Studying Islamic Sciences in Chinguetti

Do you know where Chinguetti is located? It is in Mauritania. And where is Mauritania located?
It is in Northwest Africa. To reach Chinguetti from Mauritania’s capital city, Nouakchott, we have
to take a quite long trip, 7-hour drive.

In 18th century, Chinguetti was a French colony. It achieved its independence from France in
1960. Before Chinguetti was colonized by France, it had been called Syanqîth in Arabic language.
Syanqîth had been a Muslim city since the 13th century under protection of Almohad Empire.

What’s so unique and so special about Syanqîth (in Arabic) or Chinguetti (in French) or Syanggit
The stone-wall schools or Madrassa complex in the City of
Chinguetti, Mauritania
(in Bahasa)? Despite the fact that it was a center
of several trans-Saharan trade routes in old days,
Chinguetti has been a city surrounded by vast, arid
desert. Chinguetti inhabitants live in houses not
made of cement or bricks but of stones and built
in a traditional way. They never live a life of luxury
like we do. The famous mosque in Chinguetti,
called “Friday Mosque of Chinguetti”, does not
have marble floor and woven, Persian carpet. The
carpet and the floor they only have are desert
sand, on which they prostrate. They perform
ablution (wudhu’) with a small teapot shared
together with others.

What makes us so wonder is their studiousness. In spite of their simple life in dry desert,
Chinguetti people love to teach and love to study. Children are taught by Muslim scholars without
any discrimination and free of charge. Being either from rich family or poor family, the children
are treated fairly and equally. The poor children are even given zakat, infaq, and shadaqah by
the rich family.

Their stone-wall schools, called madrassa, teach

various Islamic sciences. The textbooks taught are
bought with money of zakat, infaq and shadaqah
and only kept by their teachers. Teachers’ jobs are
not only to teach but also to preserve the textbooks
so that they can be used for next generations of
student. Students must not bring pens and
notebooks to record lessons; they are given lawhah
(tablet), a slab of wood suitable for writing. They
have to erase lessons on the tablet after they
memorize them. This is the way to make them keep Children holding their lawhah are memorizing the
Islamic science lessons from their teachers.
their memory of the lessons prodigious. No wonder,
from madrassa of Chinguetti, come many studious ulemas such as Syaikh ‘Abdullah Al-Syanqaîthî,
Syaikh Muhammad Al-Amîn Al-Syanqaîthî and his student, Syaikh ‘Athiyyah Muhammad Salîm Al-
Syanqaîthî (both the authors of voluminous Tafsîr books, Adhwâu’l-Bayân fî Īdhâhi’l-Qur’ân bi’l-
Qur’ân), Syaikh Abdullah ibn Bayyah Al-Syanqaîthî, Syaikh Abu Mundzir Al-Syanqaîthî, etc.

Teachers’ habit of preserving Islamic

textbooks also makes Chinguetti “a city of
bibliotheques”. It has roughly 300 libraries
(bibliotheques), saving and preserving
thousands of ancient Islamic sciences
manuscripts published in the 13th century in
stone shelves. The lost Islamic manuscripts in
Morocco, Spain, and Algeria can be found in
Chinguetti’s stone-wall bibliotheques.
The stone-wall bibliotheque that preserves ancient Islamic
manuscripts in stone shelves.

If you happen to be in Northwest Africa, make sure to pay a visit to the desertic Chinguetti and
feel the simplicity of the desert life, the sincerity of the desert ulemas, and the studiousness of
the desert children.