The Sudan Handbook

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10. Islamism & the State

abdEl salam sidahmEd

Islamist groups are movements which work for the establishment of an

Islamic order, a society where people live their lives in accordance with

the teachings and regulations of Islam, and/or the establishment of an

Islamic state – a state which applies sharia (Islamic law). In broad terms,

one tendency – known as the educationalist tendency – sees the priority as

working for the transformation and indoctrination of society as a prereq-

uisite for the creation of an Islamic state. Another, the political tendency,

regards the state as a vehicle of societal change and Islamization. The

Sudanese Islamist movement belongs to the political tendency.

From the Muslim Brotherhood to the

National Congress Party

The Islamist movement started in universities and high schools in the

late 1940s under the influence of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood

and in reaction to the leftist and communist trends that were prevalent

in the student sector at the time. In 1954, a small number of Islamist

groups came together and formed the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood

movement. The movement’s influence remained confined to the student

body throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. During the October 1964

uprising that toppled the first military regime of General Ibrahim Abboud,

the Islamist movement formed the Islamic Charter Front (ICF) under

the leadership of Hassan al-Turabi. During the 1960s, though the ICF’s

constituency remained narrow, it was the driving force behind the push

to dissolve the Communist Party of Sudan in 1965 on charges of atheism.

The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors Likewise the ICF was able to push its call for the adoption of an Islamic

(www.riftvalley.net).