‘I have to protect them’: The man guarding Mauritania’s rare Islamic books

Chinguetti, Mauritania – Bookkeeper Muhammad Gholam el-Habot mildly pulled a brace of achromatic gloves onto his slender hands and acceptable astir his regular successful his high-ceilinged, chill room lined with alloy bookshelves.

He opened a heavy manuscript printed successful Arabic. After leafing done its brownish and frail pages, looking for damage, el-Habot closed the publication with a satisfied thud, rubbed his fingers implicit the wrinkled leather cover, and cautiously placed it successful a achromatic cardboard box.

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“These books are precise important to my household and me,” the librarian said, arsenic the midday sunlight spilled successful done unfastened woody doors. He spoke successful Hassaniya Arabic, the dialect spoken successful Mauritania, his dependable low, his sentences halting and poetic. Fat flies buzzed astir his agelong oval look arsenic helium worked.

“My narration with them is similar that of a begetter and his son,” helium continued. “We indispensable support them until God takes the onshore and each the radical who are connected the land.”

The el-Habot household room is lone 1 of a fistful of its benignant inactive operating successful Chinguetti, a medieval fortress municipality oregon ksar successful Mauritania’s bluish Adrar region. Once a centre of commerce and Islamic learning betwixt the 13th and 17th centuries, it is present mostly abandoned as, implicit the decades, locals person sought opportunities successful bigger cities.

A presumption of the aged municipality of Chinguetti, which follows emblematic Moorish structures with a mosque astatine the centre [Shola Lawal/Al Jazeera]

Chinguetti is besides astatine the mercy of a changing climate.

Mauritania, successful northwest Africa, is 90 percent Sahara godforsaken and has faced desertification for centuries. Now, human-induced clime alteration is an accelerant. Sand and flash storms hap much frequently, portion utmost blistery oregon acold seasons past longer than usual.

Those pressures are a “big deal” for precious books, said Andrew Bishop, a researcher astatine the University of Wyoming studying clime impacts connected Saharan cultures.

“Extreme vigor and little predictable rainfall patterns means that texts are progressively damaged by h2o oregon heat, making galore manuscripts beyond repair. More than that, the mud libraries themselves are not built for abrupt rainfall and longer summertime of implicit 40 degrees (Celsius, oregon 104 degrees Fahrenheit),” helium told Al Jazeera.

Many of Chinguetti’s 4,500 residents present unrecorded successful cement buildings extracurricular the archetypal confines of the abandoned ksar, built retired of adust chromatic and reddish mudbrick. There are fears that the full area, which is astir 500 quadrate kilometres (200 quadrate miles) – astir the size of Prague – is astatine hazard of being buried by surrounding soil dunes successful the agelong run, though determination is not a wide timeline yet.

Rare manuscripts shown successful 1 of Chinguetti’s past libraries [Logan Stayton/University of Wyoming]

Islam’s ‘seventh holiest city’

El-Habot did not ever privation to beryllium a bookkeeper.

But erstwhile his begetter grew sick successful 2002, helium took implicit the astir 1,400 manuscripts retired of obligation. It was an honour successful his civilization to beryllium selected, helium said.

It would beryllium retired of the question now, the 50-year-old librarian said. He imagines that his 2 sons would cull the duty, arsenic galore of their peers person near to research economical opportunities successful the superior city, Nouakchott, oregon elsewhere.

“This is thing that we person to do; it is simply a household obligation,” el-Habot said, with a bewildered expression. “This is not adjacent a question to beryllium asked.”

The household manuscripts are ineffable due to the fact that they are rare. The bookkeeper’s ancestor, Sidi Mohamed Ould Habot, was 1 of astir 2 twelve Chinguetti scholars who travelled around the Muslim satellite betwixt the 18th and 19th centuries, from Egypt to Andalusia, successful hunt of knowledge.

Between them, the scholars amassed a immense luck of astir 6,000 scripts. They covered astir each topic: Islamic jurisprudence, the hadith oregon 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 astir the subject of poems.

The books were stored successful astir 30 libraries successful Chinguetti, unfastened to radical from each implicit the world.

At the time, the municipality was celebrated due to the fact that of its determination astatine the crossroads of trans-Saharan commercialized routes linking the Sahel and the Maghreb. Camel caravans guided by nomadic Berber traders transporting goods – mostly brackish and golden – betwixt bluish Africa and the confederate empires utilized the metropolis arsenic a mode station, transforming it into a commercialized hub.

Muslim pilgrims connected their mode to Mecca connected ft oregon camel would stitchery successful Chinguetti and hole themselves spiritually and mentally for their long, hard travel earlier heading connected to Cairo. Islamic and technological texts were exchanged, bought and sold successful the town.

In West African lore, Chinguetti was referred to arsenic Islam’s seventh holiest city. Others nicknamed it the “Sorbonne of the Sahara”, according to UNESCO.

Some of the aged texts stored successful the el-Habot household library. The household has a full of astir 1,400 books successful its attraction [Logan Stayton/University of Wyoming]

Generation aft procreation managed the libraries. Over time, arsenic the caravan commercialized declined owed to caller European oversea routes, the aged municipality emptied and respective libraries closed.

“Chinguetti was the parent of each people,” el-Habot said, referring to the town’s aged presumption arsenic the main superior of the region. Indeed, the country present known arsenic Mauritania was called “Bilad Shinqit” oregon Land of Chinguetti. In the section Soninke language, it translates to “spring of horses”.

“People had to spell due to the fact that they wanted to provender themselves, get acquisition for their kids, and get amended opportunities for themselves too,” el-Habot said, adding that determination were nary universities adjacent by, and lone a fistful of superior and mediate schools.

Some wrong his household person moved on, arsenic well, the bookkeeper said. Those, similar him, who stayed back, wanted to respect their ancestor’s 3 wishes.

“His wishes were that the room enactment successful Chinguetti, that it should beryllium unfastened to each seekers of knowledge, and that a antheral descendant of his who is spiritual and morally upright beryllium the bookkeeper,” el-Habot explained. Not pursuing those instructions, helium said, could invitation God’s anger.

Chinguetti’s diminution is mostly owed to the deficiency of enactment for its accepted lifestyle, Bishop said. Annual rainfall successful Mauritania has decreased by 35 percent since 1970, making it harder for herders to graze oregon for day palms to nutrient fruit.

In 1996, UNESCO granted Chinguetti and 3 different Mauritanian ksour World Heritage Status, cementing their affluent legacy. The fewer radical inactive surviving successful the aged municipality are allowed to renovate but lone minimally, to support its archetypal chromatic architecture and the emblematic Moorish structuring wherever houses are lined up on constrictive alleys that pb to a mosque with a quadrate minaret.

Just extracurricular Chinguetti are the excavated ruins of Abweir, a municipality of 25,000 believed to person been founded successful 777 AD, and believed to beryllium the “original” Chinguetti. Its residents moved from the settlement, locals believe, successful 1264 – apt aft a conflict. Over time, the country was wholly swallowed by sand.

Bookkeeper el-Habot stands wrong the household room connected a caller weekday [Shola Lawal]

Saving the manuscripts

El-Habot’s job, portion enjoyable overmuch of the time, is besides taxing, helium admitted.

Preserving aged books by reprinting oregon digitising the astir worn-out manuscripts earlier they go unreadable is simply a costly process. He often needs chemicals to support distant book-eating insects and has to money much suitable storage.

Then, determination is the weather, which is retired of his control. Mauritania swelters successful the adust play betwixt April and December, and is bitingly acold successful the wintertime months that follow. Old pages are delicate to some extremes and tin go brittle, el-Habot said. Sometimes, erstwhile it is truly hot, helium places buckets of h2o astir the room hallway to spur humidity.

Flash floods, meanwhile, endanger h2o damage.

An excavated mosque of Abweir, conscionable extracurricular Chinguetti, stands adjacent to a soil dune. The colony was believed to beryllium the ‘original’ Chinguetti earlier residents moved for unclear reasons [Shola Lawal/Al Jazeera]

Visitors to the room usually wage a tiny fee, but tourer numbers dropped drastically crossed Mauritania successful the mid-2000s, erstwhile equipped groups attacked foreigners. The COVID-19 pandemic besides reduced the travel of travellers.

Mauritania has since clamped down connected violence. Tourists are dilatory coming back, el-Habot said, and immoderate of the locals who near person besides returned.

In 2024, a $100,000 UNESCO restoration task provided air-conditioning units, computers and printers, arsenic good arsenic shelving units and retention boxes to 13 household libraries to stimulate the sector. But astir libraries stay closed, their texts scattered among members. The deficiency of capableness of young radical who are not arsenic funny successful preserving Chinguetti’s civilization volition proceed to airs a challenge, Bishop said.

A conception of aged Chinguetti shows the chromatic masonry utilized astatine the clip [Shola Lawal/Al Jazeera]

Back successful the library, el-Habot continued working, his bladed framework bent implicit his manuscripts. He opened 1 publication and pointed excitedly astatine its pages: They depicted the satellite successful its luteal phases, and an eclipse. A 3rd leafage showed the beatified cities of Mecca and Madina.

“I person to support this heritage,” el-Habot said successful his debased voice. “As mine, and besides for each of humanity.”