AHMAD BABA

born Oct. 26, 1556, Arawan, near Timbuktu, Songhai Empire died April 22, 1627, Timbuktu in full Abu Al-'abbas Ahmad Ibn Ahmad Al-takruri Al-massufi jurist, writer, and a cultural leader of the western Sudan. A descendant of a line of jurists, Ahmad Baba was educated in Islamic culture, including jurisprudence. When Timbuktu was conquered by the Sultan of Morocco in 1591, he was accused of refusing to recognize the Sultan's authority and of plotting a rebellion. In 1594 he was deported to the Moroccan capital of Marrakush. The conditions of his captivity were liberal, and he was allowed to teach and practice law. His fatwas (legal opinions) dating from this period are noted for their clarity of thought and clear exposition of Islamic judicial principles. He also compiled a biographical dictionary of the famous Maliki (one of the four schools of Islamic law) jurists; this work is still an important source of information concerning the lives of Malikite jurists and Moroccan religious personalities. When the Sultan of Morocco died in 1603, Ahmad Baba was allowed to return to his native city. He spent the last years of his life in scholarly pursuits, which included writing a treatise on the populations of the western Sudan and a grammar of Arabic that is still used in northern Nigeria.