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Actually, Mansa Musa Was The Richest Man Alive – Not Jeff Bezos

After Forbes had announced that Jeff Bezos was the richest man to ever live, Black Muslims on Twitter were offended that Mansa Musa was overlooked.

CULTURE

Actually, Mansa Musa Was The Richest Man Alive – Not Jeff Bezos

After Forbes had announced that Jeff Bezos was the richest man to ever live, Black Muslims on Twitter were offended that Mansa Musa was overlooked.

By

Hafsa Chughtai
Illustration of Mansa Musa

The recent news-breaking net worth of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos places him top of the list for the wealthiest people alive today – with many even calling him the wealthiest person ever. However, the media oftentimes forgets to mention a certain black individual in history whose wealth easily eclipses Bezos’s  Mansa Musa, the 10th ruler of the Malian Empire.

After the Amazon CEO overtook Bill Gates in first position  in 2018, his worth seemed to skyrocket at a baffling pace. But he is still way behind the African Muslim king who – according to many historians – is considered to be the richest man of all time. 

“Even adjusting for inflation, Forbes believes Bezos’ fortune is the largest ever tracked,” writes Jonathan Ponciano on Forbes, declaring the 56-year-old to be the ‘first person ever worth $200 Billion.’

 

On the contrary, taking into account inflation over the centuries, Musa is recorded to have amassed at least $400-$415 billion, more than twice that of Bezos. Nonetheless, Musa’s contemporaries and some modern commentators, including Time’s Jacob Davidson, believe his wealth was simply incomprehensible. “Contemporary accounts of Musa’s wealth are so breathless that it’s almost impossible to get a sense of just how wealthy and powerful he truly was,” Rudolph Butch Ware, West African historian at the University of California, told BBC.

 

 

Under Musa’s rule, the Mali empire stretched over several neighboring areas and became one of the most prosperous and largest African empires. The lands were laden with abundant natural resources – mostly gold and salt, which were also major contributors to the emperor’s wealth. In contrast to what it stands for today, he turned Mali into an advanced center of Islamic learning in the world. 

Relatively unknown in the world outside Mali before his pilgrimage to Mecca, Musa made sure his journey went down in history like none other before. “He brought a caravan stretching as far as the eye could see,”  says TED-Ed writer Jessica Smith. This 4,000 miles journey was eyewitnessed by numerous absolutely in admiration of his wealth as he distributed insane amounts of gold all along his route.

 

 

As a result of Musa’s immense generosity on the city of Cairo, where he made a pause to meet the Sultan, the value of gold greatly deteriorated. In an attempt to even out the disruption, he bought it back from the people of the city – with the added inflation, becoming the only person to ever control the price of gold. A little hard to believe yet completely true. 

Mansa Musa left more than just his money for the people to come, it was merely a small fraction of his rich legacy. He is a significant figure in black history, which is why the declaration of Jeff Bezos as the richest man ever came as a shock for several. People are still tweeting their disapproval of the situation, labeling it as an attempt to whitewash history.

 

 

Bezos is the only billionaire amassing $200 billion in the present day, that’s true. But he is in no way closer to the top billionaires of even the 20th century. Generations following Musa did not exactly maintain their status, however, this legendary king and his undeniable assets make him deserving of defending his crown of the wealthiest man ever. These figures and events from history should not be replaced with such ease.

READ MORE: 7 Of The Most Phenomenal Women In Islamic History

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Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Live Action Was Filmed Amidst The Genocide Of Uyghur Muslims

Calls to #BoycottMulan sweep across social media once again as new information comes to light about where the movie was filmed.

CULTURE

Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Live Action Was Filmed Amidst The Genocide Of Uyghur Muslims

Calls to #BoycottMulan sweep across social media once again as new information comes to light about where the movie was filmed.

By

Zainab Damji
Graphic - Ameer Al-Khatahtbeh

The much awaited live action remake of Mulan has now become a sour topic of discussion as Disney fans across the world are angered since finding out the movie was partially filmed in the Xinjiang province—where it is reported that over 2,000,000 Uyghur Muslims have been detained in internment camps.

This comes after Disney’s CEO claimed filming in Georgia would be difficult due to its pro-life laws. “I think many people who work for us will not want to work there, and we will have to heed their wishes in that regard. Right now we are watching it very carefully,” he said.

 

This is not the first time the movie has stirred up chaos and received calls  for  boycott. Last year, the film’s lead actress Liu Yife, who plays Mulan, sparked controversy over her comments supporting the Hong Kong police’s treatment towards pro-democracy protestors and activists.  

It appears that Disney did not just turn a blind eye to the atrocities that are taking place in Xinjiang – but rather actively cooperated with the authorities that are widely accused of crimes against humanity, with social media  users highlighting the official thanks  to eight Xinjiang government entities including The Xinjiang Public Security Bureau in the film credits –  the bureau that is directly responsible for enforcing the harsh treatment and ethnic cleansing of Uyghur Muslims, such as inhumane torture, slave labor and forced sterilization of women.

 

 

Isaac Stone-Fish of the Washington Post said “Why did Disney need to work in Xinjiang? It didn’t. There are plenty of other regions in China, and countries around the world, that offer the starkly beautiful mountain scenery present in the film. But in doing so, Disney helps normalize a crime against humanity.”

Visit our Carrd to learn more about what’s happening to Uyghur Muslims, donate to the cause and sign petitions to create change. 

READ MORE: Dunkin’ Donuts Employee Puts Bacon In Muslim TikTok Star’s Order

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Dunkin’ Donuts Employee Puts Bacon In Muslim TikTok Star’s Order

As some TikTokers amass love for the famous donut food chain and drinking "Chari drinks", others are faced with intolerable and islamophobic experiences.

INTERNET CULTURE

Dunkin’ Donuts Employee Puts Bacon In Muslim TikTok Star’s Order

As some TikTokers amass love for the famous donut food chain and drinking “Chari drinks”, others are faced with intolerable and islamophobic experiences.

By

Lamia Rashid
Screen grabs from Zahra's TikTok / Graphic - Ameer Al-Khatahtbeh

Dunkin’ Donuts receives backlash for alleged employee misconduct in a now viral video uploaded by Muslim TikToker Zahra Hashimee.

Better known by her TikTok handle @Muslimthicc, Zahra has quickly gained over 2.7 million followers for her lighthearted short-story videos and for talking openly about her faith. 

After pointing out a mistake in her doughnut order Zahra was later surprised to find a large slice of bacon placed in her hash browns. The video has amassed over 700K views and over 6000 comments calling on Dunkin’ Donuts to issue a formal apology.

 

The video above detailing the incident was uploaded on the morning of September 7th to her account.

Comments from former and current Dunkin’ employees insinuate that this may have been a purposeful microaggression committed by a disgruntled employee. The comments claim that the prep areas for bacon and hash browns are far enough apart that there is rarely a mix up with the two. 

Dunkin’ Donuts has yet to comment on the incident.Earlier this week a video submitted to TMZ appeared to show an altercation between another Dunkin’ employee and customers who claim the employee threw a bag at them through the drive-through window. 

READ MORE: Meet Mohamad Zoror, The Macaroni Vine Guy

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