The Jutta Vogel Foundation recently supported the final editing of the book by Professor Zekeria Ould Ahmed Salem from the University of Nouakschott in Mauritania, which was published in July 2013 under the title “Prêcher dans le désert: Islam et transformations sociales en Mauritanie” (ISBN: 978-2-8111-0907-3) by Karthala (Paris).
This study is the first systematic investigation into the relationship between Islam and social change in post-colonial Mauritania. The “Islamic Republic of Mauritania” became independent from France in 1960 and has since undergone very different political, religious and social developments. The Arabic-speaking Haratine population group in particular, to whom a slave past is attributed, has developed its own theological and legal norms that distinguish it from its surroundings and thus also from the rest of Islamic jurisprudence in matters of descent, intra-ethnic marriage and marriage across hierarchies. This in turn results in different influences from mosques and imams.
In essence, it is about the coexistence of the Haratines in and with an originally nomadic society. The author has researched these very complex relationships. His findings are intended to contribute to an understanding of the significant transformations in individual and social life, which will also shape future developments. In this sense, the funding of the project is intended as a contribution to cultural preservation in the south-western Sahara.
