The Craziest Live Show: Over a Million Viewers Watch Him Steal, and Everyone Calls Him a Hero

One hot evening, Haidara’s nephew, Touré, was alone packing the manuscripts. As he turned to lock the door and walked into the alley, he happened to cross paths with one of the most fanatical and unpredictable leaders of the militant group—Omar Uld Hama, nicknamed "Red Beard," who was passing by with his bodyguards. Touré didn’t know that Red Beard had been living nearby, and Red Beard had no idea that a group of people was secretly moving the ancient manuscripts right under his nose. Red Beard shone his flashlight directly on Touré’s face and demanded, "What are you doing here?"

"I—I'm sorry," Touré stammered, the flashlight blinding him. "We're moving out soon, and I’m just transferring these manuscripts to a safer place."

"You're lying," Red Beard shouted. "You’re stealing!"

"Of course not."

"Moving things in the middle of the night, who told you to do that?"

"I... I didn’t know I needed permission to move my own things."

Just then, three pickup trucks pulled up in front of the library, all filled with militants wearing black headscarves. They demanded to see a permit, but Touré had nothing to show. "You’re a thief!" they declared. Touré was arrested.

He knew that, according to their interpretation of Sharia law, he would soon face a trial, followed by swift execution. Fortunately, Touré had a solid academic background in Islamic studies. He quickly cited passages from the Hadith and the Qur’an, which stated that execution could only occur if there was concrete evidence of a crime.

"You've stolen from that library, the evidence is undeniable," Red Beard said.

"This is my library," Touré firmly retorted. "I’m just moving the books to a safer place."

"Prove it to me," Red Beard demanded.

"Alright," Touré replied, thinking quickly. "I’ll get the Imam and residents from the community. Tomorrow at 9 a.m., they’ll come and confirm that this library belongs to me."

When Haidara heard the news that Touré had been arrested, he panicked and immediately began calling people in the capital, asking them to organize documents and testimony overnight. By 9 a.m. the next day, the witnesses gathered at the mayor’s office.

Touré was released after being held for 24 hours. That evening, he quietly returned to the library to continue packing the manuscripts. Touré later said, "I have only one goal in all of this, and that’s to save Mali’s knowledge. My life is insignificant in comparison."

By the end of the month, the vast majority of the manuscripts had been moved from the library and hidden in over thirty safe houses. However, thousands of manuscripts were still left at the new headquarters, which had now been turned into a military camp, and Haidara and the librarians could no longer access them.