A Sudanese Islamic political thinker and leader, he was known for his writings in the fields of thought and advocacy, but his fame was in the field of politics that fluctuated in its positions and alliances since 1964, and imprisoned him several times.

Birth and upbringing


Hassan Abdullah al-Turabi was born on February 1, 1932 in the city of Kassala, eastern Sudan, to a well-to-do, religious family belonging to the Bediriya tribe. His mother died young, and his father was a judge and sheikh of a Sufi order, so he memorized the Holy Qur’an with several readings, and taught him the sciences of the Arabic language and Sharia.

His daughter, Umama, said about him (in an interview with Al-Sudani newspaper 2010) that he has carpentry tools in his house with which he fixes the doors himself, and he reads poetry, especially “The Collective of Arab Poetry,” and he also listens to Beethoven’s musical pieces, and watches criminal investigation films.

Study and formation


Al-Turabi received his basic and secondary education in different regions of Sudan. He studied law at the University of Khartoum, graduating in 1955. He then obtained a master’s degree from Oxford University in Britain in 1957, and a state doctorate from the French Sorbonne University in 1964.

His residence in the West allowed him to master English, French and German, and to learn about Western science and culture.

Intellectual Orientation


During his studies at the University of Khartoum, he became acquainted with the thought of the Muslim Brotherhood, so he joined it and became one of the leaders of the Brotherhood in Sudan in 1969, but he later separated from the group and took his independent path.

Jobs and responsibilities


After completing his studies abroad, he returned to his country and worked as a teacher at the Faculty of Law at the University of Khartoum, and assumed its deanship in 1965, becoming the first Sudanese to hold this position.

In 1979 he was appointed Chairman of the Committee for the Review of Laws to Islamize them, then Minister of Justice in 1981, then as an advisor to the President of the State for Foreign Affairs in 1983. In 1988 he became Deputy Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and Minister of Foreign Affairs in his coalition government.

In 1991, he founded the Arab Islamic People's Congress to form a platform for Islamic issues in which dozens of organizations around the world converge, and he was chosen as its Secretary-General.

In 1996, he was elected Speaker of the Sudanese Parliament during the "Salvation Revolution" era. He was also chosen as Secretary-General of the ruling National Congress in 1998. After his departure from power in 1999, he established the "People's Congress" and became its Secretary-General.

Political Experience Al


-Turabi began his political life as a member of the Islamic Charter Front, which was an Islamic political alliance led by the Brotherhood, and assumed its general secretariat in 1964.

The October 1964 revolution against military rule in Sudan was an important turning point in al-Turabi's career, as it moved him from academic classrooms to the furnace of politics and its struggles.

Members of the Charter Front were arrested in 1969 following the military coup led by Jaafar Nimeiri. During his reign, al-Turabi entered prison three times, and he left in 1977 after a reconciliation between the Islamists and Nimeiri that led to the declaration of the application of Islamic law in 1983.


The Nimeiri regime fell in 1985 with a popular revolution that paved the way for an elected government. In 1986, al-Turabi established the National Islamic Front, which ran for Parliament and was dissolved third, and the coalition government headed by Sadiq al-Mahdi entered.

In the year 1989, military personnel with links to the Islamic movement led a coup against the Mahdi government, and established a new system of government for which al-Turabi was the actual leader, even if Field Marshal Hassan al-Bashir was chosen to head the state.

Al-Turabi continued to lead the regime from behind the scenes until a dispute arose between him and Al-Bashir, which developed until a split occurred in the entity of the regime in 1999. Al-Turabi was removed from his official and party positions, and in 2001 the “People’s Congress” established an opposition party.

The Sudanese security apparatus arrested al-Turabi more than once and for several months, under various charges, including "planning a military coup."

The prominent politician was arrested in 2009 after he supported the International Criminal Court's accusations against "Al-Bashir" of "committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide."

In the last years before his death, al-Turabi's relationship with the government improved when he accepted a call for Sudanese national dialogue put forward by President al-Bashir, which was boycotted by most of the main opposition factions.

He told Al-Jazeera (interview in 2005) that "the Islamic movement did not read Islamic history well when it set out to seize power in Sudan."

And he said in another place, explaining his understanding of Islamic law: “Sharia is what paves a path for all the feelings and manifestations of religion, and it is originally comprehensive for guidance in all life: the conditions of conscience, the innermost parts of hearts, the doctrines of words and the methods of outward actions. The word Sharia means judicial rulings, not moral, and Sharia schools have become limited to peremptory outward rulings that are suitable for judicial and political enforcement.

Contradictory judgments and different descriptions were raised about Al-Turabi. While his supporters see him as a seasoned politician and a re-thinking scholar, his opponents find him a deceitful politician with an unwavering attachment to power, and accuse him of issuing fatwas that contradict the strictures of religion.

Dr. Hassan al-Turabi wrote various books


and articles, including: “Renewal of Religion,” “The Monotheistic Interpretation,” “The Methodology of Legislation,” “Women between the Teachings of Religion and the Traditions of Society,” and “Politics and Governance: Sultanate Systems Between Fundamentals and Laws of Reality.” , and "The necessity of self-criticism of the Islamic movement."

Death


Hassan al-Turabi died on March 5, 2016, of a sudden illness, and the next day his body was shared by large crowds of Sudanese in the capital, Khartoum.