Sudan’s Military Leadership is Shamed by Islam’s Standard of Public Decency

by Imam Earl Abdulmalik Mohammed

During the discussion portion of the weekly Islamic Studies class (April 30, 2023) led by Imam Earl Abdulmalik Mohammed he was asked about the violent conflict presently threatening the people of Sudan. What follows is further commentary by him on this important issue:

Even if we are close observers and admirers of Peoples we do not know all of what is behind these conflicts. I know that Imam W. Deen Mohammed was a great admirer of the Sudanese people. He had a deep and enduring regard for them as a people in history generally, and in African and Islamic history in particular.

He never could reconcile what the government was accused of supporting during the Darfur crisis period. He clearly understood the charges made in the International press, but his faith in the Islamic moral character of the people would not permit him to believe in totality the violations of human dignity the government was being associated with. History is replete with examples of governments that are not reflecting the character of their people.

We are to see the international following of Muhammed the Prophet as one body of Believers in G-d. The Qur’an says:

“This your community is one and I am your Lord, therefore worship only Me.”

This one declarative statement not only establishes Islam as a singular community of faith but also suggests a commonly-held, universal standard of decency. I have said, and it is proven by Muhammed the Prophet’s leadership, that Islam is the religion of a perfect and public human morality.

In our present world of nationalist politics, politicians (or local leaders) cannot supersede and do not command that morality. It is expressed in the conscience and character of the people as it accords itself with nature-based demands and expectations best expressed through Islamic language and standards and conforming to the instructions of Divine Guidance.

What does Islam require of leaders according to this principle of moral decency? These leaders owe their publics sincere respect and care under G-d’s authority. They can claim to enforce this public morality by way of claims to divine law, or propagandize that they are defending it by military actions, but the truth of it rests with the G-d-consciousness of a moral people. We cannot fathom in this current scenario any circumstance that would earn the approval of the Sudanese people of Islamic conscience!

When decent peoples fear their leadership, that leadership has abandoned its moral authority. The offices of leadership are intended in Islam to be the representation of public decency and morality befitting and satisfying the requirements of faith before G-d. The Sudanese military and its political opposition has miserably failed that standard.

They betray and shame the reputation of a dignified people in the social history of man on this earth. They shame the Islamic character of their nation. We cannot fathom in this current scenario any circumstance that would earn the approval of the Sudanese people of Islamic conscience other than the moral turn toward what G-d approves!

We say to them as Imam W. Deen Mohammed would say: “Remember more of Islam and sin less.”