I dont understand i need help ((simply explanation Please))

Question

“The North African Scholar, al-Omari, who lived in Cairo a few years after Mansa Musa’s visit and wrote about it, declared that of all the Muslim rulers of west Africa Musa was ‘the most powerful, the richest, the most fortunate, the most feared by his enemies and the most able to do good to those around him.” 

Source: Davidson, Basil, 1914-2010. West Africa before the Colonial Era: A History to 1850, Longman, London;New York, 1998. 

(This book is considered a secondary source, but he includes many primary sources to support his claims, such as the quote above

question:Does this source help us answer the DBQ question? Why or why not?

I keep reading it over and over im just not getting what its asking im confused and whats a DBQ?

Answer 1

I'm guessing you're taking either AP World History or a pre-AP World class?

DBQ means document-based question.

Basically, one of the requirements of the AP World exam (and all AP Histories) is a DBQ. It's and essay where they give you 7 documents and you have to use those documents as evidence to answer a question. It's kind of like a research paper where all of the research has already been done for you.

A helpful way to see if the document can aid you in answering the question is to think about different aspects of the document through HIPP:

H- historical context of the document

I- intended audience

P- puropse of the document

P- point of view (is it biased based on who wrote it?)

You are supposed to see if the document about Mansa Musa helps answer a question that was asked (most likely) at the beginning of the worksheet you were given.

Hope this helps!