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With regards to the means of expression, Afrika has both the tradition of oral philosophy and that of written texts and although most of the traditional philosophy was done orally, there is also a long tradition of written texts that goes back to ancient Kemet, where there existed, long before the rise of philosophy in ancient Greece in the 6th century B.C.E., one of the most ancient philosophies in the world.
This Kemetic philosophical tradition flourished from around the 27th century B.C.E (in shortest chronology) to the 4th century C.E. Then, during the era of the Roman Empire, a new tradition flourished in North Afrika, led by thinkers converted to Christianity, such as Saint Augustine. The Islamic University of Sankore in Timbuktu flourished from the Middle Ages into the 17th century and produced powerful thinkers for example Professor Ahmed Baba (1556-1627, pictured below), who wrote more than 40 books on subjects as diverse as philosophy, theology, astronomy and biography.
Among the many scholars at the University of Sankore during the 15th and 16th centuries were Mohammed-el-Mrili (a Professor of Law), Ahmed ben Said (a Professor of Logic) and Ben Mohammed Aquit (another Professor of Logic). As a Jurist, Philosopher and Theologian, Ahmed Baba confronted the issue of slavery in the Islamic context. He challenged the legal and theological arguments used at the time to justify the practice of enslavement.
Unlike the Moroccan Jurist al-Wansharisi, Ahmed Baba placed the burden of proof not on the slave but on the slavedealer, who must prove his lawful right of ownership of the slave he offers for sale. To the question “Can one take the word of an enslaved person?” that many Arabic Jurists answered “No”. Ahmed Baba replied with a firm and documented “Yes.”.
With regard to theological arguments, he dismissed the story that an Afrikan person could not create philosophy. Ahmed Baba was an avowed believer in the capabilities of all humans and as an Afrikan himself, he thoroughly understood the issues of his day. Despite the limitations imposed by his condition as a Muslim, Baba (highly regarded by Afrikan scholars like John Henrik Clarke) contributed in his own way to the articulation of an Afrikan philosophy of human rights.
