The ‘End Times’ for Timbuktu?
The main gate of the Sidi Yahya mosque of Timbuktu will only be opened, according to local belief, when the end of the world comes. In Islamic eschatological writings, the “end times” will bring a reversal of the natural order of things, and all humans will be divinely judged.
A few weeks ago, militant Islamists of the Ansar Dine, or “Defenders of the Faith,” destroyed the main gate of the Sidi Yahya mosque, ostensibly to challenge and invalidate these beliefs. They have targeted the legendary city’s mosques, manuscripts and mausoleums and have engaged in the deliberate and systematic destruction of Mali’s cultural heritage.… Seguir leyendo »