Question
2) What are the important differences, if any, between the various Turug in the Sudan?

Answer
2) There are no important differences between the various Turug in the Sudan. The teachings, thanks to the Koran and the Tradition, are essentially the same. The cardinal rituals are the same. Slight differences, however, exist in the manner of performing religious usages of minor importance.

Question
3) Do you feel that the Khatmia with its relatively greater involvement in political affairs is any more advanced or enlightened than any of the other Turug?

Answer
3) The Khatmia, in the northern and some parts of the central Sudan, superseded the Gadria. In eastern Sudan it is almost pioneer. The followers of the Khatmia Tariga in the Eastern Sudan are more enlightened than the Unsar of Western Sudan. The enlightenment of the followers of the Khatmia Tariga does not take its origin from the Tariga, as such. The Tariga found the people more enlightened than the rest of the population when it first came, about 150 years ago. They are the population of the Sudan proper that is why.

Question
4) Many writers about the Sudan have referred to the important position of the "holy man" in Sudanese society. Do these men still have great influence and has their effect been bad or good? Does the average person in the Sudan pay close attention to the counsel and teaching of any of the religious leaders?

Answer
4) The holy man in the Sudanese society has an important position, no doubt. The average person in the Sudan is generally a follower of one Tariga or another. He, almost invariably, pay great attention to the counsel of the religious leaders.
The influence of the holy men had, on the whole, good effects; they kept the love and respect for religion kindled in hearts of all men - to say the least.

Question
5) What do you feel is the attitude of most people towards a leader like Sayyid Ali Al-Mirghani?

Answer
5) Sayed Ali El Mirghani commands great respect in the Sudanese community as a whole. He is genuinely loved by many.
Political discord of the last twenty years opened him to criticism. It clouded the love in which he was formerly held in some circles. He is still looked upon as the most influential man in the Sudan.