al-Rihla ila Ifriqiya
- Author died
- 1393 AH
- Editions
- Dār ‘Aṭā’āt al-‘Ilm
al-Rihla ila Ifriqiya (The Journey to Africa) is a posthumously published work by the Mauritanian scholar Muhammad al-Amin al-Shinqiti (1325–1393 AH / 1905–1974 CE), transcribing the lectures, addresses, and answers to legal inquiries he delivered during an official African tour undertaken around 1385 AH.
Background and Purpose
Eighteen full years after al-Shinqiti departed Mauritania for the Hajj in Jumada al-Akhira 1367 AH and subsequently settled in Medina, he was appointed to lead a four-member Islamic delegation dispatched to Africa around 1385 AH. The mission was jointly organized by the Islamic University of Madinah and the Muslim World League. Alongside al-Shinqiti, the delegation comprised three other scholars: Atiyya Muhammad Salim and Muhammad Aman al-Jami representing the Islamic University, and Sidi al-Amin al-Mami al-Jakani representing the Muslim World League.
The delegation's mission focused on three main objectives: strengthening religious bonds among Muslims, fostering Islamic awareness, and assessing the conditions of Muslim communities. The tour covered nine African countries: Sudan, Nigeria, Dahomey (now Benin), Niger, Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), and Chad. During their visit to Mauritania, the delegation completed two extensive circuits—traveling through eastern districts such as al-Uyun, al-Na'ma, Kiffa, and Boutilimit, as well as northern regions including Nouadhibou, Zouérat, and Atar—accompanied by local scholars and receiving audiences with religious figures, judges, and state officials.
Structure and Contents
The recorded documentation that survived from the tour consists of ten audio cassette tapes containing speeches, public lectures, Q&A sessions, and introductory remarks by Atiyya Muhammad Salim. The printed book organizes al-Shinqiti's material into two principal sections:
- Lectures and Addresses: Gathers public discourses delivered during the tour, including an extensive exegetical lecture on verses 21–24 of Surah al-Baqarah (recorded on Tape 1), discourses on Islamic creed and the divine attributes (Ayat al-Sifat), Islam's stance on modern Western civilization, the comprehensive nature of Islamic legislation, Islamic brotherhood, and a special address dedicated to the status of women in Islam. Some of these lectures were translated on-site into local languages, such as Hausa in Nigeria.
- Inquiries and Responses: Compiles numbered legal and doctrinal questions posed to al-Shinqiti by local scholars, students, and audiences throughout the tour, together with his detailed answers.
Editing and Publication
The audio recordings were transcribed and edited by Khalid ibn Uthman al-Sabt, who completed the work on the eve of 1 Muharram 1424 AH. The editor restricted the published text exclusively to al-Shinqiti's own lectures and answers, excluding contributions by other delegation members, while verifying quoted hadiths and poetic citations.
The book was printed for the first time in 1426 AH (2005 CE) by Dar Alam al-Fawa'id in Mecca as part of the collected works project of al-Shinqiti (Athar al-Shaykh Muhammad al-Amin al-Shinqiti, vol. 9), supervised by Bakr Abu Zayd and sponsored by the Sulaiman bin Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi Charitable Foundation. In some editions, it is bound in a single volume alongside al-Shinqiti's al-Fatawa and al-Muhadarat.
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