After a brief lunch and a quick nap our group gathered for a meeting with the Governor of Timbuktu. We had been scheduled to meet with him earlier that day. However, the schedule was too tight for us. He had also been busy, called away from his office attending to…

After returning to the Imam’s house, we were seated in the room we had previously occupied. However, now the room was illuminated with the light beaming from the faces of religious scholars, both young and old. The senior scholars were all adorned with the blue gowns that are the hallmark…

“I AM…” is a poem by Hamza Abdul Malik who is one of our young scholars. Hamza, has memorized the Qur’an in both Warsh and Hafs and has studied Arabic and Shari’ah in Syria, Yemen, and is currently studying in Egypt. He wrote this poem after his wife’s eighty-year old…

After returning to the hotel, we ironed fresh clothing in preparation for a formal visit with the Imam of the Grand Mosque. Even our drivers and guides had doffed their mundane western garb in favor of beautiful traditional garments. The time passed quickly and before we knew it we had…

Timbuktu is believed to have been founded early in the 12th Century AD. Its name gives us insight into its origins. Tim, in the language of the Tuareg people, means well. Buktu is a female name. Hence, Timbuktu means the place of Buktu’s well. The city is named after the…

Early the next morning, we awakened for the morning prayer in the courtyard of the IR center. After praying, I ascended to the rooftop to take in the surroundings. Looking around I was treated to a spectacular view. As I mentioned previously, the mighty Niger River was a few hundred…

The following comment is by a sister who responded to one of the postings we made concerning our visit to Mali. What she mentions here is applicable to all of the Muslim parts of Africa, with the possible exception of Egypt and some other parts of North Africa. Generally speaking,…

Early in the afternoon we left for Rharous, a town even further to the north. Our caravan had grown by one car as some of the Islamic Relief officials from Gossi were joining us for the trip to Rharous and then onward to Timbuktu. Until now, we had been traveling…

Early the next morning, Thursday, March 5, 2009, we departed for the Town of Gossi, the location of the Islamic Relief Regional Office in the Northern part of the country. As we ventured ever farther from Bamako, the terrain became more and more arid. However, the harsh environ had a…

The next day, Wednesday, March 4, 2009, was a day of travel as we moved out on a journey to the northern parts of the country that would culminate at Timbuktu. The bustle of the roadside markets that seem to be omnipresent in Bamako thinned into lonely vendors, and eventually…