Masjid had been converted into a fully staffed madrasa (Islamic school, or in this case, university) with the largest collections of books in Africa since the Library of Alexandria. With the rise of the Songhai Empire under Askia Muhammad, the empire ushered in the golden age of the Sankoré madrasa, drawing in scholars from as far as Cairo and Syria. The madrasa at one point enrolled more foreign students than New York University did in 2008. The level of learning at Timbuktu's Sankoré University was superior to that of many other Islamic centers in the world. Scholars from Sankoré would engage in learning or teaching while completing the Hajj. The trade in books within the Islamic world was one of the most important aspects of the university where thousands upon thousands of manuscripts were written. The Sankoré Masjid was capable of housing 25,000 students and had one of the largest libraries in the world, housing between 400,000 and 700,000 manuscripts. In 1591 AD, an invasion by Ahmad al-Mansur of Morocco plundered Songhai for its wealth after the Battle of Tondibi, including the Sankoré Madrasa, starting a long decline of the West African states. A few days after the death of Askia Daoud, the last monarch of the Songhai Empire, IImam al-Aqib, the restorer of the mosque and chief Qadi of Timbuktu, died of natural causes. Modern Day The integrity of the Sankoré Madrasa has been at risk with increased urbanization and contemporary construction in Timbuktu. Irreversible damage has been done to the mosque due to the erection of the Ahmad Baba Center, as well as flooding and a lack of restoration work. As a result, the integrity of the traditional building techniques are at risk. However, there are currently several restoration and protective committees being funded by the government to prevent further damage. The Management and Conservation Committee of the Old Town, in coordination with the World Heritage Center, held long term plans to create a 500 foot buffer zone to protect the madrasa and create a sustainable urban development framework. Organization The University of Sankoré managed to effectively house over 25,000 students, which was a fourth of the entire Timbuktu population at the time, in its 180 facilities. Academic Administration As the center of an Islamic scholarly community, the university was very different in organization from medieval universities, where students studied in one institution and were awarded degrees by