Mauritanian apologises for burning Qur'ans

Following his detention for burning religious al-Maliki fiqh books last month, the human rights activist Biram Ould Abeid, broke his silence on Tuesday, by offered an apology from inside the civilian prison in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott. Arabstoday obtained a copy of his apology, in which he expressed his and his organisation's apology to the Mauritanian people for burning the books, which he considers promotes the the notion of servitude. He added that his actions of burning the books were misunderstood as he did not intend to hurt the feelings of Mauritanians and Muslims, adding that his intentions were honest and not aimed at offending Muslims. He also apologised to the members of his movement who had been embarrassed by his behaviour, saying that he did not mean to abuse the Holy Qur’an or the Prophet’s teachings (Sunnah), which are the two main pillars by which he and the members of his movement abide by. Ould Abeid explained that his intentions were to show his rejection of certain tracts within the books concerning the justification of servitude, and those who misunderstood Islam which he said "opened the door to free the slaves." At the time of the book burning incident, the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist movement (IRA), expressed its sincere apologies to all Muslims about the incident that saw the IRA's leader Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid, burn holy books of the Maliki Islamic sect, which he said endorsed slavery. The movement's lawyer, Zayed al-Mossallamin, had urged the Mauritanian people to accept the IRA's apology and stop inciting hatred against the movement. Al-Mossallamin also called on all Islamic scholars and preachers in the country to hold a discussion about what was written in some of the Maliki tracts with regards to slavery and the differences between the rights of slaves and those of free people. The movement issued a statement saying that the burned books included segments about what the movement described as "laws of slavery". The statement explained in detail, several examples. Mauritania is a country which is located in the Maghreb region of north west Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast and by Mali in the east and southeast. It straddles the cross roads between north Africa and Sub Saharan Africa. Mauritainians are a mixture of blacks, Arabs and Berbers. Many Mauritanians belong to the Maliki sect of Islam, which is one of the schools or religious law within Sunni Islam and is followed by nearly 35 percent of Muslims, mainly in North and West Africa, some Gulf nations and parts of Saudi Arabia. Slavery is an entrenched phenomenon within Mauritanian society. Successive governments have tried to abolish it. The practice has been banned three times, most recently in August 2007. The descendants of these black Africans who were abducted into slavery and who now live in Mauritania, are referred to as "blacks”, and in some instances still serve the Moorish gentry. Some even believe that as many as 20 percent of Mauritania’s population of three million people, are slaves. Even though slavery is illegal, many sociologists believe that Mauritania is the country with the largest proportion of its population in slavery.