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 A Tribute to Albaqir Al-Afif Mukhtar - Dr. Francis Deng
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05:34 AM February, 04 2025 سودانيز اون لاين
أبوذر بابكر-
مكتبتى
رابط مختصر
Prayers for Sudan: A Tribute to Albaqir Al-Afif Mukhtar
Francis Mading Deng
The passing of Dr. Albaqir Al-Afif Mukhtar on January 23, 2025 was not entirely a surprise, since he had heroically been carrying the burden of severe illness for a long time. But it was nonetheless shocking because, until close to the end, he had remained vigorously engaged and intellectually rigorous, specifically in the activities of the newly formed Advocacy Group for Peace in Sudan, AGPS, that has been pursuing the national cause of peace, security, civilian protection, and democratic principles in the country. Despite his physical frailty, his voice had remained strong, his mind clear and his words unwavering in his devotion to the vision of a Sudan of equality and dignity for all.
Over the years, I paid tribute in differing ways to national and global leaders. I posed to myself the question why I dared write about people who were so important and well known that it did not need me to promote their legacies. On reflection, I concluded that my recollections were about my personal connections with those individuals, and to that extent, were as much about them as they were about me.
I am by no means placing Albaqir in the class of the global leaders referred to above, but he certainly falls in the category of unsung national heroes who devoted his work to addressing the core issues of the predicaments that have plunged Sudan into the devastations of recurrent wars since independence in 1956. The tendency is to see the current war as a contest for power and wealth between the two generals, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan of the Sudan Armed Forces, SAF, and Abdalla Hamdan Dagalo (Hemeiti), of the Rapid Support Force, RSF. This is an oversimplification of the wider causes of the war that are more deeply rooted in a national identity crisis.
Two issues stand out in my connection to Albaqir. One is our shared analytical focus on the crisis of national identity. The second was an initiative which he and a group of liberally minded young intellectuals took to nominate me to run in the 2010 Presidential elections.
Sudan’s national iIdentity crisis
Writing about the national identity crisis in Sudan has been my preoccupation for decades. It is a topic from which Sudanese tended to shy away in denial as it was a topic viewed to be too sensitive and emotive for polite conversation. Albaqir was one of the first Northern Sudanese to expose the self-denial of Sudanese Black African reality in exaggerated mythical self-identification with arabism as a racial and cultural phenomenon, reinforced and fortified by Islam.
My analysis of the Sudanese crisis of national identity traced its roots back to slavery and its legacy. A process of assimilation into the Arab-Islamic identity meant that converting to Islam, speaking Arabic, adopting Arab culture, and tracing or claiming Arab descent elevated a person to a more respected status. On the other hand, being a Black African and a heathen relegated a person into the category of enslaveables. There are two dimensions to the legacy of slavery. One dimension is the distorted self-identification of the dominant group which, though an African Arab hybrid, perceived themselves as purely Arab. The other is that this distorted self-perception is imposed by the ruling elites on a country of immense racial, ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. This inevitably discriminates against those falling outside the dominant national identity framework.
Prominent among the grossly discriminated were Southern Sudanese who comprised a third of the country in land and population and whose people are racially and culturally indigenously Africans, with traditional belief systems and a newly Christianized educated class. The emerging identity of the South has been one of resistance, initially against slavery, and then to the post-colonial domination by the North. Southern resistance has triggered two wars. The first broke out in 1955, championed by the Southern Sudan Liberation Movement. The goal of that war was to be a Southern secession, but it was ended by the 1972 compromise Addis Ababa Agreement that granted the South regional autonomy. The second erupted in 1983 with the unilateral abrogation of the Addis Ababa Agreement by the government. That war was championed by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and its Army, SPLM/A, with the stated goal of creating a New Sudan of inclusivity and equality, without discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnicity, religion, or culture. This war ended with the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, CPA, which granted the South the right of self-determination that led to the independence of South Sudan on January 9, 2011.
The vision of New Sudan had however inspired the marginalized regions of the North in the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, and Darfur, many of whose members joined the SPLM/A in the struggle. Even the Nubians to the far North and Beja to the East identified with the New Sudan Vision. That vision also gained the support of liberally minded intellectuals and political activists in the North. This is why the current war raging in the country is to a significant extent a continuation of the unfinished pursuit of the New Sudan Vision.
Albaqir’s main themes from decades of writing on the subject of identity were reaffirmed by his recent study, A Fractured Mudsill, the product of an elaborate research project that combined comprehensive literature review with a detailed data collection through questionnaire surveys. The project also entailed a series of focus group discussions of the themes derived from the questionnaire.
It is fortuitous that I recently exchanged messages with Albaqir over his recent study. On August 9, 2024, I sent the following message to Albaqir after reading his study. “I have just had the great pleasure of reading your paper. It is an abbreviated, updated, deepened, and popularly documented theme of the national identity crisis which has engaged both of us for decades. I really appreciate your dedication, consistency and clarity in pursuing this existential national challenge. I hope the current war will prove to be an additional wake up call to which the Sudanese elites will respond affirmatively from their slumber denial. I am so happy that we have reconnected and collaborating on matters relevant to this national crisis.”
Later the same day, I received the following response from Albaqir: “Thank you so much for your kind words. I am absolutely thrilled to hear that you enjoyed my paper. Your feedback is a great honor to me. You are absolutely right—I have indeed deepened my understanding, particularly through extensive reading on our ancient history and Sudanese spirituality. This journey has truly highlighted for me the profound richness of both, as well as the significant losses we have incurred due to their neglect. If Sudan is to build a state that truly reflects its historical, social, and cultural heritage, these tenets must be its foundation. Thank you once again, and I look forward to continuing our conversation. May God bless and keep you for all of us.”
Parameters of Sudan’s iIdentity crisis
Based on a penetrating analysis of the results of this study, Albaqir observed, “Sudan’s fundamental dilemma lies in the paradoxical relationship between the country’s national identity and the cultural identity of its ruling class. National identities are defined by geography and borders, while cultural identities are shaped by religion, language, traditions, and customs. While a country typically has one national identity, it can encompass a multitude of cultural identities. National identity should be the predominant identity under which all cultural identities thrive.”
Albaqir further noted with a focus on the case of Sudan: “Among the factors contributing to an identity crisis within any community, three are particularly pertinent to the Northern Riverian ethnic groups. Firstly, there is a mismatch between the physical traits of the Northern Riverian ethnic groups and the physical traits of the Arabs. The features, complexion and hair of the Northern Riverian ethnic groups is different from those of the Arabs. Secondly, there is a disparity between their self-perception of their identity and others’ perception of them. While they perceive themselves as Arabs, the real Arabs hold a different view. The experiences of these groups in the Arab world, particularly in the Gulf, have un#####ocally demonstrated that Arabs regard them as ‘abid (singular: abd), meaning slaves. Nearly every Sudanese individual in the Gulf has encountered the unpleasant experience of being labeled ‘abd.”
Albaqir’s main conclusion is a stark condemnation of the dominant identity group. “The root cause and perpetuating force behind the war is a ruling class identity crisis. More specifically, it is a combination of psychological and cultural factors that have led the ruling class to seek their own ‘final solution’ concerning the other ethnic groups in the country who do not share their identity. The ruling class’s solution in Sudan is to eliminate these other groups culturally, making them replicas of themselves. In other words, the ruling class has elevated their cultural identity above the national identity of the entire country and has transformed the state into a war-making machine against marginalized communities.”
A feature of his analysis that was strikingly eye-opening to me was the glorifying identification with the white Arab father and the denigrating denial of the Black mother. In the graphic words of Albaqir, the Arab assimilated Northern Sudanese groups “exhibited profound disrespect and disdain for their true genetic Ku####e and Nubian ancestors. They ####phorically quarantined their father and embraced an Arab surrogate, while simultaneously harboring hatred for their mother.”
The Arab practice uplifted the African Sudanese from a denigrated category and assimilated him into the esteemed category of an Arab, while looking down on the African component of his own identity. Color continued to be a factor of classification, but to a less consequential degree. An Egyptian diplomat who had Served as Ambassador in Sudan told me that he had never seen as much consciousness of skin colours as he observed in Sudan. As Albaqir observed. “The ranking begins with asfar, which literally means ‘yellow’ but is used interchangeably with ahmar to denote “whiteness.” The second in ranking is asmar, which literally means reddish, but describes a range of shades from light to dark brown, including subdivisions such as dahabi (golden), gamhi (the color of ripe wheat), and khamri (the color of red wine). Third in ranking is akhdar, which literally means green but is used as a polite alternative to describe a dark individual from these groups. Lastly, azrag, literally meaning “blue,” is used interchangeably with aswad to mean “black,” the color associated with ‘abid.”
Beyond the classification by color, in the words of Albaqir, “The identity crisis has undoubtedly impacted the psychology of individuals from Northern Riverian ethnic groups. Recognizing that the Arab standard features include a white or light complexion, soft straight hair, and a non-flat nose, the average Northern individual may experience a sense of deficiency in some of these traits and a desire to compensate for them. The prevailing belief is that lighter skin signifies closer proximity to the center of identity and a more authentic claim to Arab ancestry. When most Northern Riverian individuals fail to meet this skin color standard, they often turn to hair texture as a secondary indicator of Arab descent; the softer the hair, the closer the individual is perceived to be to the center of identity. If they fail to meet the hair criterion, individuals may then focus on the shape of their nose, believing that a nose shape closer to the standard can at least serve as evidence of non-Negroid origin.” It is ironic, indeed laughable, that despite all these contradictions, Northern Sudanese still pursue an illusory vision of asl, Arab ‘purity’ of identity.
Northerners seek mitigate their predicament by marrying up the racial ladder. A story is told of a highly respected dark-skin diplomat who married to a light-skinned woman from a racial category condescendingly labelled Halabiya, connoting a gypsy-like racial group. In response to was jocular teasing about his marriage, he said, “I have been tortured because of my dark skin; don’t you want me to improve the social standing of my children؟”
In the assimilationist Arab-Muslim model “even a drop of Arab blood is considered sufficient to purify an individual and their descendants. Northern Sudanese in the Western world suffer the shock of being labelled Black in the same way the Arab world rejects them as not Arab. Northern Sudanese suffer from what Professor Ali Mazrui called “The Multiple Marginality of Sudan.” As Albaqir recounts, “Ali Mazrui accurately describes the no-man’s-land into which the ruling class has placed Sudan. He asserts that ‘Sudan is between Arabs and Africans, between Muslim Africa and Christian Africa, between West Africa and East Africa, and between the Africa of homogenized mass nation-states and the Africa characterized by deep ethnic cleavages.’ By orienting the country towards the Middle East, the ruling class has alienated Sudan from itself, its ancient roots, its history, and its African soul and consequently from its African neighbors.”
Albaqir’s word of advice is that “The choice for the dominant identity group is starkly clear: Either persist in their efforts to impose their cultural identity on the rest of the population or recognize it as one among many within the country. They must decide whether to accept other Sudanese communities as they are or attempt to mold them into replicas of their collective self. They must choose whether to live as second-rate Arabs or strive to become first-rate Sudanese. Ultimately, they must decide whether to view the world through Arab lenses or through their own eyes.”
A test-case presidential nomination
My nomination for the 2010 Presidential elections was initiated by a group of young intellectuals and political activists, mostly Republican Brothers (and Sisters) in Khartoum. The Republicans are followers of Ustaz Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, the revered piused Muslim leader who promulgated a lofty, just and humane interpretation of Islam for which he was condemned and executed by the regime of Jaafar Nimeiri. He was initially tried of trumped-up charges of treasonable crimes under the Sudan Penal Code, but the charges were later converted by a special court of appeal to the heresy crime of Ridda under Sharia. His gentle smile as the hangman’s noose was being placed on his neck was the strongest possible condemnation of the injustice he so blatantly suffered. Ustaz Mahmoud’s followers have continued to pursue a vision of inclusivity, equality, democracy and dignity for all without discrimination on racial, cultural, religious or any other ground. Their nominating me for the Presidency was in that spirit.
The message was conveyed to me by Bashir Bakkar, a Republican Brother, who was a civil servant in the United Nations in New York. I was then UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Advisor of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide. Bashir candidly intimated to me that he initially opposed my nomination on the ground that I had the propensity of considering and balancing all conflicting positions and that they needed someone who was un#####ocally against the Islamist dictatorship of the ruling National Congress Party. He said he was eventually persuaded to support the nomination. I fully appreciated his reason for opposing my nomination which I considered a paradoxically flattering critique.
I was of course totally surprised and indeed unbelieving. My instinct was to thank them for the flattering initiative but otherwise dismiss it as a fleeting thought with no prospects worth pursuing. But then the thought crossed my mind that the initiative offered a historic opportunity as a test case to gauge the progress made in addressing the discrimination in the public life of the country. I decided to give it a more serious consideration but asked whether the leadership in South Sudan was aware of my nomination. I was informed that the ‘Big Man,’ whom I understood to mean Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan, knew and was supportive. I felt reassured and gave my tentative green light.
To avoid this leaking into the media, I decided to inform the UN Secretary-General through his Chief of Staff. They were very supportive and encouraging. But then I learned that the SPLM nominated my brother-in-law, Yassir Arman, to run for the Presidency. I could not understand how the ‘Big Man’ could have supported my nomination when his party was nominating Yassir Arman. I chose not to investigate the situation and instead decided that I could not compete with my brother-in-law and withdrew from the contest.
Years later, while I was visiting Khartoum, I twisted my ankle and needed medical attention. I contacted a prominent Khartoum University Professor whom I had befriended. He in turn contacted the Director of a hospital where there was a well reputed surgeon to which he referred me. My brother took me to the hospital and to the office of the surgeon. I was seated with the secretary waiting for the doctor who was out to return. When he returned, I was taken to him. When I entered his office, he stood up and gazed at me: “Is this Francis Deng himself؟,” he asked rhetorically. I responded only with a smile as I thought the whole thing was intended as a flattering joke. “I am angry with you”, he continued, as we remained standing, my ankle hurting, and the doctor seemingly indifferent to what had taken me to his office. “Why؟ What have I done؟” I was responding instinctively with no idea as to what the doctor was talking about.
Then the doctor became more specific and to the point. “You let us down,” he began to explain. “We nominated you for the Presidency because the country needed you and you declined.” I then understood and without further discussion of the issue, he then gave my ailment reassuring attention. As we were driving from the hospital, my brother’s phone rang. It was from the Secretary of the doctor. He said the doctor was angry that we had been charged and wanted us to return to have our money back. My brother and I appreciated the gesture, but did not think it was necessary.
I became even more appreciative of the national significance of what Albaqir and his Republican Brothers had done in audaciously nominating me for the Presidency.
Two other incidents come to mind that have a bearing on the theme of racial and religious discrimination in the leadership of the country. David Little, Professor of Divinity at Harvard University, and I were among the first recipients of the Jennings Randolph Distinguished Fellowships of the newly established United States Institute of Peace. Professor Little’s topic was religious discrimination worldwide. Mine was identity crisis in Sudan. We convened a symposium on the conflict in Sudan to which were invited Sudanese intellectuals in the Washington area. Attending too was General Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria, with whom I had established a partnership in the search for peace in Sudan. We had in fact shuttled between Khartoum and the SPLM leadership in Addis Ababa and elsewhere in our mediation effort.
At our Washington symposium, Obasanjo suddenly posed a pointed question to the Sudanese, “Could Francis Deng ever become President of Sudan؟” The near unanimous response, which I have often heard President Obasanjo repeat with added emphasis, was “Never!” Obasanjo followed up with “Why؟” Another unanimous response was, “Because he is not a Muslim and not an Arab.” I have always thought that they could have given some less prejudiced reason to argue that I would not qualify for the leadership, one which even I might agree with, as I did Bashir Bakkar’s initial opposition to my nomination.
Obasanjo has often recalled this event in my presence, always prefacing with the comment, “I do not want to embarrass Francis.” He has also repeatedly told me that from that incident, he decided to support the independence of South Sudan because he did not see how South Sudanese would want to be citizens of a country in which an otherwise qualified citizen would be barred from the leadership of his country because of religious and racial discrimination.
Another incident related to the leadership of Dr. John Garang de Mabior, Chairman of the SPLM. We were having dinner in the home of a liberally minded Northern Sudanese educator. We were discussing the rebellion and the New Sudan vision of the SPLM. To my utter surprise, one of the family members whom I had thought quite liberal referred to Garang’s assumed ambition for the leadership of the country remarked, “Whom is he hoping to come and rule؟” The obvious implication was that he could not be accepted by the North as a national leader. Reading the not so hidden message, I interjected that John Garang was a realist and that he knew that as a Christian and non-Arab he would not be accepted by the North to lead the country. I said that he would probably support the leadership of a like-minded Northern Sudanese to lead the country, and he would play the discreet role of an ally behind the scene.
When I later told this story to Dr. John Garang, his perhaps not surprising response was, “Why are you denying me the leadership of the country؟” And indeed, the popularity with which Dr. John Garang was received by multitudes from all over the country upon his return to Khartoum to be sworn in as First Vice President of the Republic in accordance with the provisions of the CPA demonstrated that he was within reach of potentially winning Presidential elections in the country. Alas, he died in a helicopter accident within three weeks of his assuming the position of First Vice President of the Republic and President of the autonomous South Sudan. The real prospects of testing the changing attitudes in the country were aborted.
A nation in painful search for Its soul
To reiterate the point I made at the outset, the current war between the Sudan Armed Forces, SAF, and the Rapid Support Force, RSF, is a manifestation of a country still in painful search for its national soul. This challenge is both internal and external. Sudan’s history of identity crisis, though internal, has always been connected to the assimilationist aspirations for religious Islamic and racial and cultural ancestral affiliations in the Arab world. That connection has now been accentuated by regional and international factors that include scramble for the natural resources of the country and geopolitical ambitions of major powers. As a result, while resolving the national identity crisis remains primarily the responsibility of the Sudanese people, the search for lasting peace has now become a shared responsibility that requires cooperation with regional and international partners.
As Albaqir poignantly put it, “The choice lies between lingering on the margins of Arab identity or embracing a Sudanese national identity, where Sudanese identity comes first, followed by their ‘reformed’ cultural identity and all other cultural identities.” In words that could have been uttered by Dr. John Garang himself, Albaqir went on to say, “This reorientation would allow “Sudanism” or “Sudanese nationalism” to emerge as a center of its own. The current war, as destructive as it is, presents an opportunity for profound self-reflection and new beginnings. This is where reform must start.”
Albaqir concluded with these deeply moving words: “By doing so, Sudan—Africa’s prodigal son that has long been lost—will return to its familial roots. The country will take pride in its ancient history, sit comfortably within its African soil and geography, and integrate economically, socially, and culturally with its neighbors in the Sudanic belt, the Nile Valley, the Horn of Africa, and East and West Africa. Sudan will finally recover its soul and value its rich indigenous spiritual heritage, including African spirituality, Christian spirituality, and Sufi Muslim spirituality, making its open-minded, tolerant, and accommodating ethics the moral basis for education, civil service, and state-building. Achieving this, Sudan will then extend its arms to the Arab world and engage with it on the basis of equal mutual interests, rather than as an agent. Sudan’s governance will be founded on the principle of equal citizenship, treating all its citizens as ends in themselves, and safeguarding their dignity and rights. Sudan’s external relations with the entire world will be guided by national interests, mutual respect, and reciprocity. These principles will form the axis of the long-absent ‘national project.”
The last words of Albaqir Al-Afif
I cannot conclude this tribute with better words than the departing words of Albaqir Al-Afif himself propitiously brought to my attention shortly after his death. Albaqir entrusted Dr. Al-Nur Hamad with managing the legacy of his immortal words. At the funeral, Dr. Hamad shared the Will and later made it public with these moving words: “Three weeks before his passing, the late Baqir Al-Afif Mukhtar sent me a message marked Confidential. I printed it, kept it safe, and shared it with no one. He intended for it to remain private between us. Life and death are in God’s hands and not every illness—no matter how severe—is necessarily fatal. After his passing, I shared this deeply moving Will with those who attended his funeral. Today, I make it public, as it reflects the hopes and aspirations of every Sudanese who dreams of a stable, prosperous homeland. A Sudan where people live peaceful, secure lives, surrounded by greenery and harmony, where order prevails in every aspect of life. A Sudan where the sounds of birdsong, flowing streams, rustling breezes, factory machinery, and train whistles blend with the rhythm of a thriving society. A Sudan where the air is filled with the fragrance of flowers and vegetation. This was the Sudan Baqir Al-Afif envisioned—a dream shared by all those with clear minds, kind hearts, and pure souls. May God have mercy on him, accept him among the righteous and the chosen, and reward him abundantly for his tireless dedication to his country and its people.”
In his Will, Albaqir himself requested that his coffin be draped with Sudan’s Independence Flag which he said is “deeply rooted in my vision for an inclusive Sudan and the values I hold dear.” He contrasts the Independence flag with the current flag which argues “reflects only the cultural identity of the ruling class, excluding the diverse cultural identities of Sudan’s people. A national flag should represent the shared identity of a nation, rising above narrower affiliations to unify all its citizens. Nations with rich cultural diversity often adopt symbols that celebrate their plurality, embracing all the identities within their borders … A nation’s flag is more than a piece of fabric; it is its most visible symbol and a declaration of its identity and values. A flag that excludes segments of the population signals an intention to marginalize them politically, economically, and culturally. Such exclusion lies at the heart of Sudan’s current divisions, tearing apart the social fabric and fostering alienation and mistrust … Let ours be a flag that unites, not one that divides.”
Concluding observation
As I have often said in my eulogies, our current perceptions of life hereafter are characterised by two visions of immortality. One is the Christian-Muslim concept of Heaven as a reward for the for the virtuous deeds done in life and the other is the permanent identity and influence of the departed in this world in the memory of the relatives, friends, associates and all those one has touched in this world which I associate with the indigenous African belief system. The two are not mutually exclusive but are indeed interconnected.
Dr. Albaqir Al-Afif Mukhtar’s legacy is a testament to the potentially transformative power of intellectual courage and moral conviction. His life’s work serves as both a rallying cry and a roadmap toward the Vision of a United Sudan at peace with itself and with its citizens in all their enriching diversities. As we join his beloved wife and children in honoring his memory, let us carry forward his vision of a nation where justice and equality are not only dreams of ideals but are realities of shared belonging with dignity for all without discrimination on any ground. May God Almighty rest his Soul in Eternal Peace that eluded him in this World.
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أبوذر بابكر
زهير ابو الزهراء
Yasir Elsharif
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست