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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Mauritania
Index
Virtually all Mauritanians are Sunni Muslims. They adhere to
the
Maliki (see Glossary)
rite, one of the four Sunni schools of
law. Since independence in 1960, Mauritania has been an Islamic
republic. The Constitutional Charter of 1985 declares Islam the
state religion and sharia the law of the land
(see Governmental Power
, ch. 4).
Islam first spread southward into West Africa, including
Mauritania, with the movement of Muslim traders and craftsmen and
later with the founders of Islamic brotherhoods. Although the
brotherhoods played a role in the early expansion of Islam, it
was not until the nineteenth century that these religious orders
assumed importance when they attempted to make religion a force
for expanding identities and loyalties beyond the limits of
kinship. The relative peace brought to the area by French
administration and the growing resentment of colonial rule
contributed to the rapid rise in the power and influence of the
brotherhoods. In recent decades, these orders have opposed
tribalism and have been an indispensable element in the growth of
nationalist sentiment.
Data as of June 1988
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