The people ofMauritania are overwhelmingly adherents ofSunni Islam, of theMaliki school ofjurisprudence.
The country’s Islamic identity is deeply tied to its political system: Mauritania is constitutionally anIslamic Republic, and Islamic law has a major influence on its legal and social frameworks.
Mauritania is a country in Africa, borderingAlgeria,Mali,Senegal, and theWestern Sahara (currently controlled byMorocco).[1] According to theCIA 100% of Mauritanian citizens are Muslim,[2] although there is a small community ofChristians, essentially of foreign nationality.[3]
In 2004, the two largestSufi Muslimtariqas in Mauritania wereTijaniyyah andQadiriyya.[4] There was no record of Sufis in the country in 2022.[5]
It was trade with Muslim merchants that broughtIslam into the region, in the 8th century.[4]
TheAlmoravid dynasty rose to power in the westernMaghreb during the 11th century, and proselytized Islam throughout the region.[1] Members of the Gadala Berbers brought back the theologianAbdallah ibn Yasin fromMecca in 1035, where they travelled for thehajj, to expunge the paganism still prevalent in Mauritania.[7] Although Islam had existed in the region prior to the Almoravids, Almoravid rule accelerated the spread of Islam and removedanimist influences on local Islamic practices.[8] Ibn Yasin's strict interpretation of Islam alienated many of the Berbers, and the theologian was expelled. Undaunted, he accumulated a devoted following of loyal believers and an army, the foundation of the Almoravid dynasty. Ibn Yasin's military expansion converted tribe members of the Gadala,Lemtuna, and Messufa Berbers of the region to Islam. The capture ofSijilmasa andAoudaghost, important cities in theTrans-Saharan trade, allowed them to dominate the trade routes of the Sahara. The Almoravids converted the Berbers inhabiting modern-day Mauritania to theMaliki school ofSunni Islam, which remains dominant in Mauritania to this day.[7]
Ibn Yasin was succeeded byAbu Bakr ibn Umar, a chieftain of theLemtuna Berbers. Fighting between the Lemtuna and Messufa led ibn Umar to declare a holy war against theGhana Empire to unify the tribes against a common enemy. The war, which lasted for fourteen years, spread Islam to the members of theSoninke people, founders of Ghana.[7] The political influence of the Almoravids waned as the dynasty declined, but Islamic adherence was firmly cemented in the country.[8]
The political influence of theKunta tribe between the 16th and 18th centuries bolstered the popularity ofQadiri Sufism in the region.[9] Between the 16th and 18th centuries, declaration ofjihads by Muslim theologians pushed for the establishment ofIslamic governance in West Africa. In the 17th century, Nasir al-Din led a jihad in Mauritania, drawing support from Berbers frustrated with the corruption of the region's Arab rulers.[8]
TheFrench colonial empire expanded into Mauritania by the early 20th century.[8] The West African jihads were brought to an end, following crackdowns by British and French colonists.[9] In an effort to thwart militarism and threats of rebellion, French colonial administrators encouraged the influence of zawiya, the religious tribes of Mauritania, over hassan, Mauritania's warrior tribes.[10]
The country declared its independence in 1960 and established itself as anIslamic Republic.[7] Independence broughtMoktar Ould Daddah into power, who promoted Islam during his rule. A military coup d'état ousted Daddah in 1978.[11] ColonelMohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla, one of the participants of the coup, became Head of the government in 1980, and implementedSharia law. PresidentMaaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, successor of Ould Haidalla, reversed some of these changes, but was ousted in a military coup in 2005.[11]
Political Islam, orIslamism, was introduced in the region during the 1970s. The instability that followed the coup that deposed Daddah invited elements of theMuslim Brotherhood,Wahabbism, andTablighi Jamaat. The Islamists united as a political party in the 1980s, but were politically repressed starting in 1994.[12] Government pressure on Islamist organizations continued throughout the 2000s. Funding bySaudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies supported the establishment of Islamic schools, centers, and charities around the country, but were largely shut down by the government in 2003. In 2005, Islamists were arrested and accused of terrorism. Of the original eighty arrested, eighteen remained in prison by 2006.[13]
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Islam is by far the largest and most influential religion in the country, and has been since the 10th century.[7] According to government census, at the start of the 21st century, 100% of the country's citizens were Muslim.[2] Like much of North Africa, Mauritanians follow the Maliki school of Islam.[7]
Sharia is used as the basis of judicial decisions;[14] the court system uses a combination of secular and Islamic laws.
In 2020, the number of Christians in Mauritania was estimated at 10,000 (expatriates or foreigners);[15] approximately 4,000 of these wereRoman Catholics.[16] There were also a small number of adherents ofJudaism in the country.[17]
In Mauritania, religious and secular NGOs are grantedtax exemption.[18] Based on thesharia stance on apostasy, the government forbids converting Muslims to competing religions.[19] The publication of religious materials that are not Islamic is restricted. Religious education is not considered mandatory.[20]
In 2022, Freedom House rated Mauritania religious freedom as 2 out of 4,[21] noting that while apostasy is a crime punishable by death, to date, no one has been executed for the crime. However, in April 2018, Parliament passed a new law that strengthens the existing death penalty punishment for certain blasphemy offenses.
Influences - Christian influences in Mauritanian society are limited to the approximately 10,000 foreign nationals living in the country
