Introduction
The Azawad region is going through a sensitive stage in its history, as some extremist groups are trying to impose their own vision under the name of “implementing Sharia”, without a real understanding of it or taking into account the specificity of the ancient Azawadi culture and history.
These attempts raise fundamental questions about their real goal, and whether they are to protect religious values, or are they a means of control and obliteration of identity?
1. Is there an attempt to obliterate the history of a people?
The Azawad people have a history spanning thousands of years, with a rich culture that includes customs, traditions, language and arts, and is an essential part of the cultural fabric of the Sahel and Sahara region. This identity was not built overnight, but rather developed over the centuries as a result of the interaction of different tribes and sects.
2. Is there an attempt to obliterate the Azawadi culture?
Azawadi culture is distinguished by its unique customs and traditions, such as marriage systems, customary justice, and the distribution of social roles that have been formed over generations.
Imposing a “Sharia” that has nothing to do with this culture is in fact a means of eliminating this legacy and replacing it with an imported intellectual model that is incompatible with the nature of Azawadi society.
Imposing an extremist thought that is foreign to this environment does not only mean introducing a new ideology, but it is a deliberate erasure of the history of an entire people.
3. What are the intentions of these groups?
Political domination: using religion as a tool to justify control over the population and eliminate any opposition.
Erasing local identity: creating a new society subject to a certain interpretation, far from the true history of Azawad.
Severing ties with the past: erasing the customs and traditions that express the historical independence of Azawad.
Do they have the legitimacy to impose their interpretation on a society that has its own customs and traditions?
In many cases, these groups are not based on the true Sharia, but rather impose distorted interpretations that are incompatible with the teachings of the Islamic religion or with the ancient Azawadi customs.
Is there an intention to erase the Azawadi identity?
These groups are nothing but imported tools, supported by external parties, and aim to forcefully change the cultural identity of Azawad. They come with ideas that have nothing to do with the traditional Islam known in the region, and seek to impose a foreign culture that conflicts with the heritage of Azawad society.
Features of attempts at erasure:
Imposing new lifestyles that are inconsistent with local customs and traditions.
Using violence as a means of control.
Preventing people from freely expressing their identity.
This approach cannot lead to peace and stability, nor can it build a bright future for the people of Azawad.
4. Are these people qualified to talk about Sharia?
Have they studied Sharia in recognized scientific schools?
What is their scientific and religious background?
Do they have a comprehensive understanding of the principles and rulings of jurisprudence, or are they just extremists who have drawn their ideas from schools of killing?
The truth:
Islamic Sharia has clear principles and rules, and is not applied randomly or according to the whims of groups that are not scientifically or legally qualified.
5. Do these groups adhere to the true religious and legal conditions?
From a legal perspective: Jurists have confirmed throughout history that Sharia requires scholars to manage it, not armed groups that impose their ideology by force.
From a legal perspective: Any application of Sharia must be within a clear legal system, not just a cover for political domination and exclusion.
Are they qualified?
There is no evidence that their leaders studied in recognized Sharia schools.
They do not have qualifications in jurisprudence or fatwa, and they rely on a strict and selective interpretation of texts.
Most of them were trained in combat camps rather than in scientific institutions, which makes them closer to fighters than scholars.
Conclusion
What is happening in Azawad is not just a religious debate, but a struggle for identity and survival. Imposing imported religious ideas does not reflect a concern for religion, but rather an attempt to obliterate the Azawad heritage and replace it with a strange model.
Solution:
Raise awareness and adherence to the Azawad identity.
Spread education and true culture.
Reject any attempts to erase the history of a people that is thousands of years old.
Extremist groups do not want Tifinagh
Extremist groups do not want Tifinagh, they fight it and consider it blasphemy, they do not study it, they do not recognize it, they do not see it as a language or a history. For them, everything that does not belong to their ideology must be erased.
How can they accept Tifinagh curricula and books in Azawad?
How can they recognize a language that has a long history before they themselves existed? The truth is that they do not want an identity or a culture, they only want to impose their ideology by force.
But Tifinagh remains, history is not erased, and identity does not die.
Azawad Freedom Voice – 11-03-25
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