The Mauritanian writer and researcher, Mohamed Salem Ould Mohamed El Yaacoubi, considered Algeria to be the primary source of jurisprudential, scientific, and spiritual schools that spread throughout Africa and preserved Islam, noting that conditions are favorable for an Algerian-Mauritanian cohesion to reclaim the historical roles of the two countries in the region.
In an article titled “Deliberate disregard for the scientific and spiritual roles of Algeria and Mauritania,” the writer, who specializes in Sahel and Sahara issues, stated that “neither historical falsifiers nor the Makhzen media can obscure the historical facts that confirm Algeria is the primary source of jurisprudential, scientific, and spiritual schools that spread in Mauritania and Africa and preserved the core of Islam.”
He added in the same article, which the Mauritanian website “Al-Muraqib News Network” republished following the visit of the General Caliph of the Tijaniyya Fayda in Senegal, Sheikh Mohamed El Mahi Ibrahim Niasse, to Algeria last May, that Algeria is considered one of the “most important sources from which Sufi orders entered the land of Shinqit,” noting that “the most widespread Sufi orders that entered the region are the Qadiriyya, Shadhiliyya, and Tijaniyya orders.”
The writer asserted that “conditions are favorable for Mauritanian-Algerian cohesion to reclaim historical roles, reconnect ties, and integrate roles in various fields, especially in combating extremism within the African Sahel, which President Abdelmadjid Tebboune gives special attention to, as Algeria employs its expertise and experience to gather efforts for a secure and stable African Sahel.”
He also explained that Algeria, being at the center of the Islamic world, is rich in massive libraries and its cities are full of knowledge and brilliant scholars, “all of which were a beacon of light from which the south and west of the Sahara generally benefited, including Mauritania.”
He pointed out that “contrary to what Morocco seeks to establish through propaganda, the Tijaniyya order, of Algerian historical origin, spread through Mauritania, where Sheikh Sidi Mouloud Fall Al-Mousawi Al-Yaacoubi Al-Shinqiti played the largest role in that.”
The writer noted that Morocco has long sought to impose a misleading thesis regarding the reference of the Tijaniyya order, “hijacking its origin and birthplace, which is Algeria, and overlooking Mauritania’s well-known role in spreading it throughout history within the jungles of the African continent.”
He went on to say that “Morocco has not been ashamed in its endeavor to overturn facts and commit injustice against history, a role that has accompanied its expansionist policy towards Mauritania and has been confirmed by its exposed ambitions, the most dangerous of which is its occupation of Western Sahara.”
In a comment on the article, the “Al-Muraqib News Network” website considered that the recent visit of the General Caliph of the Tijaniyya Fayda in Senegal to Algeria “renewed the conviction that Algeria continues to play pivotal roles at regional and continental levels, based on a deep historical, scientific, and spiritual heritage and a policy characterized by wisdom, balance, and sound judgment.”
