Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti
Aḥmad Bābā al-Timbuktī was a Berber religious scholar from Timbuktu best known for defending the enslavement of non-Muslims and promoting religion-based slavery. While rejecting racial slavery in theory, he supported the continuation of the Trans-Saharan slave trade and argued that enslavement was divinely sanctioned for unbelievers.
Life
Aḥmad Bābā was born into a scholarly family and received religious training in Timbuktu. Following the Saadian invasion of the Songhai Empire, he was exiled to Morocco after being accused of sedition. During his exile, he authored legal works that attempted to regulate slavery rather than abolish it.Views on Slavery
Aḥmad Bābā argued that slavery was legitimate for anyone considered a non-Muslim, regardless of ethnicity. He maintained that conversion to Islam after enslavement did not entitle a person to freedom and claimed that enslavement occurred by the “will of God.” His writings helped provide religious justification for the continued enslavement of Africans under Islamic law.Legacy
Although often portrayed as a critic of racial slavery, Aḥmad Bābā ultimately reinforced systems of bondage by redefining slavery along religious lines. His works remain controversial for prioritizing legal justification of enslavement over human freedom.The Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu is named after him, despite ongoing debate about his views on slavery.