Africa

Sudan: An Open letter to the National Unity Organisation and all Muslims

The following is a translation from Arabic.

The situation of divisions, schisms and dividing lines, that manifests in people being divided along tribal and nationalistic lines and the centre-right politics divided into government and opposition camps clinging on to their self interest and power is not something new to our land. But the interference of the international factor, i.e. the struggle between Europe and America over the African continent has resulted in intensified confrontation especially in our land and further deteriorated the situation, and has placed our land in a precarious situation vis-à-vis the warring international parties. This has resulted in separation of the southern portion as a result of the Nevasha accord and the Muslims are spilling the blood of their own brothers in Darfur and other places. As a result the country stands ready to disintegrate along sectarian and tribal lines, while the disbelieving colonialists of Europe and America are systematically exploiting and using as fuel for the war, every Muslim who thinks along the non-Islamic lines be he in government or opposition; armed soldier or a simple civilian.

What has made us the wholesome morsel for those colonialists who scheme against us is our own inability to bond correctly with one another. Our mutual bond is both false and degraded-the bond of patriotism, tribalism and bond of our self-interest.

The patriotic bond develops among people when their thought is debased and lowly, because it is an impulsive bond, since the people living in the same world are overwhelmed by an urge to survive and stirs them to protect the land they inhabit. This results in the patriotic bond, which is a weak and lowly bond that manifests itself only when there is an external threat and does not influence in the absence of such a threat when there is peace and security in the land. Patriotism with such traits is demonstrative of schisms, divisions and weakness and not that of unity or collectivism. It is by the use of this patriotism that the Kafir colonialist has succeeded in tearing apart the Muslims nation into several weak statelets. It is the same patriotism which they have employed to sow the seeds of hatred and distrust that resulted in their disunity and fragmentation and were thus weakened and humiliated. Instead of being united as a single nation (Ummah), they are fragmented: one is an Egyptian, another, a Sudanese and a third being a Palestinian. So what can now unite them in the name of nationalism? Further, patriotism is not a political ideology as such that can provide solutions for the problems faced by people. It is therefore erroneous to think of uniting people based on patriotism, or even forming associations or parties based on it. The bond between people based on sects is merely a product of the patriotic bond, the colonialists have been successful in making us believe that the north of Sudan is not similar to its south, thereby resulting in the secession of south from the north. It is this sectarianism that induces us to conjure the east as different and the west as peculiar thereby helping to serve the conspiracy to fragment the country.

The bond of nationalism originates among people when their thought is narrow, it emanates from the love of the leadership, which is one of the many manifestations of the survival instinct. This bond fosters disputes and confrontation among people who are overwhelmed by a low mentality and thus they help one against another. It is therefore not a humane bond and this can be easily seen in Darfur where Muslims are violating the sanctity of one another along the tribal lines.

The third malaise mentioned is the bond based on self interest which is a temporary bond and not a perpetual one, since it depends on the interest. It is therefore not a suitable bond to unite people because it changes when there is an even bigger self-interest and when the interest factor no longer exists, this bond also ceases to exist! This bond divides people into their special interest groups. Since this bond lasts only as long as the common interest, it becomes a dangerous bond to unite people. As we can see, the government shares a common interest with the Kuffar and hence it has signed the Nevasha, Asmara and the Abuja accords agreeing to splinter the southern part and readying itself for secession of other provinces. The government was all along under the illusion that by doing so the pressure from the Kuffar will subside, which as it turns out, is intensifying day-in and day-out. On the other hand the militaristic movements shared a similar bond of interest with the outsiders for logistical and material support in order to acquire power and thereby control over the resources etc. And what did they do? They forced their people in the lost war as fuel, the real winner of which is one of the alien parties to this global confrontation. The opposition is no different; it schemed up a political agenda to grab the seat of power by unseating the government even if it had to ally with the devil himself!

Oh brothers in the National Unity Organisation!
Oh Muslims!

A genuine unity is achieved only by creating a correct bond, the bond of the great Islamic ideology. It is the only bond based upon a rational creed. It is from this ideology that a system emanates that organises every aspect of people’s lives. In order to solve his problems, the Islamic system looks upon a person simply as a human being and not as any thing else. When the light of Islam shone in the Arabian Peninsula, there were no more hatred and tribal confrontation among people anymore. The people’s heart radiated warmth of the light and belief of Islam and they were consolidated as one distinct nation, whose hearts aligned with one another, they preferred others over themselves and worked for the well-being of others, just as Allah (swt) says:
“And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allâh (i.e. this Qur'ân), and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allâh's Favour on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became brethren (in Islâmic Faith), and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allâh makes His Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.,) clear to you, that you may be guided.” [TMQ 3:103]

And (swt) said:
“And He has united their (i.e. believers') hearts. If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts, but Allâh has united them. Certainly He is All-Mighty, All-Wise.” [TMQ 8:63]

The fact is that the Muslims won over Iraq which was then inhabited by Arab and Persian Christians, Magians and Zoroastrians. They won over Persia which was inhabited by Persians and a few Jews and Romans. They won over al-Sham which was a province of the Christian Roman Empire and was inhabited by Syrians, Armenians, Jews. The Muslims won over Egypt which was inhabited by Egyptians and some Jews and Romans; similarly the Muslims won over North Africa where the Berbers lived. They similarly won over Sind, Khorasan, Samarqand and Andalusia (Spain) which were all distinct nationalities with their own languages, customs, culture, traditions and laws. In spite of their distinct identities, Islam was able to mould them into its own and form a great nation (Ummah) with a common religion, language, culture and laws. Therefore will the same Islam not bind and unite us all together if we are true Muslims?

Oh brothers in the National Unity Organisation!

Today you are uniting and gathering all the parties and political forces in the country, you are aware of the enormity of the task of uniting the people under a common banner. It becomes your foremost duty to consider this critical issue in a correct perspective, which is the Islamic perspective. You have seen that it is only Islam which has held together all the people throughout the human history. It was only Islam which has united people and their strengths for a span of thirteen centuries when they lived under a unified Khilafah State, while the socialist/communist ideology failed to achieve this and dispersed people along religions and nationalities and the capitalist ideology is no different with minorities and sects refusing to recognise one another because they carry thoughts that are alien to them. Should we not therefore realise the greatness of our own ideology?

Great honour in this world and the hereafter beckons you, therefore stand up to it and say the truth:

“O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allâh and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allâh and His Messenger [sal-Allâhu 'alayhi wa sallam], he has indeed achieved a great achievement (i.e. he will be saved from the Hell-fire and will be admitted to Paradise). Truly, We did offer Al-Amânah (the trust or moral responsibility or honesty and all the duties which Allâh has ordained) to the heavens and the earth, and the mountains, but they declined to bear it and were afraid of it (i.e. afraid of Allâh's torment). But man bore it. Verily, he was unjust (to himself) and ignorant (of its results).” [TMQ 33:69-72].

Wilayah Sudan
12th Rabi us-thani, 1428 A.H
29th April, 2007 C.E