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Saudi Arabia’s Jusoor Exhibition Inaugurated in Mauritanian Capital

The inauguration was attended by Mauritanian Minister of Islamic Affairs and Original Education Sidi Yahya Ould Cheikhna Ould Lemrabet. (SPA)
The inauguration was attended by Mauritanian Minister of Islamic Affairs and Original Education Sidi Yahya Ould Cheikhna Ould Lemrabet. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia’s Jusoor Exhibition Inaugurated in Mauritanian Capital

The inauguration was attended by Mauritanian Minister of Islamic Affairs and Original Education Sidi Yahya Ould Cheikhna Ould Lemrabet. (SPA)
The inauguration was attended by Mauritanian Minister of Islamic Affairs and Original Education Sidi Yahya Ould Cheikhna Ould Lemrabet. (SPA)

Saudi Ambassador to Mauritania Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Raqabi inaugurated on Sunday the Jusoor Exhibition in Nouakchott.

The inauguration was attended by Mauritanian Minister of Islamic Affairs and Original Education Sidi Yahya Ould Cheikhna Ould Lemrabet.

The Jusoor Exhibition features more than 12 interactive sections focusing on the Holy Quran, photography and Saudi attire experience, the mosques and the Two Holy Mosques, Arabic calligraphy, technology, hospitality and others.

It also boasts a large electronic screen displaying the Kingdom's roles and efforts in serving Islam and Muslims around the world.

The sections highlight the Kingdom's cultural, scientific, Sharia, and linguistic components alongside a detailed presentation of the historical developments and initiatives in serving the Holy Quran, the Sunnah, and the holy sites.

The Jusoor Exhibition aims to boost ties between Africa and the Kingdom, enabling African nations to benefit from all the services provided by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs. It also seeks to clarify the Kingdom's message and efforts in promoting moderation, rejecting extremism, and spreading the principles of Islam.

The inauguration was held alongside the first edition of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Competition for Memorizing the Holy Quran and the Sunnah.

The competition is organized by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah, and Guidance in cooperation with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Original Education in Mauritania from October 15 to 18.

The competition's opening ceremony will be held on Tuesday with preliminary rounds taking place over three days from October 15 to 17. The final ceremony will be held on October 19.

The competition seeks to encourage Muslim youth to engage with the Holy Quran by memorizing, understanding, and reflecting upon it.

The event also fosters a spirit of healthy competition among those who have memorized the Quran and highlights the Kingdom's dedication to teaching the Quran and promoting the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed.

It aims to connect young people with the Sunnah, encouraging them to preserve, apply, and learn Islamic sciences while adhering to a path of moderation.

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Morocco's Tribeswomen See Facial Tattoo Tradition Fade

Amazigh women pose for a picture in the village of Imilchil in central Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains on September on August 19, 2024. Agence France-Presse
Amazigh women pose for a picture in the village of Imilchil in central Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains on September on August 19, 2024. Agence France-Presse
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Morocco's Tribeswomen See Facial Tattoo Tradition Fade

Amazigh women pose for a picture in the village of Imilchil in central Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains on September on August 19, 2024. Agence France-Presse
Amazigh women pose for a picture in the village of Imilchil in central Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains on September on August 19, 2024. Agence France-Presse

As a young girl growing up in the Atlas mountains, Hannou Mouloud's family took her to have her chin tattooed with the cherished lines that generations of Moroccan Amazigh tribeswomen wore.
"When I was six, they told me tattoos were pretty adornments," recalled the 67-year-old from Imilchil village of the once-common practice among women in North Africa's Amazigh groups, AFP reported.
Long referred to as Berbers, many tribespeople from the area prefer to be called Amazigh, or Imazighen, which means "free people".
Today, like in many of the Indigenous cultures across the world where facial tattoos were long prevalent, the practice has largely faded.
Many attribute the near-disappearance of facial tattoos to Morocco's changing religious attitudes in recent decades, with interpretations of Islam where inked skin and other body modifications like piercings are prohibited taking hold.
"We would use charcoal to draw the designs on our faces, then a woman would prick the drawing with a needle until blood came out," Mouloud told AFP, adding that they would rub the wound daily with a chewed green herb to deepen the tattoo's color.
The markings vary in design between the minority's tribes and were used to signify the wearer's origin while offering beauty and protection.
Being tattooed would hurt, said Hannou Ait Mjane, 71, and "we couldn't hold back our tears" but it "remains a tradition that our ancestors passed down to us".
Fundamentalism
Morocco has the largest Amazigh population in North Africa, with Tamazight, the community's language, recognised as an official language alongside Arabic.
According to the most recent census in 2014, more than a quarter of Morocco's 35 million inhabitants speak at least one dialect -- Tarifit, Tamazight or Tachelhit.
Abdelouahed Finigue, a geography teacher and researcher from Imilchil, told AFP that women often had their chins, foreheads or hands tattooed.
The designs held different meanings to the different communities.
"The woman, through her tattoos, expresses her beauty and her value as an individual independent of the man," he said, explaining what the different shapes can mean.
"The circle, for example, represents the universe and beauty, just like the moon and the sun which occupied an important place in local rites," he said.
But changing religious trends means fewer women are getting inked.
Bassou Oujabbour, member of local development association AKHIAM, said women with the markings have faced social pressure.
"Fundamentalists sometimes describe tattooing as the devil's book or as the first thing to be burned on the human body," he said.
"Some women even removed the tattoos long after getting them for fear of punishment after death."