Islam, Sectarianism and Politics in the Sudan Since the Mahdiyya

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Why another study of Islam and politics in Sudan? The unique history of Sudan's Islamic politics suggests the answer. The revolt in 1881 was led by a Mahdi who came to renew and purify Islam. It was in effect an uprising against a corrupt Islamic regime, the largely alien Turco-Egyptian ruling elite. The Mahdiyya was therefore an anti-colonial movement, seeking to liberate Sudan from alien rule and to unify the Muslim Umma, and it later evolved into the first expression of Sudanese nationalism and statehood. Post-independence Islamic radicalism, in turn, can be viewed against the background of the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium (1899-1956). It also thrived as a result of the resurgence of Islam since the mid-1960s, when Nasserism and other popular ideologies were swept aside. Finally, Sudan has emerged as the centre of militancy in Sunni Islam since June 1989, when a group of radical Islamic officers, under the guidance of Dr Hassan al-Turabi and the NIF, assumed power. In Warburg's view, the determination to enforce an Islamic state and an Islamic constitution on a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society has led to prolonged civil war, endless military coups and political, social and economic bankruptcy.