The magic of nature extends and goodness does not limit, but the fires and killings are the first things that jump from the scenes when you mention Darfur, the region located in the west of Sudan, which was associated with the Sudanese with the Khalawi of the Qur’an, and with the Sharif Al-Mahmal in the past, it became a companion to tribal conflicts, which are mostly between pastoral and inhabiting tribes stable.

In this report, Al Jazeera Net tries to look at these conflicts culturally through the eyes of intellectuals from Darfur.

Darfur's privacy

The people of Darfur see that their region is of a special nature, a particularity that takes on more than one face. The poet Alem Abbas - the former head of the Sudanese Writers Union - brings us back to history, reminding that Darfur was a sultanate of its own when most of Sudan belonged to the Sinnar Sultanate (1505-1821).

Abbas said in a testimony to Al Jazeera Net, "While most of the current Sudan belonged to the Sultanate of Sennar, Darfur was a separate sultanate until the entry of Muhammad Ali Pasha's forces, and Darfur did not fall until more than 50 years later. After the bilateral occupation in 1898, Darfur became independent until the Sultan was killed." Ali Dinar in 1916.

Abbas believes that this historical situation made the region special in many things, even if they were similar or agreed sometimes with Sudan in general.

The local culture is one of the most important aspects of that privacy.

Land may be one of the causes of conflicts usually, divided in Darfur into "hawaker" (singular of hakora) and Hakoura is an area of ​​land that belongs administratively to a particular tribe, according to what the researcher and writer Ahmed Al-Nour Manzoul explained in a testimony to Al Jazeera Net.

Manzoul says that "administratively subordination of the land to a particular tribe does not mean preventing others from living in it, but the citizens of this land must observe the customs of the tribe and submit to its rule."

The researcher interested in the Darfur issue, Abd al-Nabi al-Bishr, explains that the hawakir contributed to the stability of Darfur and the clarity of its governance methods, as well as the well-known nomadic paths.

Al-Bishr says, "Everything was fine before the politicians intervened, who corrupted the civil system as they corrupted it."

civil system

Talking about the tribal system and the tribe may be somewhat strange in this 21st century, but the observer of the situation in Darfur realizes its importance despite the manifestations of the decline of prestige and shadow, which Abd al-Nabi al-Bishr explains, saying, “The tribe chose the most fittest person in it for leadership, and he was wise and repaying.” opinion, and because he was the choice of the tribe, his command was obeyed.”

He points to a turning point in this system, saying, "In the Turkish rule - despite its palace - new names were introduced, such as the word (Nazir), and the government chose the leaders who were collecting taxes and levies, and it increased their powers in return."

Al-Bishr believes that some of these choices were a reason to reduce the society’s respect for the tribal leaders, but he considers the period of the Anglo-Egyptian condominium to restore some prestige to the leaders on the condition that they were loyal to them, and that they respected them, and continued the system of native administration until his dissolution (President Jaafar) Numayri Because he wanted to extend the power of the members of the one party (the Socialist Union).

The period after al-Numeiri was the worst, according to Abdul Nabi al-Bishr in his related testimony to Al Jazeera Net, "The choice was linked to partisan loyalty in the democratic period, and the disaster was during the era of rescue that intervened in the selection and took new criteria, foremost of which was loyalty to the rescue."

Ahmed Al-Nour Manzoul agrees with Abd al-Nabi’s opinion, adding, “The rescue was looking for its own interest, not the interest of Darfur, and it tried to break up some hawakers and build tribal entities in other well-known tribal areas, in implementation of a carefully drawn plan,” he says.

Sudanese poet and researcher Ahmed Al-Nur Manzoul: One of the causes of conflicts is the division of Darfur into "Hawakeer" (Al-Jazeera)

customs and traditions

The question arises of why this interest in the native administration by governments and politicians in general?

History answers that these leaders were able to solve problems, had customs of peace and war, and were often distinguished by wisdom.

Al-Bishr refers to the customs practiced by these administrations that contributed to the formation of the Darfurian fabric, the most important of which are (conciliation and marriage) and continues that “the tribal leaders in Darfur are interested in gifts and send them to other leaders on their occasions and attend those occasions. They were more keen to marry the daughters and sisters of other leaders, so that the tribes intermarry The leader shall have a khulwa in another tribe and vice versa.

The observer of the Darfur community will notice these intermarriages, which led to strong relations between these tribes.

This does not mean that inter-tribal marriages are restricted to the chiefs only, but it is mentioned because of their extended influence.

Among the Darfurian practices is swearing or (the book), which means by the book the Qur’an (the Book of God Almighty) and Abd al-Nabi separates the human beings, saying, “It is the culmination of a relationship of friendship, in which two people are sworn to brotherhood in God, and that each of them should have what a brother has from his brother, affection, protection and neighbourhood.” Thus, the two tribes learned that so-and-so is the brother of so-and-so.

All this is added to the customs of Judiyah (reconciliation between disputants in the Sudanese dialect) and the reconciliation councils, which bury sedition in its cradle. “That was the days of the prestige and wisdom of the leaders, and they paid blood money mostly from their money.” And Manzoul continues, “but nowadays, some of them may have counted One of the causes of strife.

Al-Hakamah and Al-Haday

Folk poetry has a great influence in Darfur, and the popular poet in Darfur is called al-Hakama and the poet al-Hadi, as it does not guide in all cases, and wisdom does not always utter wisdom.

And the poet Mutawakil Zarrouk believes in a testimony to Al-Jazeera Net, that popular poets have a great impact on influencing the behavior of societies in this region, and he adds, "The singing of rulers in conditions of war is more important than the speech of the Sultan himself."

Zarrouk adds that "the opinion of the sultans about the rulers of the regions and even the sultans of the neighboring sultans is affected by the mental image that the guides draw about them, and the singing of Hikama or the poetry of Hidaya is enough to ignite the war or extinguish its fire."

Sudanese poet Mutawakil Zarrouk: The singing of rulers in war is more important than the speech of the Sultan (Al-Jazeera)

Manzoul sees the danger of this poetry due to its course among people and its spread, especially as it is sung in gatherings and major occasions, and adds that “a description of cowardice, miserliness, or any ugly trait may push the described to leave the village.”

While the poet Anas Abdul-Samad preserves for the rulers their ability to call for good or sedition, Abdul-Samad believes in the difference between saying and doing, "they may ignite a war for trivial reasons and they cannot put it out." .

illiteracy and education

In educated societies, the influence of one person on another cannot reach the same effect as in societies that are less fortunate in education.

The region where the geniuses and innovators graduated has a significantly lower rate of education. Alam Abbas sees the center’s failure to spread education in Darfur, pointing out that some governments saw the spread of ignorance as a source of closed electoral boxes, adding, “Perhaps if education spread more, I would know the value of human and life, And say injustice to the center."

It is known that pastoral societies are less fortunate than education, as they move from one place to another for long months.

Al-Bishr describes the school of nomadic education, which he was one of the pioneers in, according to his testimony, saying, "Nomadic schools are in fact with one teacher, who travels with them on their animals, and each teacher has 10 children who teach them all the subjects."

However, with the outbreak of conflicts and wars, the education of the nomads faltered, and the wars affected stable villages that were destroyed and their people became refugees.

Even the traditional education system based on the study of the Noble Qur’an and Islamic forensic sciences faltered through al-Khallawi. The vibration of all this created educational difficulties that affected the behavior of societies.

Poet Anas Abdel-Samad believes that education is part of an integrated whole, and "we will not get rid of our crises and wars unless we reconsider and filter our cultural heritage, this heritage that has been distorted as a result of a premeditated plan, despite the importance of a cultural project to build a tolerant nation that is free from the diseases of racism and the disease of hatred." By encouraging education and raising awareness, we will achieve everything we aspire to.

Creators and battle

A killer told me

And the red cup is a circle

His hand is on the trigger, his eyes are cocky

what do you see?

I said I'm going down on you

ignorance

And the obvious tremor

(Hateful walks on some of your blood) From my blood

a coward that lives on a guillotine"

The verses are from a popular poem by Mutawakkil Zarrouk in which he, like many creators, tries to address what is going on on the ground, shedding light and discussing ideas and everything that would stop the bloodshed.

Zarrouk and many see that the problem is cultural par excellence, but this does not mean that there are no other sides to the issue.

This is what Abbas said that "the reasons are many and great, some of them are purely Darfurian, and most of them are in the relationship between the center and Darfur. Culture is a facet of this conflict, and those who ignited the fire of war were familiar with the local culture and used it for their purposes."

Sudanese poet Alem Abbas: Culture is one of the aspects of the conflict in Darfur (Al-Jazeera)

The poem that Abbas spoke about is believed by Manzoul, one of the Darfurian poets and intellectuals, who believes that everything is carefully drawn, but does not lose hope in spreading science and knowledge and employing creativity to ward off these temptations.

We asked Abbas about the role of intellectuals and creators, and he replied, “Among the intellectuals are those who sold themselves to the authority and its devil, and his role was negative.

"I gave them my advice at the bend of the bend... they did not seek advice until the morning of tomorrow."

He resumes his speech with great pain: "The fear is that Duraid's poem will be completed," as he says in its subsequent verses:

When they disobeyed me, I was one of them, and I could see that I had deceived them, or that I was not rightly guided.

And am I only from Ghazieh? If I am tempted, I will be tempted, and if Gaza is guided, I will be guided.