Chinguetti

Spring 2004

Chinguetti, ancient caravan city, former starting point for caravans to Mecca, surprised TARGET with particular events:

Imam Adb Er-Rahim Hadji (73) wrote TARGET a fatwa spontaneously declaring the custom of Female Genital Mutilation a sin after being convinced by a doctor.

The Mayor declared Annette Weber and Rüdiger Nehberg honorary citizens of the community.

The crowning glory of the desert stay also took place here: The Grand Mufti Hamden Ould Tah allowed Weber and Nehberg to hang the fatwa on a five-metre high banner in front of the ancient pilgrims' mosque of Chinguetti!

The mosque is the seventh largest holy place of Islam. According to the Imam and the Mayor, not even a poster had ever been allowed on the holy walls before. For Annette and Rüdiger this was a great sign of confidence for the TARGET strategy of working with Islam against mutilation.