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| Title: | Muslih mystic and martyr. The vision of Mahmud Muhammad Taha and the Republican Brothers in the Sudan: towards an Islamic reformation? |
| Author: | Lichtenthäler, Gerhard |
| Year: | 1995 |
| Periodical: | Islam et sociétés au Sud du Sahara |
| Issue: | 9 |
| Pages: | 57-81 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Sudan |
| Subjects: | Islamic movements politicians Sufism Republican Brothers |
| About person: | Mahmoud Muhammad Taha (ca1910-1985) |
| Abstract: | The Republican Brothers are one of the three main Islamic organizations which emerged in Sudan during the 1950s. They are an indigenous movement, inspired by mysticism and characterized by Islamic reform and by a programme of social, political and economic equality. On 18 January 1985 their founder, leader and spiritual guide, Ma.hmud Mu.hammad .Taha, was executed, after having criticized the introduction in Sudan in 1983 of the sharia. The present article examines the reasons why this movement had such a limited impact in bringing about the various reforms it advocated. In 'The second message of Islam' (1967) .Taha exposed the movement's ideology, emphasizing the moral principles of the Meccan texts of the Koran, notably those concerning religious freedom and equality between the sexes, at the expense of the legal codes implemented in Medina, on which the sharia is based. The author concludes that the radical nature of the movement's ideology, notably its criticism of the sharia and its ideas on women and marriage, accounts for the fact that the Republican Brothers never won many supporters. Furthermore, the Republican Brothers' former support for the Nimeiri regime, which many Sudanese perceived as corrupt and atheistic, as well as their unpopular statements on politically sensitive issues such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, further contributed to the movement's isolation. Bibliogr., notes, ref. |
