Sudan Archive

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Their understanding of marriage is that they do not build a house for the bride until two years later, and some after three. And those who are in a hurry build after one year, because they cannot be with her until she reaches puberty. This is for virgins. As for the girl, men remain with her on the day of her engagement or wedding. As for reading the Quran, it is greatly delayed because they do not read the Quran except at night in the kuttabs. So the boy spends the day herding sheep and grazing, and after returning in the evening, he takes his slate and goes to the kuttab. And on the day of bringing firewood, they light a fire and surround it, and they are illuminated by its sound. By that light, they are preserved and write. Their memorization is not good, so few of them memorize the Quran well. As for reading sciences, it is also delayed due to the lack of scholars. Most of their reading is of Fiqh and Tawhid. As for logic, it is very little, and with its scarcity, they read only a little of grammar. As for meanings, rhetoric, eloquence, logic, and prosody, they only know the names. And whoever knows them among them would have traveled to another country like Egypt and found him there. If he returned to the country, he would be the scholar. Most of what they concern themselves with is spirituality and magic. They call the science of poetry medicine, and whoever knows it is called a physician. This science is found more among the Fulani than others. We will mention what happened with the scholar Al-Akwa.

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