Chinguetti

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

Preserving these manuscripts is crucial for maintaining the cultural and historical heritage of Islamic learning in Mauritania.

• •Muhammad Gholam el-Habot preserves rare Islamic manuscripts
• •The library is one of the few remaining in Chinguetti
• •Chinguetti was a center of Islamic learning from the 13th to 17th centuries