Sudan's Islamic Experiment

Bibliographic Data

ID9821907
AuthorsMilton Viorst (corresponding author)
Year1995
Volume74
Issue3
Pages45
Publication date1995-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueForeign Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0015-7120 • E-ISSN: 2327-7793
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/20047122
OpenAlexW2799483430
LanguageEN
Citations received6

Within the Arab world, Sudan is unique. Other Arab countries appear to be slipping inexorably into fundamentalism. Sudan, by contrast, is the only state in our age that has formally opted for Islam as its system of government. By its own admission, it has not yet crafted the institutions needed to realize an Islamic regime. But its rulers, having made the choice, have left no doubt that Islam will not be disestablished, whatever the opposition and consequences, including civil war. Sudan, it has been said, is a nation-state but not a nation. Its twenty-six million inhabitants speak one hundred different languages. They are divided into a multiplicity of ethnic groups, none more than a fraction of the total population. They are separated by regional and tribal loyalties. Most divisive of all, the population in the north of the country, where the majority resides, is culturally Arab, while the south shares the civilization of black Africa. Faced with this diversity, the majority has decided?or at least those who speak for the majority have decided?that the only unifying element in Sudan is Islam. And so, to create a nation, Sudan has embarked on a course of Islamization

Ancient history · Development economics · Economics · Islam · Political science · Theology · History · Philosophy · Religion and Sociopolitical Dynamics in Nigeria

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