Mauritania
We interviewed brilliance in one of the most unlikely places on Earth – Mauritania, a vast and largely barren country almost entirely engulfed by the Sahara Desert. With only 0.5% of its land capable of supporting life, it may not sound like a hub of global learning. Yet every year, thousands of students from around the world journey to its sands in pursuit of something extraordinary – Islamic knowledge preserved in its purest form.
A Legacy of Learning
Mauritania is known as the land of a million poets and a million memorisers. Over 99% of the population is Muslim and reverence for Islamic knowledge is woven into the fabric of daily life. In the capital Nouakchott, we were told the real heartbeat of scholarship lies deep in the desert. So, we travelled to the remote village of Nabbaghiyyah – a place where knowledge is king.
On our journey, we met giants of scholarship like Shaykh Muhammad Walid Abul-Faal, whose university only accepts students who’ve memorised the entire Qur’an. His insights extended beyond religious sciences – his knowledge of astronomy, passed down through poetic tradition, stunned us.
Where Knowledge Lives in the Dust
Arriving in Nabbaghiyyah before sunrise, we witnessed students pacing the sandy streets, reciting their lessons. The village’s main masjid, Masjid al-Mahdarah, was alive with the sound of study. Inside, we saw a Norwegian teaching a Moroccan who was teaching an Indonesian – each person immersed in the Qur’an and classical texts.
The education here is unstructured by Western standards. Students recite to scholars line by line, seeking clarity and memorisation. There’s no syllabus or fixed schedule – it’s entirely driven by the student’s willpower and the teacher’s depth.
We met Junaid from Sydney, who’s been living in Nabbaghiyyah for two years. He spoke of the hardships – 14 hours a day without water, no Wi-Fi, extreme heat – and how those very conditions helped foster self-discipline and growth. “You have to choose to learn,” he told us. “No one’s going to chase you.”
The Power of Poetry and Simplicity
What makes Mauritanians masters of memorisation? According to the scholars, the key lies in poetry. Knowledge across disciplines is distilled into verse, making it easier to memorise and recall. We tested this ourselves with questions on Islamic rulings, only to receive poetic responses from scholars and even young boys.
We also compared traditional Mauritanian teaching with modern tools like ChatGPT. While the AI stumbled, the scholars didn’t miss a beat. It was a humbling reminder that technology can’t replicate lived wisdom passed through generations.
A Child with 2,000 Lines of Poetry
On our way back from the masjid, we met a 15 year old who casually recited over 2,000 lines of classical poetry. He wasn’t a rare exception – across Mauritania, children begin their memorisation journey using wooden tablets known as lawh, inscribing verses in ink and reciting for hours until they earn the right to wash the board clean.
A Final Word from the Desert
Before we left, we met Shaykh Muhammad Hassan Al-Khadeem, a senior scholar over 90 years old. When asked how Muslims in the West can protect their faith amidst distraction, he advised us to carve out dedicated time to nourish our spirituality and live as representatives of the faith. “An advocate by example,” he reminded us, “is stronger than an advocate by words.”
May Allah preserve the incredible geniuses of the Sahara.
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