Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar (also known as Sidi Amar, Cadi Sidi Mahmoud, or Sidi Mahmoud) was a revered Muslim scholar who is one of the 333 Sufi saints said to be buried in

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census. ...

. The tomb of Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar is among 16 cemeteries and mausolea that are a part of Timbuktu, which is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On 30 June 2012, it was reported that his tomb had been destroyed by

Ansar Dine Ansar Dine ( ''ʾAnṣār ad-Dīn'', also transliterated ''Ançar Deen''), meaning " helpers of the religion" (Islam) (Defenders of the Faith) and also known as Ansar al-Din (abbreviated as AAD), was a Salafi jihadist group led by Iyad Ag Gha ...

following the

Battle of Gao The Battle of Gao was fought between the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and the Islamist Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA), along with its ally Ansar Dine, in Gao between 26–28 June 2012. By the 28 ...

, as it contravened

sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

according to Ansar Dine. These attacks resemble those carried out by the

Wahabi Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other p ...

st movement on the Arabian peninsula during the late 18th century.

Notability as pilgrimage site

According to tradition the Cadi Sidi Mahmoud belonged to a

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

tribe of the

Godala The Godala or Gudāla is a Berber tribe in Western Africa that lived along the Atlantic coast in present-day Mauritania and participated in the Saharan salt trade and the salt mines of Ijiil. The Godala may be linked to or the same as the ancient ...

. His forebears moved to Timbuktu after living in Macina and then Oualata. He was born in 1463 or 1464 and was named Cadi in 1498 or 99 and he died in 1548. Sidi Mahmoud was Ahmed Baba's great uncle. The

Tarikh Tarikh () is an Arabic word meaning "date, chronology, era", whence by extension "annals, history, historiography". It is also used in Persian, Urdu, Bengali and the Turkic languages. It is found in the title of many historical works. Prior to t ...

(histories) of Timbuktu attributed him with numerous legends. His tomb is a place of pilgrimage and his descendants count many scholars. The tomb of Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar is visited by local people who believe he has the power to bring rain, through the blessing of God.

Part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The UNESCO website specifically calls out the tomb of Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar as follows: "Equally noteworthy and from the same general period sthe grave of the scholar Sidi Mahmoudou, who died in year 955 of the

Hegira The Hijrah, () also Hegira (from Medieval Latin), was the journey the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers took from Mecca to Medina. The year in which the Hijrah took place is also identified as the epoch of the Lunar Hijri and Sola ...

(1547 CE)." In 2012, it was listed as "endangered" along with the other sites in Timbuktu.

Attacks by Islamist rebels

During the Tuareg rebellion of 2012, Islamist fighters attacked and desecrated the tomb of Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar. In April 2012,

fighters had taken over Timbuktu and reportedly were trying to impose ''

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

'' law. UNESCO had expressed concern about the safety of this and other sites in the city. On 30 June, it was reported by a local journalist that Ansar Dine had completely destroyed the mausoleum, along with two others, and would eventually destroy 13 other cemeteries and mausolea.

References

External links

333 saints of Timbuktu
History of Timbuktu People from Timbuktu Sufi saints 1547 deaths Malian Sufis Malian Berbers {{Mali-bio-stub

Notability as pilgrimage site

Part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Attacks by Islamist rebels

See also

References

External links