SUDAN'S REPUBLICAN BROTHERS AND ISLAMIC REFORM

In view of the vigorous opposition encountered by the Republican Brothers in advancing their ideas, they logically question whether it might not be easier simply to embrace a secular ideology. Their immediate answer, however, is that no secular ideology is capable of providing the right formula to satisfy mankind's material, moral and spiritual needs. Consequently, the capitalistic, liberal democracies as well as the Marxist, totalitarian regimes, are rejected.
While recognizing that the liberal democracies, as a result of their capitalistic evolution, have vastly improved the material conditions of man, they have been falsified by their unequal distribution of wealth and power deficiencies uncompensated by the existence of democracy and individual liberty. Marxism, on the other hand, is viewed as an unacceptable reaction to the liberal individualistic tradition since it goes to the opposite extreme and creates an oppressive totalitarian state.[7]
In response to what is considered the consistent failure of ideology to strike a proper balance between the interests of the individual and those of society, the Republican Brothers advance their call for a rejuvenated Islam: .... "is not the traditional, partisan, dogmatic call to Islam as a religion opposed to other religions. It is not even a call to religion as opposed to secular thinking. Our conception of Islam embraces other religions and secular sociopolitical theories in that it accepts and provides for realization and human thinking. This unifying quality may be called the Islamic trinity joining both ends of a spectrum into one medium stream that contains the essence of both extremes. This process operates between the legal order of Judaism and the lofty ideals of Christianity, as well as between liberal democracy and Marxism."[8]
Islam is thus offered as a means of achieving absolute individual freedom through two stages: The first is that of internal moral discipline reflected and exercised in one's dealings with others; the second involves the establishment of a legal order setting forth obligations as minimum standards of behavior required for a civilized society. In this society the religious practices of Muslims, Christians and Jews, or the absence of any religious practices, or even the lack of faith in the very existence of Allah, is considered the business of the individual alone and no one else.[9] What is the concern of others is that each individual abides by the law of the land and respects the rights and liberties of others.
While considerably more could be said of the philosophical and theological positions of the Republican Brothers, it is important to note that, they call for the establishment of a humanist state, Islamic to the extent that the constitution reflects knowledge derived from the essence of the Koran. Thus, their proposed Islamic state would stem not from official proclamations or enactments but from the free, enlightened consciences of Muslims personally convinced that a proper access to this world's goods and a total equality of each individual citizen before the law is the essence of Islam. With such a notion of the common good informing the consciences of lawmakers, the Islamic state thus emerges in actuality.
However radical such a proposition appears, particularly at a time of Islamic fundamentalist ascendancy, it is worth recalling that Islam, despite the seeming rigidity of its doctrine, has been adaptive in the past. Therefore, despite all condemnations of the Republican Brothers it is presumptive to assert that their positions are not Islamic. Whereas all Islamic reform movements in the past have involved a de facto compromise between Muslim and non-Muslim elements[10] through ijtihad (juristic reasoning and derivation of new rules in matters not provided for in explicit texts of the Koran or Hadith) and within the framework of traditional Sharia, the Republican Brothers, on the other hand, find ijtihad inadequate and refuse to be bound by the framework of Sharia. What is espoused is a process of evolution of Islamic law according to the real needs of society.
And where would it be more likely for such a novel break-through to occur than in the Sudan, the entire history and social fabric of which connote an accommodation of diversity. If the Republican Brothers do little more than contribute meaningfully to this accommodation then they will have made a significant contribution, not only to Sudan, but to an entire region which has yet to realize fully the intrinsic connection between respect for personal freedom and societal growth.
Richard P. Stevens
Georgetown University
[*] Literally, "withdrawal from Islam" - "irtidad"

NOTES

[1.] "Islam: Spreading the Word," Sudan Now (Nov. 1980), 40-41.
[2.] Interview with Dr. Abdullahi Ahmed El Naiem, Washington, D.C., December 4, 1980.
[3.] Ibid.
[4.] Printed letter from Mahmoud Mohammed Taha to Mr. John Voll, July 7, 1963.
[5.] See Republican Brothers, An Introduction to the Second Message of Islam, 3rd. ed. (Jan. 1980, Khartoum), pages 14, 29, 32, 33, 34 and 48.
[6.] Whereas the higher level was previously expected to be observed voluntarily, now the law should provide the legal framework for implementing this higher level. It will not be left to the voluntary choice of the individual where the rights and freedoms of others are at stake, i.e. women and non-Muslims. See Dr. Abdullahi Ahmed El Naiem,
"Human Rights in Islam: A New Approach," paper prepared for delivery at the Conference on Human Rights and Islam, Kuwait, Dec. 9-12, 1980.
[7.] See Republican Brothers, The Religion of Man: A New Conception of Islam (Khartoum, June 1979). Democracy and socialism are considered so interdependent that neither can be achieved in the absence of the other.
[8.] See Republican Brothers, Towards the Second Message of Islam, 1st ed. (Khartoum, Nov. 1980), p. 11.
[9.] While acknowledging the priority of free choice, the Republican Brothers do not deny that others must be concerned with one's fate and should accordingly attempt to persuade the non-believer of the importance and utility of such belief in realizing absolute individual freedom. Absolute individual freedom is based on freedom before the law, where one is free to think, speak and act, while accepting responsibility for the same.
[10.] John S. Badeau, "Islam and the Modern Middle East," Foreign Affairs (XXXVIII, 1959), pp. 61-62.