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Sadaqah Jariyah in Mauritania

We recently returned from a field visit to Mauritania on behalf of UK charity Ummah Welfare Trust.

We went there to overlook the charity’s support for rural mahadaras (centres of Islamic learning) and poor scholars in the country.

Mauritania, along with much of North Africa, generally follows the fiqh of Imam Malik ibn Anas Rahimahullah. Libraries of the mahadaras here are full with commentaries and explanations from this school.

While visiting the shuyookh in the country’s capital, Nouakchott, one book always remained noticeable in their libraries. It was the book Awjazul Masalik (أوجز المسالك), a commentary on Imam Malik’s Al Muwatta (الموطأ‎), the renowned hadith collection from which his fiqh was derived.

The book was written by the great muhaddith of India, Shaykh Zakariya Khandhlawi Rahimahullah.

One thing really struck me seeing this book; it was the loftiness and importance of Sadaqah Jariyah, and how integral it should be to the life of a believer.

One does not need to be famous or well-known to benefit from Sadaqah Jariyah, rather the heart must be sincere and its intention for Allah alone.

A person’s name does not have to even be mentioned after his demise. So long as his actions were for Allah Most High, then لا يضل ربي ولا ينسى My Lord neither errs nor forgets.

Ummah Welfare Trust UK in Mauritania