{"id":20477,"date":"2026-04-27T09:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T08:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=20477"},"modified":"2026-04-27T09:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T08:27:10","slug":"i-have-to-protect-them-the-man-guarding-mauritanias-rare-islamic-books-arts-and-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=20477","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I have to protect them\u2019: The man guarding Mauritania\u2019s rare Islamic books | Arts and Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Chinguetti, Mauritania \u2013 <\/strong>Bookkeeper Muhammad Gholam el-Habot gently pulled a pair of white gloves onto his slender hands and set about his routine in his high-ceilinged, cool library lined with steel bookshelves.<\/p>\n

He opened a thick manuscript printed in Arabic. After leafing through its brown and frail pages, looking for damage, el-Habot closed the book with a satisfied thud, rubbed his fingers over the wrinkled leather cover, and carefully placed it in a white cardboard box.<\/p>\n

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Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n

list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n

\u201cThese books are very important to my family and me,\u201d the librarian said, as the midday sunlight spilled in through open wooden doors. He spoke in Hassaniya Arabic, the dialect spoken in Mauritania, his voice low, his sentences halting and poetic. Fat flies buzzed around his long oval face as he worked.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy relationship with them is like that of a father and his son,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe must protect them until God takes the land and all the people who are on the land.\u201d<\/p>\n

The el-Habot family library is only one of a handful of its kind still operating in Chinguetti, a medieval fortress town or ksar in Mauritania\u2019s northern Adrar region. Once a centre of commerce and Islamic learning between the 13th and 17th centuries, it is now largely abandoned as, over the decades, locals have sought opportunities in bigger cities.<\/p>\n

\"Chinguetti
A view of the old town of Chinguetti, which follows typical Moorish structures with a mosque at the centre [Shola Lawal\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chinguetti is also at the mercy of a changing climate.<\/p>\n

Mauritania, in northwest Africa, is 90 percent Sahara desert and has faced desertification for centuries. Now, human-induced climate change is an accelerant. Sand and flash storms occur more frequently, while extreme hot or cold seasons last longer than usual.<\/p>\n

Those pressures are a \u201cbig deal\u201d for precious books, said Andrew Bishop, a researcher at the University of Wyoming studying climate impacts on Saharan cultures.<\/p>\n

\u201cExtreme heat and less predictable rainfall patterns means that texts are increasingly damaged by water or heat, making many manuscripts beyond repair. More than that, the mud libraries themselves are not built for sudden rain and longer summer of over 40 degrees (Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit),\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Many of Chinguetti\u2019s 4,500 residents now live in cement buildings outside the original confines of the abandoned ksar, built out of dry stone and red mudbrick. There are fears that the entire area, which is about 500 square kilometres (200 square miles) \u2013 about the size of Prague \u2013 is at risk of being buried by surrounding sand dunes in the long run, although there is not a clear timeline yet.<\/p>\n

\"Rare
Rare manuscripts shown in one of Chinguetti\u2019s last libraries [Logan Stayton\/University of Wyoming]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Islam\u2019s \u2018seventh holiest city\u2019<\/h2>\n

El-Habot did not always want to be a bookkeeper.<\/p>\n

But when his father grew sick in 2002, he took over the approximately 1,400 manuscripts out of obligation. It was an honour in his culture to be selected, he said.<\/p>\n

It would be out of the question now, the 50-year-old librarian said. He imagines that his two sons would reject the duty, as many of their peers have left to explore economic opportunities in the capital city, Nouakchott, or elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something that we have to do; it is a family obligation,\u201d el-Habot said, with a bewildered expression. \u201cThis is not even a question to be asked.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family manuscripts are sacred because they are rare. The bookkeeper\u2019s ancestor, Sidi Mohamed Ould Habot, was one of about two dozen Chinguetti scholars who travelled around\u00a0the Muslim world between the 18th and 19th centuries, from Egypt to Andalusia, in search of knowledge.<\/p>\n

Between them, the scholars amassed a vast fortune of about 6,000 scripts. They covered almost every topic: Islamic jurisprudence, the hadith or teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, mathematics, medicine, and poetry. Some of the works came from the scholars themselves, including the older el-Habot, who wrote about the science of poems.<\/p>\n

The books were stored in about 30 libraries in Chinguetti, open to people from all over the world.<\/p>\n

At the time, the town was famous because of its location at the crossroads of trans-Saharan trade routes linking the Sahel and the Maghreb. Camel caravans guided by nomadic Berber traders transporting goods \u2013 mostly salt and gold \u2013 between northern Africa and the southern empires used the city as a way station, transforming it into a commercial hub.<\/p>\n

Muslim pilgrims on their way to Mecca on foot or camel would gather in Chinguetti and prepare themselves spiritually and mentally for their long, difficult journey before heading on to Cairo. Islamic and scientific texts were exchanged, bought and sold in the town.<\/p>\n

In West African lore, Chinguetti was referred to as Islam\u2019s seventh holiest city. Others nicknamed it the \u201cSorbonne of the Sahara\u201d, according to UNESCO.<\/p>\n

\"Rare
Some of the old texts stored in the el-Habot family library. The family has a total of about 1,400 books in its care [Logan Stayton\/University of Wyoming]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Generation after generation managed the libraries. Over time, as the caravan trade declined due to new European sea routes, the old town emptied and several libraries closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cChinguetti was the mother of all people,\u201d el-Habot said, referring to the town\u2019s old status as the main capital of the region. Indeed, the area now known as Mauritania was called \u201cBilad Shinqit\u201d or Land of Chinguetti. In the local Soninke language, it translates to \u201cspring of horses\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople had to go because they wanted to feed themselves, get education for their kids, and get better opportunities for themselves too,\u201d el-Habot said, adding that there were no universities close by, and only a handful of primary and middle schools.<\/p>\n

Some within his family have moved on, as well, the bookkeeper said. Those, like him, who stayed back, wanted to respect their ancestor\u2019s three wishes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis wishes were that the library stay in Chinguetti, that it should be open to all seekers of knowledge, and that a male descendant of his who is religious and morally upright be the bookkeeper,\u201d el-Habot explained. Not following those instructions, he said, could invite God\u2019s anger.<\/p>\n

Chinguetti\u2019s decline is largely due to the lack of support for its traditional lifestyle, Bishop said. Annual rainfall in Mauritania has decreased by 35 percent since 1970, making it harder for herders to graze or for date palms to produce fruit.<\/p>\n

In 1996, UNESCO granted Chinguetti and three other Mauritanian ksour World Heritage Status, cementing their rich legacy. The few people still living in the old town are allowed to renovate but only minimally, to keep its original stone architecture and the typical Moorish structuring where houses are lined up along narrow alleys that lead to a mosque with a square minaret.<\/p>\n

Just outside Chinguetti are the excavated ruins of Abweir, a town of 25,000 believed to have been founded in 777 AD, and believed to be the \u201coriginal\u201d Chinguetti. Its residents moved from the settlement, locals believe, in 1264 \u2013 likely after a conflict. Over time, the area was completely swallowed by sand.<\/p>\n

\"El
Bookkeeper el-Habot stands inside the family library on a recent weekday [Shola Lawal]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Saving the manuscripts<\/h2>\n

El-Habot\u2019s job, while enjoyable much of the time, is also taxing, he admitted.<\/p>\n

Preserving old books by reprinting or digitising the most worn-out manuscripts before they become unreadable is a costly process. He often needs chemicals to keep away book-eating insects and has to fund more suitable storage.<\/p>\n

Then, there is the weather, which is out of his control. Mauritania swelters in the dry season between April and December, and is bitingly cold in the winter months that follow. Old pages are sensitive to both extremes and can become brittle, el-Habot said. Sometimes, when it is really hot, he places buckets of water around the library hall to spur humidity.<\/p>\n

Flash floods, meanwhile, threaten water damage.<\/p>\n

\"Escavated
An excavated mosque of Abweir, just outside Chinguetti, stands next to a sand dune. The settlement was believed to be the \u2018original\u2019 Chinguetti before residents moved for unclear reasons [Shola Lawal\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Visitors to the library usually pay a small fee, but tourist numbers dropped drastically across Mauritania in the mid-2000s, when armed groups attacked foreigners. The COVID-19 pandemic also reduced the flow of travellers.<\/p>\n

Mauritania has since clamped down on violence. Tourists are slowly coming back, el-Habot said, and some of the locals who left have also returned.<\/p>\n

In 2024, a $100,000 UNESCO restoration project provided air-conditioning units, computers and printers, as well as shelving units and storage boxes to 13 family libraries to stimulate the sector. But most libraries remain closed, their texts scattered among members. The lack of capacity of young people who are not as interested in preserving Chinguetti\u2019s culture will continue to pose a challenge, Bishop said.<\/p>\n

\"Chinguetti\"
A section of old Chinguetti shows the stone masonry used at the time [Shola Lawal\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back in the library, el-Habot continued working, his thin frame bent over his manuscripts. He opened one book and pointed excitedly at its pages: They depicted the moon in its luteal phases, and an eclipse. A third page showed the holy cities of Mecca and Madina.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to protect this heritage,\u201d el-Habot said in his low voice. \u201cAs mine, and also for all of humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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