Sudan
Sudan has a complex history characterized by the repeated intersection of religion and politics. Islam spread over much of the country over the course of a millennium, and played a central role in shaping the identity of the region’s inhabitants. Muhammad Ahmad (1844-85), a religious and nationalist leader, established an Islamic state in 1885 that lasted until Anglo-Egyptian forces toppled it in 1899. Even before independence in 1956, Sudan was torn by civil strife. The two Sudanese civil wars (1955-72 and 1983-2005) were fueled in part by religious conflicts between a largely Muslim north and a Christian and Animist south. South Sudan officially declared its independence in July 2011 with the support of the international community and President Omar al-Bashir’s authoritarian government (1989-present) in Khartoum. However, ongoing disputes over resources along the border threaten to escalate into war. President al-Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes relating to the Darfur conflict, and his government effectively favors Islam over other religions.
ESSAYS ON SUDAN
Nubia to the Ottoman Empire
The earliest known religion in Sudan was characterized by worship of gods associated with pharaonic Egypt. Nubian rulers in northern Sudan began converting to Christianity in the sixth century. These rulers acknowledged the Coptic patriarch in Cairo as their spiritual leader, and the Church determined the succession of Nubian monarchs. Christian Nubian kingdoms witnessed their cultural zenith in the ninth and tenth centuries, while restraining the threat of the Muslim Arabs who had invaded Egypt to the north. Over the course of a thousand years, Sudan became Arabized and its population converted to Islam. By the beginning of the sixteenth century, the far north of Sudan had been brought into the Ottoman sphere. In the Nile River Valley, the Funj Kingdom of Sennar rose as the regional power in 1504. Islam soon replaced a form of animistic Christianity as the official religion, though many traditional practices continued. Merchant-funded ulema forced an end to these unorthodox practices beginning in the late sixteenth century, challenging royal authority. Concurrently with Sennar, the Darfur Sultanate came to power in the Darfur region of western Sudan, and the Taqali state was established in the Nuba Hills region, also practicing Islam. In 1821, Ottoman Egyptians invaded northern Sudan, and Sennar was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, initiating the period known as Turkiyyah. Very little is known of southern Sudan in this period, where geographic barriers prevented Islam from spreading as it had in the North.
Turkiyyah, Mahdiyyah, and Anglo-Egyptian Rule
In the 1850s, the Ottomans revised the legal code of Sudan to be more secular. Sharia was reserved for dealing with private matters, though most Sudanese Muslims saw this as illegitimate because the Islamic judge was forced to practice jurisprudence according to the liberal Hanafi school endorsed by the Ottomans instead of the more conservative Maliki school traditional to the region. The government also built Islamic schools staffed with teachers trained in Cairo’s Al-Azhar University. Also in the nineteenth century, Egyptians captured many southerners to work in northern Sudan as slaves and to sell in the Middle East. Consequentially, southerners developed a hatred for their northern counterparts that continues to inform Sudan’s political climate. As the British came to dominate Egyptian and Sudanese affairs in the late nineteenth century, Muhammad Ahmad, a charismatic holy man, attracted popular support when he began preaching expulsion of the Egyptians and the restoration of Islam to its more conservative tradition. He proclaimed himself to be the Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam according to Islamic eschatology. In 1885, the Mahdi and his followers captured Khartoum and claimed Sudan as their own, establishing a jihad state with Sharia courts and initiating the Mahdiyyah era. Anglo-Egyptian forces brought the regime down in 1899 and established control over the country. During the following decades, Christian missionaries provided health and social services to southern Sudan, which was less developed than the North. The few southerners who were able to advance to higher education were sent to British East Africa instead of Khartoum, further exacerbating the wedge between North and South.
Independence, Civil War, and Darfur
Sudan’s path toward independence began with nationalist movements in the early 20th century. Islam remained the religion of the North, where the independence movement took hold. Christian missionaries were permitted to work only in the South, where the British discouraged Islam. By ruling North and South as separate entities, Britain exacerbated longtime differences between the regions. In 1956, Britain granted independence to a united Sudan without consensus between North and South. Anticipating rule from Khartoum as Arab-Muslim imperialism, Christian and animist southerners launched a guerilla movement that initiated Sudan’s first civil war a year prior to the country’s independence. The government dissolved Christian missions in the South and overhauled the secular 1956 constitution as Arab-Muslim rule in Khartoum vacillated between military and civilian governments. In 1972, the Addis Ababa Agreement ended the civil war, but the government’s instituting of Sharia nationwide in 1983 as part of a wider Islamization policy triggered a second civil war, which lasted until a 2005 peace agreement. The religious portion of the agreement called for Islamic rule in the North and self-determination of religious policy in the South. In 2003, conflict broke out again, this time in Darfur. Unlike the North-South civil war, which had a distinct Muslim vs. Christian and animist element, both perpetrators and victims of the raids, mass killings, and pillages in Darfur were Muslims. In addition to Sudan’s massive humanitarian crisis in Darfur, animosity between Muslim northerners and animist and Christian southerners promises to remain an issue.
Contemporary Affairs
Contemporary affairs in Sudan focus on the restoration of stability and peace to the war-torn region. In 2005, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army and Khartoum established a semi-autonomous South under a national coalition government. Overall, Darfur has witnessed increasing stabilization in recent years, and refugees have begun returning to the region. However, in a 2011 internationally backed referendum, 99 percent of citizens in Sudan’s southern region voted in favor of independence, and on July 9, 2011 southern Sudan formally seceded and established the independent Republic of South Sudan with the assent of the international community. While the North’s assent to the secession has been viewed as promising, ongoing disputes threaten the tenuous peace between Sudan and South Sudan, oil being central among them. The majority of Sudanese oil is located in South Sudan, but its northern neighbor possesses the pipelines and refineries, and the two regions cannot agree on an appropriate transportation method or fee for the oil. Furthermore, the South’s secession has failed to quell regional conflict, especially with respect to the disputed province of Abyei, located along the Sudan-South Sudan border, leading to rampant border violence. Daily bombings in the Nuba Mountains have expelled aid workers and forced the entire region to live in conditions of near starvation. These recent events have only further debased the international image of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2010 and 2011 for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity and for his role in the genocide in Darfur.
Religious Freedom in Sudan
Although the 2005 Interim National Constitution of Sudan provides for freedom of religion throughout the entire country, religious freedom faces high government and social restrictions in practice. Disparities in the legal treatment of religious minorities exist between the North and the South. In Sudan (North), the Interim National Constitution enshrines Sharia as a source of legislation, and official laws and policies of the government favor Islam. Muslims who express an interest in conversion face strong pressure to recant, as this offense is punishable by imprisonment and even death. The charges of blasphemy and defaming religion are similarly punishable by imprisonment. Religious groups are encouraged to register with the government as NGOs, and all groups must obtain permits in order to construct places of worship. Christians specifically report persecution, as church property has been vandalized or confiscated and clergy have received death threats and have been imprisoned. Sudan also regulates education to the detriment of religious freedom: under the state-mandated curriculum, all schools in the North are required to provide Islamic education from preschool through university, all classes must be taught in Arabic, and public schools are not required to provide religious instruction to non-Muslims. The ruling National Congress Party is overwhelmingly Muslim and favors members of its political and tribal clique, systematically excluding opposition parties from the political process and national policymaking. In the South, the constitution of Southern Sudan provides for freedom of religion, and laws and policies of the government of South Sudan generally respect the free practice of religion.
Religion in the Sudanese Constitution
The status of religion in the Sudanese Constitution following the independence of South Sudan remains uncertain. Reflecting pre-partition efforts to maintain Sudanese unity, the 2005 Interim National Constitution of Sudan provides for freedom of religion across the entire country. However, with the new Sudan being overwhelmingly Muslim, there is growing pressure on the government for the more forceful application of Sharia law. Despite the formal constitutional guarantee of religious freedom, the government of Sudan places significant restrictions on non-Muslims in practice. South Sudan also guarantees freedom of religion and, unlike Sudan, has largely respected this right, though, given how young and relatively weak the government of South Sudan is, it is unclear what role religion will continue to play in the constitution of South Sudan.
Article 1: Nature of the State
(1) The Republic of the Sudan is an independent, sovereign State. It is a democratic, decentralized, multi-cultural, multilingual, multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious country where such diversities co-exist.
(2) The State is committed to the respect and promotion of human dignity; and is founded on justice, equality and the advancement of human rights and fundamental freedoms and assures multi-partism.
(3) The Sudan is an all embracing homeland where religions and cultures are sources of strength, harmony and inspiration.
Article 4: Fundamental Bases of the Constitution
This Constitution is predicated upon and guided by the following principles:
(a) the unity of the Sudan is based on the free will of its people, supremacy of the rule of law, decentralized democratic governance, accountability, equality, respect and justice,
(b) religions, beliefs, traditions and customs are the source of moral strength and inspiration for the Sudanese people,
(c) the cultural and social diversity of the Sudanese people is the foundation of national cohesion and shall not be used for causing division,
(d) the authority and powers of government emanate from the sovereign will of the people exercised by them through referenda and in free, direct and periodic elections conducted through universal adult suffrage, using secret ballot.
Article 5: Sources of Legislation
(1) Nationally enacted legislation having effect only in respect of the Northern states of the Sudan shall have as its sources of legislation Islamic Sharia and the consensus of the people.
(2) Nationally enacted legislation applicable to Southern Sudan or states of Southern Sudan shall have as its sources of legislation popular consensus, the values and the customs of the people of the Sudan, including their traditions and religious beliefs, having regard to Sudan’s diversity.
(3) Where national legislation is currently in operation or is to be enacted and its source is religion or custom, then a state, and subject to Article 26 (1) (a) herein in the case of Southern Sudan, the majority of whose residents do not practice such religion or customs may:
(a) either introduce legislation so as to allow practices or establish institutions, in that state consistent with their religion or customs, or
(b) refer the law to the Council of States to be approved by a two-thirds majority of all the representatives or initiate national legislation which will provide for such necessary alternative institutions as may be appropriate.
Article 6: Religious Rights
The State shall respect the religious rights to:
(a) worship or assemble in connection with any religion or belief and to establish and maintain places for these purposes,
(b) establish and maintain appropriate charitable or humanitarian institutions,
(c) acquire and possess movable and immovable property and make, acquire and use the necessary articles and materials related to the rites or customs of a religion or belief,
(d) write, issue and disseminate religious publications,
(e) teach religion or belief in places suitable for these purposes,
(f) solicit and receive voluntary financial and other contributions from individuals, private and public institutions,
(g) train, appoint, elect or designate by succession appropriate religious leaders called for by the requirements and standards of any religion or belief,
(h) observe days of rest, celebrate holidays and ceremonies in accordance with the precepts of religious beliefs,
(i) communicate with individuals and communities in matters of religion and belief at national and international levels.
Article 16: Morals and Public Integrity
(1) The State shall enact laws to protect the society from corruption delinquency and social evils and steer the society as a whole towards virtuous social values consistent with religions and cultures of the Sudan.
(2) The State shall enact laws and establish institutions to eliminate corruption, inhibit abuse of power and ensure integrity in public life.
Article 20: Fiscal Levies
(1) No taxes, fees, tariffs or other fiscal dues, shall be levied save by law.
(2) Zakat is a duty on Muslims; its collection, expenditure and administration shall be regulated in the Northern states by law.
Article 23: Duties of the Citizen
(1) It shall be the duty of every Sudanese citizen to pledge allegiance to the Republic of the Sudan, abide by this Constitution, respect the institutions created hereunder and safeguard the territorial integrity of the country.
(2) In particular every citizen shall:
(a) defend the country and respond to the call for national service within the terms of this Constitution and the law,
(b) abhor violence, promote harmony, fraternity and tolerance among all people of the Sudan in order to transcend religious, regional, linguistic, and sectarian divisions ...
Article 38: Freedom of Creed and Worship
Every person shall have the right to the freedom of religious creed and worship, and to declare his/her religion or creed and manifest the same, by way of worship, education, practice or performance of rites or ceremonies, subject to requirements of law and public order; no person shall be coerced to adopt such faith, that he/she does not believe in, nor to practice rites or services to which he/she does not voluntarily consent.
Article 40: Freedom of Assembly and Association
... (3) No association shall function as a political party at national, Southern Sudan or state level unless it has:
(a) its membership open to any Sudanese irrespective of religion, ethnic origin or place of birth,
(b) a programme that does not contradict the provisions of this Constitution,
(c) democratically elected leadership and institutions,
(d) disclosed and transparent sources of funding.
Article 44: Right to Education
(1) Education is a right for every citizen and the State shall provide access to education without discrimination as to religion, race, ethnicity, gender or disability.
(2) Primary education is compulsory and the State shall provide it free.
Article 47: Ethnic and Cultural Communities
Ethnic and cultural communities shall have the right to freely enjoy and develop their particular cultures; members of such communities shall have the right to practice their beliefs, use their languages, observe their religions and raise their children within the framework of their respective cultures and customs.
Article 136: Guidelines for Inclusiveness in the National Civil Service
The National Civil Service, notably at the senior and middle levels, shall be representative of the people of the Sudan; to ensure this, the following principles and guidelines shall be recognized and observed:
(a) imbalances and disadvantages in recruitment shall be redressed,
(b) merit is important and training is necessary,
(c) no level of government shall discriminate against any qualified Sudanese citizen on the basis of religion, ethnicity, region or gender ...
Article 154: Respect for Human Rights in the National Capital
Human rights and fundamental freedoms as specified in this Constitution, including respect for all religions, beliefs and customs, being of particular significance in the National Capital, which symbolizes national unity, shall be guaranteed and enforced in the National Capital.
Article 156: Dispensing Justice in the National Capital
Without prejudice to the competence of any national institution to promulgate laws, judges and law enforcement agencies shall, in dispensing justice and enforcing law in the National Capital, be guided by the following:
(a) tolerance shall be on the basis of peaceful coexistence between the Sudanese people of different cultures, religions and traditions,
(b) behaviour based on cultural practices and traditions, which does not disturb public order, is not disdainful of other traditions and not in violation of the law, shall be deemed in the eyes of the law as an exercise of personal freedoms ...
Article 185: Guiding Principles for Equitable Sharing of Resources
(1) Resources and common wealth of the Sudan shall be shared equitably to enable each level of government to discharge its legal and constitutional responsibilities and duties and to ensure that the quality of life, dignity and living conditions of all citizens are promoted without discrimination on grounds of gender, race, religion, political affiliation, ethnicity, language or region ...
Preamble
Grateful to Almighty God who has bestowed upon us the wisdom and will to reach a Comprehensive Peace Agreement that has definitively put an end to the longest running conflict in Africa,
Having survived the tragic consequences that have characterized that debilitating conflict,
Mindful of religious, racial, ethnic and cultural diversity in the Sudan,
