Britta Frede visits

Women in Ḥassāniyya- speaking Sunnī Muslim communities in Mauritania have long served as spiritual guides (muqaddamāt) and as teaching scholars (limrābuṭāt) for other women. Yet those who have done so have tended to come from a small number of prominent scholarly families. Furthermore, their activities have usually remained hidden outside of their immediate social circles and are actively excluded from the historical record.