Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The dissemination of Taha's new philosophy
By the end of his period of seclusion in October 1951, Taha emerged with a comprehensive new conception of Islam. He summed up that understanding in a book that was published in 1952 under the name This is my Path, or Qul Hadhihi Sabieli. The Republican Party was then transformed from a political party into an organization devoted to the propagation of Taha's conception of Islam. Those members of the party who wanted to pursue a more secular political role broke away and joined other political parties. For those who remained with the party, the organization became a spiritual movement under the guidance of Taha.

After a short period of service with the Water and Electricity Company in Khartoum, Taha resumed his private practice as an engineer in the early 1950s.

In 1955, just before Sudan achieved independence, Taha published a book titled Usus Dustour As-Soudan, about his proposals for a Sudanese constitution. He called for a presidential, federal, democratic and socialist Republic. He was opposed to any attempt to apply laws derived from Islamic Sharia, as to do so would be a deviation from his understanding of Islam. Applying Sharia meant to him to invite the distrust and animosity of the non-Muslim, non-arabized Sudanese citizens in the south of Sudan and some parts of the north. An armed rebellion, which had already erupted in 1955 in the south of Sudan, initiated a movement demanding federal rule to the south.

Shortly after independence, which was granted on the first of January 1956, a committee was formed to write a manuscript for a constitution to be presented for adoption by the parliament. Taha represented the Republican Party in that committee. A few months later he resigned from that committee citing interference from the executive authority. That committee brought a manuscript for a constitution that was partly derived from Sharia as desired by the traditional religious sectarian parties. Before that manuscript could be adopted by the parliament, a bloodless military coup seized power in November 1958. All the parties, including the Republican Party, were dissolved. Taha wrote a letter to General Abboud, the head of the new regime, advising him to apply the proposals of the Republicans for a democratic, socialist, federal government, and along with the letter included a copy of his book about the constitution. Taha's recommendations were ignored. During the first two years of military rule Taha held lectures publicly. However, his progressive ideas were so intolerable to religious traditionalists that three young students from the republican movement were dismissed from the Islamic Institute of Omdurman for propagating Taha's conception of Islam. Soon after this Taha was prohibited from holding public lectures. Taha then transferred his activities to private houses of members of the movement and their sympathetic friends. He was denied access to the media when he tried to correct allegations he believed false. In the face of the mounting orchestrated rejection of his efforts toward Islamic reform Taha published his book The Islam in 1960.

After Sudan's return to multiparty parliamentary rule, Taha revived his Republican Party to propagate his proposals for social, political and religious reform through public lectures, newspaper articles, and books. In 1966-67 he published three of his most important books: Tarieq Mohammed, or Mohammed's Path; Risalat Assalat, or The Message of Prayer; and Arrisala Atthaniya min Al-Islam, or The Second Message of Islam. He was the first man to propose a direct dialog for a peaceful co-existence between the Arab States and the State of Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War between the Arabs and Israel. He addressed that issue in his books Mushkilat Assharq Al-Awsat, or The Middle East Problem, and Al-Tahaddi Alladhi Yuagihu Al-Arab, or The Challenge Facing the Arabs, both of which were published in 1967. He was mainly opposed to the Arab Nationalism of Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, as well as to what he perceived to be the primitive application of Islam in Saudi Arabia and by the Muslim Brotherhood movement in other Arab countries.

The sectarian ruling parties together with the Muslim Brotherhood movement managed to amend the article number 5/2 in the constitution in order to expel communist members of the parliament and dissolve their party in 1965. Despite his opposition to Marxist communism, Taha objected vigorously to the dissolution of the Sudanese Communist Party and he considered that step as a blow to Sudanese democracy.

In November 1968, Taha was accused of Ridda, or apostasy, a crime punishable by death. He refused to appear before the court, invoking his constitutional right of freedom of thought and expression. Nevetheless, the Khartoum Sharia High Court assembled in his absence to investigate allegations made by two "Islamic University teachers" who accused Taha of Ridda and demanded the dismantling of his party and movement. That court was able to forge a nominal verdict which, although it remained without formal consequence, caused The Republic Party to expend substantial resources in fighting the allegations. However, the trial also provided valuable publicity among young intellectuals and students who were dissatisfied with traditional Islamic thought as well as with the dominance of sectarian parties. Meanwhile, the sectarian parties were trying to win public support for including Sharia in the permanent constitution. They were even ready to make it the subject of a public referendum if the parliament was unable to approve it by the end of 1969. All this led to wide discontent among the army officers, some of whom were organized in the Free Officers Movement which succeeded in seizing power on May 1969. The new government banned all political parties, including the Republican Party.


.....To Come

The Republicans during the May Regime, 1969-1983