SUDAN: Radical Islamic Groups Reject Proposed Constitution

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Nhial Bol

KHARTOUM, May 8 1998 (IPS) - A radical Islamic group here has rejected Sudan’s proposed constitution which it says has placed Islamic laws on equal footing with customary laws, and has permitted non- Muslims to hold top political posts in the country.

“The proposed constitution lacks concrete principles that are found in Islamic Sharia (Laws),” said a statement by the group, known as the Muslim Brothers.

The statement, signed and distributed on Friday by the group’s leader, Sadig Abdallah Abdel Magid, said the draft constitution passed last month by Sudan’s rubber-stamp parliament — but which has yet to go to a referendum before it is ratified by the President — contains a lot of unacceptable clauses that compromise Islamic laws.

The Brothers reject a clause which says any citizen, whether a Moslem or not, has the right to contest presidential elections and that in the event of winning, the voters’ verdict must be respected. This view has been rejected by the group which argue that the leadership of a non-Muslim leader is unacceptable in Islam.

“The head of state (president) must be Moslem, because there is no room in Islam for infidels to rule over Moslems,” the group said.

Muslims make up about 65 percent of Sudan’s 30 million people. The remaining — some 35 percent — live in the south, a region peopled by Christians and followers of traditional African religions.

Another point of dispute between the government and the group is a clause in the proposed constitution which says the Sharia and Customary laws are the main sources of legislation in the Sudan.

“How can we fear to mention openly that Islam is the official religion of the Sudan?”, asked the statement.

The group also questioned the appointment of non-Muslim judges on the bench and the admittance of non-Muslim lawyers to defend suspects in Sharia courts.

“It is unheard of for a non-Muslim judge to give out a sentence in a Sharia court. “This is a violation of Allah’s laws,” said the statement.

It also criticised the inclusion of a clause relating to the controversial issue of self-determination in the proposed constitution. The group says it is particularly irked by an agreement this week to hold a referendum in the south to decide whether southerners want to secede or remain part of the Northeast African country.

Representatives of the Sudan government and that of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) agreed on Tuesday to hold the referendum following two-day talks in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

“Such a referendum will encourage secularists to challenge Islamic laws. Allah’s Laws are not challengeable,” they said.

They say they are also concerned about the proposed constitution which is silent about people who quit Islam and join other religions. Under Sharia (Laws), such people are punishable by death.

The group split from the original Muslim Brotherhood, headed by Hassan Abdalla al Turabi, who is the current Speaker of Sudan’s Parliament.

Turabi, who is widely regarded here as the de facto leader of the Sudan, renamed his group the National Islamic Front (NIF), which played a major role in helping the junta leader Lt-Gen Omar Hassan al Bashir topple the elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al Mahdi in June 1989.

But a tiny faction led by Magid — and regarded here as harbouring destablising tendencies — refused to go along with Turabi’s new party. Preferring to stick to ancient Islamic codes, the Muslim Brothers, whose overriding objective is to spread Islam and ‘Arabise’ the Sudan, advocate a paternalistic attitude towards the non-Muslim community here.

“We appeal to you (non-Muslims) to behave well and we will in turn pay you a good respect and protect your rights. Our duty is to reform you, treat you according to Sharia laws,” it said.

The group urged the National Constitutional Committee, which drafted the constitution, to stop appeasing the minority in Sudan. “Sharia does not compromise on religious matters. Let us not give them (non-Muslim) the hope that we can agree with them at the expense of our religion,” it said.

The statement called upon Muslim scholars both outside and inside the Sudan to review the constitution so as to suggest how it should conform with the Sharia.

“Our country cannot be ruled by laws contrary to the Islamic doctrine,” it said. “No Moslem in an Islamic state like the Sudan has the right to question issues already given judgement by Allah (God) and the Prophet Mohamed.”