Studying in Mauritania - Looking for people to share experiences

[Indyala]

as-salaamu alaykum,
For the brother Mukhtar, I would also like to know about the costs of living and the places to study in Mauritania. I have been in Yemen for over 11 years now. 4 of those year have been in Dammaaj, so difficulty is not even an issue. All I want to know is what is the best place to study there where the Sheikh will have my leanings toward the Sunnah and less leanings towards tasawwuf or al-ash'ariah. wa jazaakallaahu khaira

Wa alaykum ussalam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

Bro, subhanallah dammaj. Been wanting to go there for years, too difficult now as situation is not good.

e-mail me: hozart [at] live.com

(Want to ask you a few question regarding it and others similar to it in yemen.)

jazakallah

[muhammad917]

Wa alaykum ussalam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

Bro, subhanallah dammaj. Been wanting to go there for years, too difficult now as situation is not good.

e-mail me: hozart [at] live.com

(Want to ask you a few question regarding it and others similar to it in yemen.)

jazakallah

Whenever anybody speaks about Dammaaj or coming to Dammaaj, the first thing they always mention is the problems and the hard life there. Now I will ask you a question. What exactly do you expect when you go for Talabul-Ilm. Everybody wants to go study in a place where they can have comfort and a bit of luxury to make them feel like they are at home. That is not the life of a Taalibul-Ilm. While I was in Dammaj I got dysentery a few times and thought I was going to die. I had malaria and all other sicknesses that you can think of. I got stung by a scorpion and went days eating nothing but dates. That is life. I have a lot of sins and I have to get them off. The brothers right now in Dammaaj have gone through difficulties you would never understand. Those brothers are my heroes. They were cut off from all food supplies for over 2 months. At the same time they were attacked with all types of weapons you could ever imagine from tanks to anti-aircraft machine guns. And you know what? Sheikh Yahya never stopped the duroos. The brothers kept studying and kept worshipping Allah even though they were shooting mortars at the Masjid even during the Salawaat. There is no place on earth you are going to find brothers as strong as those brothers. You can search but I am telling you that you are not going to find them. Until you have been there and seen what those brothers went through to be considered students of knowledge, you will never understand. Don't procrastinate. If you want to go some place then place your trust in Allah and go. Find out whatever you need to go there and whatever might make your stay a bit more pleasant and go. Problems are always going to be around anywhere you go. However, you cannot allow that to stop you from doing what Allah has put you on this earth to do. If you have any further questions and you are serious my email is muhammad917@yahoo.com

[SeekerOfGuidance]

Assalaamu 'alaikum

The truth about the "Mauritanian" ulama, Shaikh Humzas teachers, (one brother was right, many turooq can be found in Mauritania) is that they loathe ahl turooq and are reluctant to believe that they are real Sufis as opposed to imposters. I know of one Sufi they accept because of his strict adherence the shariah and he is the one who gave ijaza to shaikh Humza to translate the purification of the heart.
His name is Muhammad Hassan ould Ahmed Khadeem al-Yaqoobi. And he is the only real Sufi I have met in my limited travels.
The Mauritanian ulama believe that Sufis are to steeped in bid'a. In fact I heard Murabut Haddamin ould Fahfoo say it is easier to guide ten Pseudo Salafis than to guide one Pseudo Sufi.

Wa salam

Assalaamu 'alaikum

Ould as in son of, you may be familiar with the term walad and so on.
He is the descendant of Muhammad Mawlood (author of Purification of the heart, just one of the many books he wrote all of which are studied all over Mauritania) and head of a mahadra (breath-takingly beautiful). He is famous for his taqwa, zuhd and he is the only one in the whole country who stands up to the mulook, refutes Speudo Salafis and Spuedo Sufis alike (even from his own tariqa) and all on a large scale. When he writes a book it is instantly taken as authority by the whole country.

The ulama of Mauritania are a trustworthy source of Maliki fiqh not these Speudo Sufis on this forum whose nose is regularly wafted with a swift whiff of Hawa! They (Mauritanians) supplicate seeking refuge in Allah just by the mention of the term weak opinion. That is the type of scholarship we owe the preservation of our religion to; imagine what these "progressive Muslims" would do had they had their way!

Wa salam

Brother, if you are still around here, could you share more information with us regarding you experience in Mauritania.