabic manuscripts at Northwestern a few years ago.  This treasure was just being unraveled. Now is it lost?

Not entirely. The article states that they succeded in smuggling some of the manuscripts out of the city. I also think that they managed to hide some of it.
But it's a tradegy, really. Destroying your own culture.

[Romaios]

But it's a tradegy, really. Destroying your own culture.

This is more like Protestants destroying Catholic churches and sacking monasteries after the Reformation.

[theistgal]

But it's a tradegy, really. Destroying your own culture.

This is more like Protestants destroying Catholic churches and sacking monasteries after the Reformation.

Not exactly, because in this case the modern-day Islamists are destroying the treasures of their own heritage.

More like the people in L.A. who trashed their own neighborhoods and businesses during the Riots.

[Romaios]

But it's a tradegy, really. Destroying your own culture.

This is more like Protestants destroying Catholic churches and sacking monasteries after the Reformation.

Not exactly, because in this case the modern-day Islamists are destroying the treasures of their own heritage.

Isn't that because their Islamic faith suffered some sort of radical mutation, so now they have a totally different attitude to that heritage than their forefathers?

[theistgal]

But it's a tradegy, really. Destroying your own culture.

This is more like Protestants destroying Catholic churches and sacking monasteries after the Reformation.

Not exactly, because in this case the modern-day Islamists are destroying the treasures of their own heritage.

Isn't that because their Islamic faith suffered some sort of radical mutation, so now they have a totally different attitude to that heritage than their forefathers?

Good point; however, I think the problem with Islam is that it hasn't undergone any radical mutation.

[Romaios]

Good point; however, I think the problem with Islam is that it hasn't undergone any radical mutation.

In Albania and other countries from the Balkans (former Yugoslavia), the Muslims used to belong to various Sufi confraternities and they peacefully coexisted with the Orthodox until the '90s. They themselves were former Orthodox or had Orthodox relatives. They even used to revere Orthodox Saints and come to worship their relics in churches.

For the last couple of decades or so things have been changing, because most of their young clergy are now inspired and formed by the Salafis. Traditional Islam is declining and this new belligerent version seems to be thriving in more and more once peaceful Islamic countries.     

[ialmisry]

But it's a tradegy, really. Destroying your own culture.

This is more like Protestants destroying Catholic churches and sacking monasteries after the Reformation.

Not exactly, because in this case the modern-day Islamists are destroying the treasures of their own heritage.

More like the people in L.A. who trashed their own neighborhoods and businesses during the Riots.

One could argue the Protestants were destroying their own heritage.

But more to the point, in the case of the Wahhabis, to give you an idea of how bad they are, when they first came onto the scene, they sacked Medina and destroyed all the tombs and shrines there.  Only extreme pressure (and the appearance of Ottoman and Egyptian forces) stopped them from destroying the Tomb of Muhammad their Prophet itself.

[WPM]

I thought Timbuktu was a website program.

[Jetavan]

Good News:

JOHANNESBURG — Islamist extremists damaged or stole only a limited number of manuscripts in Timbuktu in Mali before they fled the fabled desert city, a South African university said Wednesday.

People in the north Malian city who have knowledge of the documents reported that there was no malicious destruction of any library or collection, said the University of Cape Town, which helped fund a state-of-the-art library to house manuscripts.

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