Book Review by Mahgoub El-Tigani - Sudan Tribune - Sudan
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Al-Khatim ‘Adlan’s Ma al-Manfa? Wa Ma howa al-Watan?
The Political Thought of a Sudanese Democratic Thinker (1949-2005)
With words of gratitude to Bakri AbuBakr, the Sudanonline’s manager-general that initiated and helped to develop with many others the idea of publishing al-Khatim Adlan’s collected works, Manshurat Madarik published Ma al-Manfa? Wa Ma howa al-Watan? [Literally: What is exile, and what is the Homeland?].
Suggesting a major characteristic of ‘Adlan social and political personality, Elyas Fath al-Rahman designed an artistic cover for the book in black and white. Amnesty International’s researcher, al-Baqir ‘Afif, emphasized in his introduction of the book ‘Adlan’s supra ethical agency.
Both cover and introduction remind readers with George Lukacs’ blend of humanism and revolutionary thought. We will return to this thought in subsequent commentaries.
In this series, we will present with commentaries sections of al-Khatim works on Sudanese thinkers, as published in Ma al-Manfa, including ‘Abd al-Khaliq Mahgoub, Hassan al-Turabi, John Garang, and Sadiq al-Mahdi. We will also comment on ‘Adlan’s works on philosophical and political themes, including the Machekos peace agreements, the NDA-GoS Cairo agreement, thoughts on Sudanese women writers, and other issues.
Al-Khatim “Adlan “was a thinker with an integral life philosophy,” says ‘Afif. “He lived in harmony with himself, his cosmological vision and its principles to the last moments of his life.” This self-integrative universality “was somewhat strange in specific aspects not understandable, even to his closest acquaintance. His philosophical praxis on the matters of existence, the meanings of life, and the place of man in the cosmos, was not acceptable by many relatives that wanted him to refute [this world outlook] in his dying days.”
‘Adlan appreciated the position of his critics “because he knew they belonged to a society engrained in religion; a socially backward simple community whose members bore oversimplified conceptions of religion, the day after, paradise and hell, and the good end of a person’s life. He knew they were decent people who thought of him in good faith thinking that if he repeated certain [religious] statements they would guarantee redemption of his soul.”
At this point, Baqir al-‘Afif comments: “These relatives did not know that [‘Adlan] spent all his life doing the tasks of the prophets, the awliya [the people of God], and the reformers. Like them, he was altruistic: devoting his life for the sake of the powerless ones that God blamed the ones who wouldn’t defend their cause… Like them, he was not concerned with the worldly pleasures of life. He came to life as a poor person, and he passed away a poor person. Like them, he lived his short life in purity.”
(...)
The Sufi Islam of Sudan, as exercised by a plethora of religious turuq [sects], resembles the popular version of the Islamic religion the bulk of Sudanese Muslims adopted since the advent of Islam in the country. There are a few historical records, however, that documented the origins of Sufi Islam in Sudan, notably the Tabaqat by Mohamed Wad Daif-Allah.
Many Sudanist and Islamist scholars believe that the forgiveness and peaceful co-existence of al-Sufiya in the Sudan had been deeply influenced by the flexibility of Islam, which incorporated nice spiritualities of the monotheist religions, especially Christianity, and the African ancient religions and cultural beliefs. Unlike the rigid, dogmatic, and culturally-biased Muslim Brotherhoods’ political Islam, the Sudanese Sufiya antagonized the foreign doctrines of the Brotherhood with everlasting hostilities.
Regardless of political collaboration between the NIF, the Umma and the DUP Sufi-based political groups in different periods, the 17-year Brotherhood repressive rule alienated the bulk of Sudanese Muslims and their Sufi groups, including the Khatmiya and the Ansar, by the Jihad wars, State corruption, and almost complete destruction of the country’s sovereignty and international relations via the miscalculated alliances of the NIF rulers with Ben Laden, his Qaeda, and the other sections of the International Brotherhood Movement.
(...)
The publication of Ma al-Manfa is breaking news. Manshorat Madarik and al-Khatim ‘Adlan Center for Enlightenment (Cairo: ISBN 17182/2006) will do justice to the intellectuals in Sudan and global thinking if they continue to publish the other collected works of this knowledgeable writer.
May the Almighty Lord shower your soul, Munadil al-Kadiheen, with His Eternal Love and Oft-Living Mercy!
The author is a member of the Sudanese Writers’ Union.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
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Sunday, December 31, 2006
Ma al-Manfa? (what is exile?) Wa Ma howa al-Watan? (And what is the Homeland?)
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Al-Khatim ‘Adlan’s Ma al-Manfa? Wa Ma howa al-Watan?
The Political Thought of a Sudanese Democratic Thinker (1949-2005)
With words of gratitude to Bakri AbuBakr, the Sudanonline’s manager-general that initiated and helped to develop with many others the idea of publishing al-Khatim Adlan’s collected works, Manshurat Madarik published Ma al-Manfa? Wa Ma howa al-Watan? [Literally: What is exile, and what is the Homeland?].
Suggesting a major characteristic of ‘Adlan social and political personality, Elyas Fath al-Rahman designed an artistic cover for the book in black and white. Amnesty International’s researcher, al-Baqir ‘Afif, emphasized in his introduction of the book ‘Adlan’s supra ethical agency.
Both cover and introduction remind readers with George Lukacs’ blend of humanism and revolutionary thought. We will return to this thought in subsequent commentaries.
In this series, we will present with commentaries sections of al-Khatim works on Sudanese thinkers, as published in Ma al-Manfa, including ‘Abd al-Khaliq Mahgoub, Hassan al-Turabi, John Garang, and Sadiq al-Mahdi. We will also comment on ‘Adlan’s works on philosophical and political themes, including the Machekos peace agreements, the NDA-GoS Cairo agreement, thoughts on Sudanese women writers, and other issues.
Al-Khatim “Adlan “was a thinker with an integral life philosophy,” says ‘Afif. “He lived in harmony with himself, his cosmological vision and its principles to the last moments of his life.” This self-integrative universality “was somewhat strange in specific aspects not understandable, even to his closest acquaintance. His philosophical praxis on the matters of existence, the meanings of life, and the place of man in the cosmos, was not acceptable by many relatives that wanted him to refute [this world outlook] in his dying days.”
‘Adlan appreciated the position of his critics “because he knew they belonged to a society engrained in religion; a socially backward simple community whose members bore oversimplified conceptions of religion, the day after, paradise and hell, and the good end of a person’s life. He knew they were decent people who thought of him in good faith thinking that if he repeated certain [religious] statements they would guarantee redemption of his soul.”
At this point, Baqir al-‘Afif comments: “These relatives did not know that [‘Adlan] spent all his life doing the tasks of the prophets, the awliya [the people of God], and the reformers. Like them, he was altruistic: devoting his life for the sake of the powerless ones that God blamed the ones who wouldn’t defend their cause… Like them, he was not concerned with the worldly pleasures of life. He came to life as a poor person, and he passed away a poor person. Like them, he lived his short life in purity.”
(...)
The Sufi Islam of Sudan, as exercised by a plethora of religious turuq [sects], resembles the popular version of the Islamic religion the bulk of Sudanese Muslims adopted since the advent of Islam in the country. There are a few historical records, however, that documented the origins of Sufi Islam in Sudan, notably the Tabaqat by Mohamed Wad Daif-Allah.
Many Sudanist and Islamist scholars believe that the forgiveness and peaceful co-existence of al-Sufiya in the Sudan had been deeply influenced by the flexibility of Islam, which incorporated nice spiritualities of the monotheist religions, especially Christianity, and the African ancient religions and cultural beliefs. Unlike the rigid, dogmatic, and culturally-biased Muslim Brotherhoods’ political Islam, the Sudanese Sufiya antagonized the foreign doctrines of the Brotherhood with everlasting hostilities.
Regardless of political collaboration between the NIF, the Umma and the DUP Sufi-based political groups in different periods, the 17-year Brotherhood repressive rule alienated the bulk of Sudanese Muslims and their Sufi groups, including the Khatmiya and the Ansar, by the Jihad wars, State corruption, and almost complete destruction of the country’s sovereignty and international relations via the miscalculated alliances of the NIF rulers with Ben Laden, his Qaeda, and the other sections of the International Brotherhood Movement.
(...)
The publication of Ma al-Manfa is breaking news. Manshorat Madarik and al-Khatim ‘Adlan Center for Enlightenment (Cairo: ISBN 17182/2006) will do justice to the intellectuals in Sudan and global thinking if they continue to publish the other collected works of this knowledgeable writer.
May the Almighty Lord shower your soul, Munadil al-Kadiheen, with His Eternal Love and Oft-Living Mercy!
The author is a member of the Sudanese Writers’ Union.
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Book Review by Mahgoub El-Tigani - Sudan Tribune - SudanSunday, December 31, 2006
Al-Khatim ‘Adlan’s Ma al-Manfa? Wa Ma howa al-Watan?
The Political Thought of a Sudanese Democratic Thinker (1949-2005)
With words of gratitude to Bakri AbuBakr, the Sudanonline’s manager-general that initiated and helped to develop with many others the idea of publishing al-Khatim Adlan’s collected works, Manshurat Madarik published Ma al-Manfa? Wa Ma howa al-Watan? [Literally: What is exile, and what is the Homeland?].
Suggesting a major characteristic of ‘Adlan social and political personality, Elyas Fath al-Rahman designed an artistic cover for the book in black and white. Amnesty International’s researcher, al-Baqir ‘Afif, emphasized in his introduction of the book ‘Adlan’s supra ethical agency.
Both cover and introduction remind readers with George Lukacs’ blend of humanism and revolutionary thought. We will return to this thought in subsequent commentaries.
In this series, we will present with commentaries sections of al-Khatim works on Sudanese thinkers, as published in Ma al-Manfa, including ‘Abd al-Khaliq Mahgoub, Hassan al-Turabi, John Garang, and Sadiq al-Mahdi. We will also comment on ‘Adlan’s works on philosophical and political themes, including the Machekos peace agreements, the NDA-GoS Cairo agreement, thoughts on Sudanese women writers, and other issues.
Al-Khatim “Adlan “was a thinker with an integral life philosophy,” says ‘Afif. “He lived in harmony with himself, his cosmological vision and its principles to the last moments of his life.” This self-integrative universality “was somewhat strange in specific aspects not understandable, even to his closest acquaintance. His philosophical praxis on the matters of existence, the meanings of life, and the place of man in the cosmos, was not acceptable by many relatives that wanted him to refute [this world outlook] in his dying days.”
‘Adlan appreciated the position of his critics “because he knew they belonged to a society engrained in religion; a socially backward simple community whose members bore oversimplified conceptions of religion, the day after, paradise and hell, and the good end of a person’s life. He knew they were decent people who thought of him in good faith thinking that if he repeated certain [religious] statements they would guarantee redemption of his soul.”
At this point, Baqir al-‘Afif comments: “These relatives did not know that [‘Adlan] spent all his life doing the tasks of the prophets, the awliya [the people of God], and the reformers. Like them, he was altruistic: devoting his life for the sake of the powerless ones that God blamed the ones who wouldn’t defend their cause… Like them, he was not concerned with the worldly pleasures of life. He came to life as a poor person, and he passed away a poor person. Like them, he lived his short life in purity.”
(...)
The Sufi Islam of Sudan, as exercised by a plethora of religious turuq [sects], resembles the popular version of the Islamic religion the bulk of Sudanese Muslims adopted since the advent of Islam in the country. There are a few historical records, however, that documented the origins of Sufi Islam in Sudan, notably the Tabaqat by Mohamed Wad Daif-Allah.
Many Sudanist and Islamist scholars believe that the forgiveness and peaceful co-existence of al-Sufiya in the Sudan had been deeply influenced by the flexibility of Islam, which incorporated nice spiritualities of the monotheist religions, especially Christianity, and the African ancient religions and cultural beliefs. Unlike the rigid, dogmatic, and culturally-biased Muslim Brotherhoods’ political Islam, the Sudanese Sufiya antagonized the foreign doctrines of the Brotherhood with everlasting hostilities.
Regardless of political collaboration between the NIF, the Umma and the DUP Sufi-based political groups in different periods, the 17-year Brotherhood repressive rule alienated the bulk of Sudanese Muslims and their Sufi groups, including the Khatmiya and the Ansar, by the Jihad wars, State corruption, and almost complete destruction of the country’s sovereignty and international relations via the miscalculated alliances of the NIF rulers with Ben Laden, his Qaeda, and the other sections of the International Brotherhood Movement.
(...)
The publication of Ma al-Manfa is breaking news. Manshorat Madarik and al-Khatim ‘Adlan Center for Enlightenment (Cairo: ISBN 17182/2006) will do justice to the intellectuals in Sudan and global thinking if they continue to publish the other collected works of this knowledgeable writer.
May the Almighty Lord shower your soul, Munadil al-Kadiheen, with His Eternal Love and Oft-Living Mercy!
The author is a member of the Sudanese Writers’ Union.
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