islamism & thE statE 165constitution for the country onto the agenda of the mainstream, parties,
the Umma Party and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Following the second military takeover led by Col. Jaafar Nimeiri in
1969, the Islamist movement initially adopted a hostile attitude toward
the new regime, which began with leftist leanings. The Islamists joined
the Umma and DUP to form the National Front opposition coalition.
Armed opposition through the National Front gave some Islamist
cadres the opportunity to receive military training. At the political level
however, the movement remained primarily confined to the student
sector, in which it has been the dominant force since the mid-1970s. In
1977, following Nimeiri’s ‘national reconciliation’ with the National Front
opposition, the Islamist movement under Turabi’s leadership adopted
a comprehensive strategy to transform the Islamist movement into a
political force capable of assuming power in its own right. In practical
terms this led to a strategic alliance with Nimeiri’s regime which allowed
the movement to expand its membership and strengthen its economic
capabilities. Using its virtual control of the student body it sought to
expand its influence in society at large, making use of petrodollars to
set up new Islamic economic institutions that became the main vehicles
of the economic empowerment of the Islamist movement and gave rise
to an Islamist business class. There was a minor split led by a group of
veterans who disagreed with Turabi’s approach, but the overwhelming
majority sided with Turabi. From then onwards, the breakaway group
maintained the original name of the Muslim Brotherhood; Turabi’s group
on the other hand adopted the name of Islamic Movement (IM) for their
organization.
Nimeiri’s decision in 1983 to apply sharia – to which Turabi was not a
party, even though he was Nimeiri’s legal advisor at the time – came as
a blessing to the Islamists. It provided a justification for their alliance
with Nimeiri’s regime, its corrupt character notwithstanding. The sharia
experiment, however, and the excesses that characterized its applica-
tion, alienated southern Sudanese politicians and widened opposition
to Nimeiri across the political spectrum. Nimeiri’s regime collapsed inThe Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors April 1985 following a popular intifada or uprising and a military takeover.
(www.riftvalley.net).