Islamic Leaders Issue Fatwah

As peace talks between the Sudanese government and southern rebels resumed in Kenya, and in advance of student union elections at Khartoum University, leading Islamic scholars issued a "fatwah" or religious edict on Friday, July 4. The fatwah, published in the independent weekly Akhbar Alyoum and signed by fourteen prominent scholars, including two university professors, declared that communists, socialists and others adhering to non-Sharia law in Sudan are apostates deserving of death.

The latest round of peace talks started on Sunday as a debate raged in Khartoum over whether Khartoum should become a secular national capital accommodating different religious creeds and beliefs. Last Wednesday, eighteen opposition parties, fifteen non-government organizations and more than forty individual opposition leaders released a declaration calling for Khartoum to be a national "secular" capital in the event of a peace deal between the Islamist government in Khartoum and the SPLA, which has been fighting for the rights of Christians and animists. The Khartoum Declaration also called for the end of one-party rule during a transition period of six years, as well for a transition government designed to supervise general elections. Last month, Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir lashed out at his leading opponents for advocating a national capital free of Islamic Sharia laws. In the last week, several opposition leaders involved in drafting the declaration have been arrested.

Last July, the Sudanese government and the SPLA signed a protocol providing for the separation of state and religion in southern Sudan. Glenn Penner, spokesman for The Voice of the Martyrs, said, "It is obvious that this separation will not extend to the parts of the country where the government maintains control. We must not be so naïve as to believe that the Islamist government of Sudan has modified its position on the preeminence of Sharia law in Sudan as a whole. This is a brutal regime with a shameful human rights record regarding religious liberty."

Pray for those who are advocating religious liberty throughout Sudan. Pray that the international community will continue to hold Sudan accountable for its religious liberty record.

  • Country Information

    Population
    49,197,555 (2023 est.)

    Ethnicity (%)
    Sudanese Arab (70), Fur, Beja, Nuba and Fallata (30)

    Religion
    Sunni Muslim, small Christian minority

    Leader
    President (to be determined)
    Transitional military leadership in place

    Government type
    Presidential republic

    Legal system
    Mixed legal system of Islamic law and English common law

    Source: CIA World Factbook

  • Pray for Sudan

    Pray that Christians throughout Sudan will continue to entrust themselves to Christ and preach the Gospel boldly, knowing Jesus is the ruler over the kings of the earth (2 Timothy 1:7-12, Revelation 1:5).

    Pray also that peace, justice and religious freedom may be firmly established.

Sudan News

  • Church Building Destroyed While Authorities Watch
    A pile of rubble - corregated metal, wood, and various other objects - is heaped where a building once stood.
    A demolished Pentecostal church building in Khartoum.
    Photo: CSW

    On July 8th, approximately 30 individuals equipped with heavy machinery demolished a Pentecostal church in the El Haj Yousif area of Khartoum as police officers and military personnel looked on without intervening. By the time the demolition was finished, the worship hall – which had been constructed in the early 1990s – was reduced to rubble, along with the church's administrative offices, guest house, and other adjoining buildings.

  • Church Leaders Face Violence from Multiple Sides
    A large church with several spires.
    A church in Sudan.
    Photo: Flickr / David Stanley (cc)

    The bishop of the El-Obeid diocese in Sudan recently suffered a harrowing ordeal at the hands of both members of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and those of the opposing rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF). On December 1st, Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali reported that he was travelling with a deacon named Joseph. The ministry team had just arrived in El-Obeid when they were suddenly stopped and harassed by the SAF. The troops seized the small sum of money in U.S. dollars that the bishop was carrying, claiming that it was forbidden currency. During the robbery, the soldiers also physically harmed the two men.

  • Displaced Christians Driven From Their Homes
    A large group of people are gathered around a small mosque.
    A group of people in Sudan.
    Photo: Wikipedia / Nina R (cc)

    Residents of the Al-Makniya area of Sudan's River Nile state drove 34 displaced Christians from their homes on October 19th. Those responsible for the displacement explained that they did not want any Christians nor black people in the area.

  • Military Officers Arrest Christian Refugees
    A group of men are standing together. They appear to be singing.
    Photo: VOMC
     

    Amid the ongoing civil war in Sudan, a group of over 100 Sudanese men, women and children travelled to the city of Shendi on the banks of the Nile River in search of refuge from the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary group, RSF. There, the refugees – most of whom are members of the Sudanese Church of Christ – sought shelter in an affiliated church building.