Islam in Mauritania

[1] Many Berber tribes in Mauritania fled the arrival of the Arabs to the Gao region in Mali.

[2] It was not until the nineteenth century that the brotherhoods (Sufism and tariqa) 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.

The Qadiriyyah and Tijaniyyah were essentially parallel "ways," differing primarily in their methods of reciting the litanies.