Introduction

The Charter Front:

The proposal for a complete Islamic constitution was defeated in the Permanent Constitution Committee for Sudan.
Details of the events surrounding this defeat can be found in the second volume of the Committee's deliberations. For instance:
Mr. Musa Al-Mubarak stated: “In the technical committee's memorandum on the Islamic constitution, on page 7, it is stated that the head of state must be a Muslim. I would like to ask: Do non-Muslims have the right to participate in electing this Muslim president?”
Mr. Hassan Al-Turabi responded: “There is nothing preventing non-Muslims from electing a Muslim president. The state considers both Muslims and non-Muslims as citizens. On matters of discretion where there are no express provisions, it will be left to the general public to decide because such issues depend on public interest. There is nothing preventing non-Muslims from participating in the election of a Muslim president or serving in the parliament to legislate discretionary laws not governed by explicit sharia texts.”
Mr. Philip Abbas Ghaboush asked: “Mr. Chairman, can a non-Muslim be at the same level of eligibility and be chosen as head of state?”
Dr. Hassan Al-Turabi replied: “The answer is clear, Mr. Chairman. There are other eligibility conditions, such as age, integrity, the absence of criminal convictions, nationality, and other such legal conditions.”
The Chairman asked Mr. Ghaboush to repeat his question.
Mr. Philip Abbas Ghaboush then clarified: “My question, Mr. Chairman, is essentially the same: Can a non-Muslim be chosen as head of state within the framework of the state?”
Dr. Hassan Al-Turabi ultimately answered: “No, Mr. Chairman.”
This dialogue illustrates the initial opposition to the proposal for a complete Islamic constitution. Note Dr. Al-Turabi's initial evasion, which compelled the Chairman to request Mr. Ghaboush to repeat his question to receive a clear answer. Once the question was repeated, Dr. Al-Turabi could not evade and answered with a definitive "No." This marked the beginning of opposition that eventually culminated in the rejection of the Islamic constitution proposal. This rejection was recorded in the Constituent Assembly records.
Dr. Al-Turabi's initial evasion of a specific response is not incidental; rather, it is highly indicative of the profound contradictions under which Dr. Al-Turabi and his fellow Islamic advocates, who have received extensive Western education, grapple with. These contradictions arise from their extensive exposure to Western thought and their attempts to align with contemporary progressive frameworks, particularly democracy and socialism. Yet, they find no support for such alignment in the traditional Islamic thought they studied. As a result, they live in an unsettling state of contradiction, which has stunted their intellectual potential and rendered them pitiable figures.