Turabi's Islamic State in Theory and Practice

Hussam S. Timani

This paper discusses Hasan al-Turabi's political theory of the Islamic State. The main concepts discussed are: Islamic Revivalism (tajdid al-fikr al-Islami), Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), legal interpretation (ijtihad), democracy and freedom (al-dimuqratiyya wal hurriya), Islamic Socialism (al-ishtirakiyya al-Islamiyya), and the Islamic state and government. Also discussed are Turabi's views on Women and Non-Muslim minorities in the Islamic State. Such views are compared with the contemporary realities in the Sudan. An overview of the Wahhabi's response to Turabi's theories and views is also discussed. Turabi advocates a central role for women in Islamic society, and offers non-Muslims a guaranteed right to their religious convictions. This paper argues that the Sudanese government has given women a central role in Sudanese society to lay the foundation of Islamic culture, but on the other hand, has persecuted non-Muslim and non-Arab Southerners and imposed on them Arab and Islamic culture.

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