اخبار السودان – وطن نيوز
اخر اخبار السودان اليوم – اخبار السودان العاجلة
W6nnews.com ==== وطن === تاريخ النشر – 2026-02-10 16:32:00
6 hours ago Taj Al-Sir Othman Babo 121 visits alsirbabo@yahoo.co.uk Written by: Taj Al-Sir Othman The book “Identity and Social Conflict in Sudan” by author Taj Al-Sir Othman Al-Hajj was published by Dar Al-Musawarat 2021. In one of its chapters, he dealt with the privacy and independence of Sudanese identity despite external influences. We publish this chapter of it. Sudanese has its independence and privacy, and external influences have entered the fabric of Sudanese identity. Sudanese culture, as is known, is a comprehensive, interacting system of partial components of African (Nubian, Javanese, Negro), Arab-Islamic, and modern humanistic thought that Sudan has witnessed since the beginning of Turkish-Egyptian rule. Therefore, it is important to have a comprehensive view of it, and conflict, imbalance, and collision occur if the whole is attributed to the part with the belief that Sudanese culture is Arab or African. Therefore, the cohesion and cohesion of Sudan must be preserved, like the multi-colored picture that it forms. Beautiful geometric shapes, stacked one next to the other like a mosaic or mosaic, considering that a source of strength and fertility, and closing the way for the colonial powers aiming to weaken and fragment the unity of Sudan in order to plunder its resources. Despite the interaction between all the components of Sudanese culture, which resulted in something new and superior that absorbed the previous material and intellectual civilizational achievements, however, as we mentioned previously, it had its own cultural or civilizational independence, which we see in the following: – The cultural independence that We see it in the derivation of an alphabet for the Meroitic language and the Nubian language after transcending the ancient Egyptian language (Hyoglovic). – Religious independence, which was expressed by the adoption of new local gods in the Kingdom of Meroë, such as the god (Aba Damak, Sebuy Makr, etc.), in addition to the peculiarities of Christianity and Islam and their interaction with local legacies and the resulting Sudanese Christianity in the Christian kingdoms of Nubia, and a distinct Sudanese Islam as it began in the kingdoms of (Fung, Fur, Taqali, etc.). 2 After the Baqt Agreement, the entry of Arabs into Sudan increased and interaction occurred between Arabs and Nubia. Intermarriage and cultural integration took place, in addition to the Mamluks’ repeated invasion of Christian Nubia and their interference in its affairs in its final days. Sufi orders also played a major role in spreading Islam and expanding Muslim influence in the Christian Kingdom of Makuria until the first Muslim Arab ruler took over its kingdom (Abdullah Bar Shambu 1317 AH). Sudanese Christianity was the product of the interaction of Christian teachings as imported from abroad with customs and traditions. The inherited and pagan religions that preceded the previous Christianity in Nubia and the reflection of these religions on the formation of Sudanese Christianity. Christianity in Sudan was characterized by tolerance. Both the Jacobite and Roman sects were present in Nubia, in addition to some other peculiarities such as: It was the custom of the Nuba kings to have their king consecrated to the rank of the priesthood, meaning that the king of Nubia was a king and a priest at the same time, in addition to that they got rid of the phenomenon Foreign bishops, and their adherence to Pharaonic circumcision and baptism by fire, and other doctrinal errors such as: confession of sins, and some Nuba kings voluntarily gave up their kingship to devote themselves to monastic life, in addition to the praise of the cross, which distinguished Sudanese Christianity from others. In addition to that, the picture of kings painted in the temple and in the most honorable place inside the church, and the special features of the special worship of the cross in Nubian churches, which is the painting of the Holy Trinity (Father and Son). And the Holy Spirit) and the difference in the blessing of baptism. Nubian culture flourished and reached its peak of prosperity in the tenth century AD. This prosperity was evident in valuable archaeological artifacts such as photography, church design, and pottery making, which indicate a high level of Nubian culture. The example of the “Opportunities” Church, which was rebuilt by Elias Mutran, indicates this cultural prosperity. Domes were used instead of a flat roof, and its interior walls were decorated with a very artistic and beautiful image. It seems that “Opportunities” was one of the cultural centers of Nubia, as other churches indicate. Which was discovered and which was an example of the Church of Opportunity. Nubian art and architecture developed and a new method was followed in building churches. While in the past they were built on columns of round granite stone with large rectangular pieces, and the width of the churches was flat, starting from the tenth century churches began to be built on columns built of red brick in a square shape on which the arched roofs with domes rested. Although the Nubians interacted with Byzantine art, they adapted it and adapted it according to local conditions and the taste of their citizens. Among the phenomena of prosperity is Nubian culture reached the completion of an alphabet of Coptic and Greek letters and then used them in writing the Nubian language, but the sources did not explain to us the number of letters of the alphabet that were used in writing the Nubian language, and this language developed to be the language of reading and writing and the language of literature, trade and worship. This is in addition to the continuation of Nubian customs and traditions in our Sudanese culture, such as: forty days of birth, the child is an uncle and the uncle is the father as an extension of the matrilineal system that prevailed in the Nubian kingdoms, and the continuation of elements of Nubian customs and traditions in our Sudanese culture. Nubian civilization in the material and popular aspects, and the presence of many Nubian vocabulary in the Arabic language. (For more details, see Taj al-Sir Othman: The Economic and Social History of Nubia, Dar Azza 2003). 3 In the Christian kingdom of Alwa (Soba), Muslims were present a long time ago, and Arab tribes spread in the plains and meadows of the land of Alwa, especially the land of the Jazira. With the passage of time, the kingdom of Alwa fell into the hands of the Muslim Arabs (Alliance Ansar Abdullah Jamaa) and after that the Funj-Abdalabi alliance arose, which led to the establishment of the Funj Kingdom (Zarqa Sultanate: 1504 – 1821), in which interaction and mixing took place between the palm tree and the ebony, or between the Arab-African cultural and ethnic components, which some historians, writers, and poets considered a model of fusion, such as: Muhammad Abdul-Hay in the anthem of the return to Sennar, which states: Tonight my people will receive me. Give me guidance. A rosary made from the teeth of the dead. A skull jug. A prayer made of buffalo skin. A symbol that shines between the palm tree and the ebony. The Funj culture was the result of interaction between Islamic culture and the local heritage in the field of the Arabic language. Wad Dhaif’s book “Classes” is a model of originality and writing in colloquial and classical languages, which expressed the culture and reality of the Funj man, both material and spiritual, in addition to lyrical poetry and religious song (praise) and the interaction of those coming from the rhythms of the Sufi orders (Qadiriyah, Samaniyya). , Khatmiyya) with local rhythms and instruments (drum, tar, cup, nauba, etc.), which led to new rhythms that expressed the interaction of the newcomer with the local, and the peculiarity of the culture was its predominantly Sufi character, which the Funj derived from the intellectual state of the Islamic world that was prevalent in it and which was based on transmission and stagnation (for more details: see Taj Al-Sir Othman Al-Hajj: Glimpses from the History of the Funj Social Sultanate, Muhammad Omar Bashir Center 2004). As for western Sudan, kingdoms arose such as: the Daju, the Tangur, the Fur, the Saba’a and the Taqali. In the Kingdom of the Fur, for example: there was an interaction between the teachings of Islam and the local legacies and a cultural-intellectual structure emerged that was in interaction with the economic base. For example: the Sultans of the Fur devised a political and administrative system that was based in its formation on Islam and local customs, and after the spread of Islam, it interacted with the local legacies in the region, which led to its emergence in Dar Fur to form it. Distinguished. The Arabic language also became a tool for blogging alongside the Fur language, which remained the language of public life. Mosques and retreats spread, in addition to the people of Darfur traveling to centers of learning such as Al-Damir, Al-Ghabash, Katranj, and Al-Azhar in pursuit of knowledge. As for the judicial system, it was based on the teachings of Islam and local customs, and the Sultans of Darfur codified customs in a law they called the Dali Law (for more details: see Taj Al-Sir Othman Al-Hajj: The History of the Sultanate of Darfur Social Studies, Al-Sharif Academic Library 2006). 4After that came the period of Turkish-Egyptian rule in which Sudan witnessed the introduction of modern human thought and new methods of administration, governance, and agricultural and industrial production, sending scholarships abroad to learn the arts of agriculture and administration, and the introduction of civil education, civil justice, medicine, modern health services, means of transport and communication, and connection to the global capitalist system. This rule resulted in the depletion of Sudan’s economic and human resources and the imposition of heavy taxes on farmers, merchants, and herders. And the craftsmen, it was so horrific that it led to the abandonment of farmers from their farmers and lands and the freezing of trade and economic activity, and this was one of the factors in the outbreak of the Mahdist revolution. After the victory of the Mahdist revolution, the Mahdist state was established in Sudan, as an extension of the independent Sudanese states, and foreign rule was eliminated, and a religious state was established in Sudan based on the Mahdist ideology. One of the results of this was that modern civil education was abolished, missionary schools were closed and seclusions were limited to, and the pluralism of Sufi orders, and even the four schools of thought, was abolished. That is, the Mahdist ideology – in part – was an ideology isolated from the modern civil system and modern thought, but on the other hand, that ideology was a product of the Sudanese reality at that period. Although the roots of the Mahdi idea are deep in the Islamic Sufi heritage and the Shiite heritage (the works of Ibn Arabi, Al-Sahar Wardi), the Mahdist thought in Sudan was the product of the Sudanese reality and the Sudanese environment at that period, and was the result of the interaction of the Sufi heritage with the Sudanese reality. At that moment, that ideology also expressed the need to get rid of foreign rule, and in this sense it was an expression of Sudanese patriotism and nationalism in its historical context. 5 With the defeat of the Mahdist state in 1898 AD at the hands of the Anglo-Egyptian forces, Sudan once again became affiliated with Britain, and was linked to the global capitalist market, through the export of cotton. Modern systems entered Sudan on a broader and larger scale this time during the period of Turkish colonialism. British colonialism aimed to transform the country into a large cotton farm…to ensure its uninterrupted flow to the textile factories in Lancashire. To ensure this, the Al Jazeera Project and other cotton projects were established. The network of railways and the port of Port Sudan were established, and modern civil education emerged with the aim of serving the interests of the British administration, providing it with employees to run the state cabinet (clerks, technicians, skilled workers, etc.). The press also appeared, and as a result new social classes and forces emerged: workers, graduates, businessmen, native administrators, feudal and semi-feudal, religious leaders… and the role and influence of sectarianism expanded ( Khatmiyya, Ansar, Hindi…). Sudanese thought developed with the introduction of modern Western thought on a broader scale, and Arab-Islamic influences interacted with Western thought. The Sudanese also interacted with national liberation movements in the world (Egypt, India…). Modern political organizations (the Sudanese Union Society, the White Banner Society) were established after the failure of the previous tribal and religious resistance at the beginning of the twentieth century. Modern intellectual currents entered Sudan on a larger scale, including Marxist and socialist thought, Western liberal political thought, the thought of the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood, and Arab nationalist thought. Etc., and these ideas interacted to a greater or lesser extent with the Sudanese reality. The period of British rule also witnessed development in various fields of political, social, economic and cultural life in the country. Modern management systems, modern civil education, economic developments (the Gezira project, railways, river transport, the press, printing), and new political organizations emerged after the failure of the initial tribal and religious resistance to the English (the tribes of South Sudan, South Kordofan, and central Sudan), and the defeat of Sultan Ali Dinar in Darfur in 1916 AD. The organizations of the Sudanese Union and the White Brigade, which were based on national and political foundations, arose. The White Banner Association raised the issue of Sudanese identity, and the issues of contemporary Sudanese politics crystallized with its slogans: the unity of the Nile Valley, the slogans of Sudan for the Sudanese, and other things – during the 1924 revolution. Literary and cultural societies also emerged after the 1924 revolution, and the national press emerged (The Sudanese Renaissance, Al-Fajr, etc.). Cultural, sports, and professional clubs were established (graduates clubs, workers’ clubs, sports clubs, etc.), and a graduates’ conference was held. Currents emerged calling for the independence and deepening of the specificity and Sudanization of Sudanese literature, and the formation of a national literature and a Sudanese song that expresses Sudanese reality, such as: Hamza al-Malik Tambal and his call for authentic Sudanese poetry instead of blindly transferring the experiences of others, and his famous writings about Sudanese literature and what it should be. The writings of Muawiyah Muhammad Nour also appeared on the nature of the native administration imposed by the British, and the writings of Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahjoub, the most important of which are the intellectual movement in Sudan: Where is it heading? And the creativity of Khalil Farah, which contributed to the development of Sudanese song, and also laid the foundation for Sudanese music. Arafat Muhammad Abdullah and his colleagues had laid the foundations of the national press and laid the foundations for the Sudanese theatrical movement. Writings on socialism, the theory of development, philosophical writings, and writings calling for the formation of a Sudanese historical school appeared on the pages of the Sudanese Al-Nahda and Al-Fajr magazines, in addition to the trends of modernization and innovation in Arabic poetry, prose, and visual art. Calls for women’s education and their going out to work also appeared. Etc. Thus, the Sudanese cultural identity crystallized in interaction with external influences, give and take, with independence, privacy, and authenticity. See also alsirbabo@yahoo.co.uk Written by: Taj Al-Sir Othman Publisher: Dar Al-Musawarat 2026. The book by Tami Al-Atabrawi, Stations on the Paths of Life, was published…
