Chronicles of al-Sūdān (Taʾrīḫ al-Sūdān)
Timbuktu (Tombouctou, Tin Bukt)
Title
The askia's messenger shouts during the prayer of imām al-Tuwātī
Short description
The askia's messenger shouts during the prayer of the imām al-Tuwātī and the shaykh rebukes him because, according to Islamic traditions, the Prophet is always present when praised and a respectful attitude is required. The event takes place in the Jingereber (Songhay for Great Mosque), where Abū al-Qāsim al-Tuwātī (d. 1528-39) was one of the "white imāms", likely a reference to religious scholars who accomplished their studies in Morocco. Jingerber was known as the first mosque built by Mansa Musā coming back from pilgrimage and consequently associated with imperial power (Gomez, 2018).
Text on source
وصلى الامير الجمعة فيها يوما من الايّام فتربّص بعد السلام الى ان يسلم على الشيخ الفاضل الامام سيّد ابي القاسم التواتي فبعث اخاه فرن عمر ليخبره باتيانه للسلام عليه فادركهم في قراة المدح فوقف على راسه ينتظر فراغهم فلمّا تاخّر اتبعه الامير المرسول الاخر فنادا فرن برفع الصوت ما زالوافي القراة فنهاه الثيثخ اشدّ النهى وقال اخفض صوتك اما علمت انّ النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يحضر اينما يمدح فيقرا عليه مصراعا من ابيات المنشد وادنيته بالذكر فهو به معي فبعد الفراغ جاءه الامير فسلّم عليه وقرا له الفاتحة [ص. ٥٨-٥٩]
English translation
One day the amīr offered the Friday worship there and waited after the end of the prayer to greet the virtuous shaykh, the imām Sayyid Abū al-Qāsim al-Tuwātī, sending his brother Faran ʿUmar ahead of him to announce his coming. ʿUmar found him attending recitation of the eulogy of the Prophet and stood beside him waiting for him to finish. When he did not come back, the amīr sent another messenger after him. This messenger shouted at him, saying that the askia wanted to depart. Faran ʿUmar responded in like manner telling him that the recitation had not finished. The shaykh rebuked him sharply, saying, "Lower your voice. Do you not realise that the Prophet -may God bless him and grant him peace- is present whenever he is eulogised?". He then recited to him half a verse from among those the chanter was reciting: "I approached him by mentioning [his name], and through so doing he was with me". After
he had finished, the amīr came and greeted him, and the imām recited the Fātiḥa for him.
Folios/Pages
83-84
Date
1600 circa
Observations on the events description
The event is anecdotal and description seems to oppose the rude behaviour of the king and his messengers to the fine one of the religious authority.
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.
Participants
No other participants in this event description.
How to quote
Pintimalli A., "The askia's messenger shouts during the prayer of imām al-Tuwātī" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 09 30.doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.139
This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 
