Mauritania's female Islamic guides leading the fight against 'extremism'
Mauritania has deployed more than 1,200 female Islamic guides across mosques, schools and rural sermon networks to counter the jihadist propaganda spreading through the Sahel, in a programme widely credited with helping the country avoid the major attacks now hitting Mali and Burkina Faso.
Mauritania's ministry of Islamic affairs and traditional education runs a network of 'mahadras' (classical religious schools) that dates back a century, and since 2017 it has formally allowed women to act as religious guides. Government figures show more than 1,200 female murshidat now operate across the country, teaching topics from Quranic exegesis to family protection and counter-arguments against jihadist rhetoric.
Researchers at the University of Nouakchott say the programme has measurably weakened the appeal of online jihadist propaganda, especially among 18- to 30-year-olds. Against the backdrop of JNIM's road blockade in Mali and a renewed wave of JNIM-linked attacks in Burkina Faso, Mauritania remains the only Sahel country to have avoided a large-scale attack since 2010.
A joint report by the French Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique and the US Institute of Peace says the model could be adapted in Senegal, Morocco and eastern Mali. The annual budget for the programme is around €9 million, most of it from Mauritania's treasury with additional funding from the EU and Saudi Arabia. The ministry aims to expand to 2,000 guides by the end of 2027.
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