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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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China Forces Birth Control On Uyghur Women To Suppress Muslim Population, Says New Report

China had initially denied the existence of the detention camps before justifying them as a “necessary measure against terrorism.”

Written by Wali Ahmed & Nawal Qadir

China has allegedly been forcefully subjecting Uyghur women to various birth control methods in an attempt to reduce and eliminate the minority population, according to a report by China specialist Adrian Zenz.  The news comes as Uyghurs continue to be detained in concentration camps in Xinjiang. It is believed that approximately one million Uyghur people, as well as other minority groups, are being held in what China refers to as “re-education” camps.  

China has responded by calling it “fake news,” stating that the allegations are “baseless.” However, China had initially denied the existence of the detention camps before justifying them as a “necessary measure against terrorism.”

Zenz’s report states that since 2016, reproductive autonomy and its associated human rights have continuously been interfered with in Xinjiang. Uyghur women who refuse to abort pregnancies that exceed the quota of two children are threatened to be forced into internment camps. It additionally states that women with fewer than two children were forced to have sterilization surgeries or take intra-uterine devices (IUDs). Formerly detained individuals also say that they were given injections to halt their periods.

However, the Han Chinese population are reportedly spared the various birth control measures forced on Xinjiang’s ethnic minorities.

 

READ MORE: Trump Signs Bill Rebuking China’s Treatment Of Uyghur Muslims

 

An investigation by AP News has found that the humanitarian violations are far more widespread and systemic than previously thought.  The investigation shows that the current treatment of Uyghur Muslims in these camps could amount to “demographic genocide,” meaning that China could successfully and covertly eradicate the Uyghur population in just a few generations.  “This is part of a wider control campaign to subjugate the Uyghurs,” Zenz said. “Overall, it is likely that Xinjiang authorities are engaging in the mass sterilization of women with three or more children.”

Joanne Smith Finley, Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies at Newcastle University goes further, saying ““It’s genocide, full stop.” “It’s not immediate, shocking, mass-killing on the spot type genocide – but it’s slow, painful, creeping genocide.”

Adrian Zenz’s data suggests that the natural population growth in predominantly Uyghur regions  has fallen by more than 60% between 2015 and 2018, a drop which he describes as “unprecedented” and “ruthless.”

“These findings provide the strongest evidence yet that Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang meet one of the genocide criteria cited in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide” says Zenz in his report.

One former Uyghur detainee, Zumret Dawut, was forcibly sterilized along with 200 others. Dawut was put into an internment camp for two months for holding an American visa. She had later returned home but was placed under house arrest, was forced to have gynaecological exams on a monthly basis, and was threatened to be placed in a camp again should she not comply.

“They want to eliminate us, but they can’t kill all of us,” she said. “They’re doing it step by step with policies such as sterilization, imprisonment, separating men and women and making them work as forced laborers.” 

Forced sterilization isn’t a new trend for China, which for a long time had a one-child-per-household policy. However, in recent years, and especially under President Xi Jinping, the sterilization programs have been concentrated in the Uyghur minority areas, turning the countryside region of Xinjiang from one of the fastest growing populations in China to the slowest in just a few years. 

 

The news of forced birth control methods come as an addition to the internment and forced labour in Uyghur detention camps, as well as the separation of Uyghur children from their parents in order to indoctrinate them, practices that have been widely criticized by human rights organizations around the world, and which China continues to deny or defend.

 

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Trump Signs Bill Rebuking China’s Treatment Of Uyghur Muslims

Donald Trump signs a bill that calls for sanctions on China in response to their brutal mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims.

President Trump signed a bill that calls for sanctions on China in response to their brutal mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims on Wednesday afternoon. This bill, which would require Trump to revoke officials’ entry visas if they’re found to be connected to the internment of the Uyghur population, was signed after John R. Bolton, Trump’s former national security advisor, released his explosive book. 

While Trump has previously been relatively quiet on the humanitarian crisis occurring within China’s borders, Bolton’s new novel alleged that, behind closed doors, Trump approved of the reasons Chinese President Xi Jinping “was basically building concentration camps,” for the minority Uyghur population, saying “he thought [building the camps] was exactly the right thing to do.”

Though there was no official ceremony held for the signing, Trump has now said that the bill “holds accountable perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses such as the systematic use of indoctrination camps, forced labor, and intrusive surveillance to eradicate the ethnic identity and religious beliefs of Uyghurs and other minorities and other minorities in China,” in a statement released after the bill was signed. 

The legislation also requires Trump to submit a report to Congress detailing any foreign official responsible for the crisis, increasing the already high tensions between the US and China.  

“We urge the US side to immediately correct its mistakes, and stop using the bill to damage China’s interests and interfere in China’s internal affairs otherwise China will resolutely take countermeasures,” said the Chinese foreign ministry in a statement. 

Although Trump has been publicly berating China since the coronavirus outbreak, Bolton also alleges that Trump personally reached out to Xi Jinping to ask for help in winning the 2020 election.

READ MORE:  U.S. House Passes Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act

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U.S. House Passes Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act

House of Representatives has passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act by a vote of 413-1.

NEWS

U.S. House Passes Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act

House of Representatives has passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act by a vote of 413-1.

By

Wali Ahmad
Photo - Umit Bektas/Reuters

May 29, 2020 – The United States House of Representatives passes the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act by a vote of 413-1, which was approved unanimously by the Senate two weeks prior. The act is now pending Presidential approval..

The Act essentially allows the U.S. to amend its foreign policy towards China based on concerns regarding the persecution of ethnic Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. This could include actions such as imposing financial sanctions and limiting the approval of visas for Chinese government officials. 

Further, the President has approximately six months to submit reports to Congress which identifies the names of all Chinese officials that are directly responsible for denying the “right to life, liberty, or the security” of people in Xinjiang. 

Nury Turkel, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedoms Commissioner,  welcomed the Act, stating: “The world has stood by for too long as the Chinese government detained millions of Muslims in concentration camps. […] The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act would be the first major legislation focused on promoting the rights of Uyghur and other Muslims. Hopefully, other countries will follow the U.S. government’s lead and take action on this issue.”

Turkel’s reference to “concentration camps” highlights the many human rights violations committed by China against this population, including torture, detention without charge or trial, abduction, and cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment of Muslim minority groups. Mihrigul Tursun, who is of Uyghur ethnicity, testified regarding her experience at a 2018 congressional hearing: “When I was 12 years old, I was taken to Guangzhou for middle school, under the Chinese government’s program to move Uyghur children to inner China at a young age. This ‘Xinjian Classrooms’ policy takes thousands of children away from their families and immerses them in Han Chinese institutions, far from their native language and cultural environment.” 

In addition to detailing the forced cultural assimilation, she spoke of her own experience in detention centers: “Over the last three years, I was taken to Chinese government detention centers three times. I spent 10 months in the camps in total, and experienced physical and psychological torture at the hands of government officials.” Tursun was eventually brought to safety by the U.S. government.

WATCH: Uyghur Muslim Explains Uyghur Crisis

 

China continues to cite the camps as centers for “vocational training” with the intention of “preventing terrorism.” The Islamophobic decision by China to target Muslims for mass internment of “potential terrorists” was defended by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, who responded to the newly passed U.S. Human Rights Act stating that it “smears the human rights condition in Xinjiang, slanders China’s efforts in de-radicalization and counter-terrorism and viciously attacks the Chinese government’s Xinjiang policy.”

The move signals the U.S. bipartisan approach in combating Islamophobia on an international level. The bill was introduced by Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Senator Bob Menendez. “For far too long, the Chinese Communist Party has tried to systemically wipe out the ethnic and cultural identities of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims,” Rubio stated. “It’s long overdue to hold the perpetrators accountable and I urge the President to sign it into law without delay.”

The Act also comes during the increasingly strained relationship between the U.S. and China, after Trump continues to blame China for the coronavirus pandemic. Dolkun Isa, President of the World Uyghur Congress, pleaded with Trump in a statement. “We urge President Trump to sign the [Act] into law as a matter of priority and take immediate steps to implement it” he said. “Our community needs the U.S. government and governments around the world to take real, meaningful action.”

 

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