Nestled on the banks of Mauritania’s Great Sand Dunes, the city of Changwei has been a haven for travelers for over 1,200 years.
This city in the middle of the Sahara desert was founded in the 8th century.
Caravans of pilgrims going to Mecca used to stop here.
This red-stone city gradually became one of the greatest centers of science, religion and mathematics in West Africa.
Experts in law, medicine and astronomy lived here. Travelers to Mecca and scholars of various sciences kept coming here.
Preservation of ancient texts
Religious books, scientific researches and books of historical importance have been produced in Chingwena.
From the 13th to the 17th century, there were 30 libraries in Changuvetty where the texts were kept.
Five of these libraries still exist today.
Over 1,000 medieval copies of the Qur’an are preserved in the sands of the Sahara by conservators at the library.
Saiful Islam is associated with one such library. “Our ancestors wrote books and texts on various topics, for example religion, astronomy and astrology,” he said.
The walls of the red stone buildings in the city are wide. There are small wooden doors between them.
Upon entering, one finds thousands of books, neatly stored in boxes.
Saiful Islam puts gloves on his hands before touching the books, then pulls out an astronomy book.
“It is a scientific book,” he says. Look, it is written about the star cluster of Cancer and Libra.’
He said that before Copernicus and Galileo, Muslims knew that the world was round.
The right of men
Since his childhood, Saiful Islam dreamed of working in a library to preserve parts of ancient books. He used to help others in this work.
He said, ‘I was lucky that I am a man. No woman can do the job of preserving these books in a library. There are many women who can do it well. But when they get married, their husbands become the owners of the total texts. Thus the family property passes to another family.’
The Sahara desert is expanding. As it moves south, sand is also accumulating on the roofs of buildings in Changwei.
Saiful Islam said that ‘between 1930 and 1995, many families moved to big cities because there was no grass left for their camels and there was no job.’
Migrating families also took their family texts with them. Only 12 out of 30 libraries are left in Chinweeti now. And only five or six of them bloom.
Climate change has increased the incidence of cloudbursts and floods in the city. Even more documents are being destroyed.
In such a situation, the future of this priceless treasure of Islamic knowledge seems uncertain.
Saiful Islam says ‘Some books were kept on the upper floor of a house. When it rained, they were ruined. Some texts were eaten by goats. Some of the books were torn by the children while playing.’
Not a source of income
Owning a library in Changwei is a matter of great honor in the community. It is not considered as a source of income.
“Most owners of scripts don’t know what to do with them,” said Becher Al-Mohammed of the Institute of Research and Science. Their elders knew this. That is the biggest problem.’
Library owners only know that they have an heirloom treasure.
Bicher al-Muhammad said, ‘Surely they have treasure, but they do not know what is in this treasure. We are trying to show them how important these things are. Keeping this treasure is not enough. It is also important to cook them with air, water and moisture.’
Chinweeti has not had good days. There are less tourists in this city now. People are forgetting books.
Saiful Islam is now training some children.
“Two or three of these children are capable,” he said. But I can’t say for sure whether they will be able to protect the library or not. I think the new generation is not interested in it.’
No money for preservation of books
Becheral Mohammad says that some people have huge libraries but they don’t have money to preserve the books. This is a big problem.’
He said, ‘I know two libraries whose owners live in Saudi Arabia. We need to keep the books in good condition. They are not to be left alone in the sands of Changveti. We have to do it, we won’t give up.’
Book conservators tried to get the books out of Changuvetty to save them. But the townspeople feel that these books are the property of their elders.
Saiful Islam says ‘It is impossible to protect your home, your hands and feet, your eyes by separating them from yourself. If we are given help, we will accept it. But neither the Mauritanian government nor UNESCO has been successful in doing so. They do not even have the right to protect this inheritance. This is our heritage.’
