National Islamic Front
Encyclopedia
The National Islamic Front ' onMouseout='HidePop("24911")' href="/topics/Arabic_transliteration">transliterated
: al-Jabhah al-Islamiyah al-Qawmiyah) is the Islamist political organization founded and led by Dr. Hassan al-Turabi
that has influenced the Sudan
ese government since 1979, and dominated it since 1989. It supports the maintenance of an Islamic state
run on sharia
and rejects the concept of a secular
state.
While its legal front is the political party
, the National Congress
, there is little actual distinction between the two. It is nominally led by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The NIF has shown itself to be both politically adept and ruthless in its use of violence, in particular in the internal conflicts of the Second Sudanese Civil War
and the Darfur conflict
, as well in the provisioning of proxy forces such as the Lord's Resistance Army
, West Nile Bank Front
and Uganda National Rescue Front II against Uganda
.
student group, it was known as the Islamic Charter Front. From 1964 to 1969 it was headed by Hassan al-Turabi
after the overthrow of the government of President Ibrahim Abboud
. In this period, the ICF managed to eject the Communist Party
from the parliament. It also supported women's right to vote and ran women candidates. In 1969 the government was overthrown by General Gaafar al-Nimeiry in a coup d'état
, after which the members of the Islamic Charter Front were placed under house arrest or fled the country.
For a 15-year period from this point, the organization was called the Muslim Brotherhood after the Muslim Brotherhood
of Egypt
. In 1979, when Nimeiry sought an accommodation with the Muslim Brotherhood, Turabi was invited to become Attorney-General, a position in which he pushed for the strict application of sharia in 1983. Throughout the Cold War
, the organization benefitted from the pro-Islam
ist support of Saudi Arabia
. They gained disproportionate power over the Sudanese economy through their dominance of Islamic banking
.
It also benefitted from a surge of anti-Communism
in the Nimeiry regime. This is because the Communist party had been its rival amongst University students. The Communists and NIF appealed to University students by being less based on family connections than the mainstream Sudanese parties. (source: Francis M. Deng) Although Nimeiry called his regime socialist to the end he turned on the Communists as a threat to his power and likely as an impediment in gaining aid from the United States
.
In 1985, the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood was charged with sedition
. This came, in part, because al-Nimeiry had grown suspicious of their banking power. This official condemnation of the group proved temporary though as President Nimeiry had lost support of the Sudanese people and the military so was consequently overthrown. An attempt at democracy followed his overthrow and the organization attempted to use this to their advantage. In the 1986 elections their financial strength and backing among university graduates still gave them only ten percent of the vote and therefore a third place position.
They made up for this by increasingly gaining support of the military during a time of civil war. The well educated status of their leadership, Turabi was one of the best educated men in Sudan, also gained them prestige. In 1989, the organization was therefore able to overthrow the elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi
with the help of the military. After gaining power, Turabi renamed the organization the National Islamic Front. While some NIF leaders, including Turabi, were placed under house arrest following the coup as part of the internal power struggle that brought President Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir to power, they were soon released. The NIF created the National Congress Party
as a legal cover.
Once in power the NIF intensified the war against the South. They also placed Sadiq al-Mahdi in prison. Intriguingly, though Sadiq is related to Turabi by marriage, the two had become bitter enemies by the mid-1980s. The regime also committed what are widely deemed to have been massive human rights violations against religious minorities, particularly in the South. Although not as harshly sexist as Afghanistan
's later Taliban, women in the Sudan could face execution for adultery even in cases of rape. This was used by several soldiers in their war against the South.
The NIF also tried to position itself as the world's leading Sunni Islamist organization. They would, arguably, be the only Sunni Islamist state before the Taliban (The Gulf states being monarchies). Although critical of Saddam Hussein
Turabi held an anti-American Islamist conference during Operation Desert Storm, toward the end of supporting the Iraqi people in their war. During terrorism expert Steven Emerson
's 1998 testimony before the United States Senate
, he implicated the Sudanese National Islamic Front as partly responsible for the February 1993 World Trade Center bombing
. That attack, on February 26, 1993, occurred on the 2nd anniversary of the retreat of Iraqi forces from Kuwait, thus ending the 1991 Gulf War.
Beginning in 1991, they also harbored Osama bin Laden
for a time, after the Saudis revoked his citizenship. It is suspected they hoped he could aid them through his wealth and construction company. However, eventually the NIF government deemed him too great a liability and ejected him.
Bin Laden had been exiled to Sudan because he had publicly spoken out against the Saudi government for basing U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia
in order to oppose Iraq's takeover of Kuwait
. So although bin Laden and the NIF appeared to be on opposite sides of sympathy for or against the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, they both found differing reasons for their greater and common concern, the presence and involvement of the United States in that region's conflict.
After more than a decade of civil war a shift may have begun in Sudan. Starting around 1999 Hassan Turabi's political clout waned. After the September 11, 2001 attacks
the regime made attempts to downplay, at least on the public international stage, any international Islamist aspects of the organization. Further Turabi was imprisoned in 2004 and the regime allowed the Christian John Garang
to be Vice President in a peace deal. However abuses in Darfur
have gained note and the government is still dominated by high ranking members of the NIF.
Arabic transliteration
Different approaches and methods for the romanization of Arabic exist. They vary in the way that they address the inherent problems of rendering written and spoken Arabic in the Latin alphabet; they also use different symbols for Arabic phonemes that do not exist in English or other European...
: al-Jabhah al-Islamiyah al-Qawmiyah) is the Islamist political organization founded and led by Dr. Hassan al-Turabi
Hassan al-Turabi
Dr. Hassan 'Abd Allah al-Turabi , commonly called Hassan al-Turabi , is a religious and Islamist political leader in Sudan, who may have been instrumental in institutionalizing sharia in the northern part of the...
that has influenced the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
ese government since 1979, and dominated it since 1989. It supports the maintenance of an Islamic state
Islamic State
An Islamic state is a type of government, in which the primary basis for government is Islamic religious law...
run on sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
and rejects the concept of a secular
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
state.
While its legal front is the political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
, the National Congress
National Congress (Sudan)
The National Congress or National Congress Party ' is the governing official political party of Sudan. It is headed by Omar al-Bashir, who has been President of Sudan since he seized power in a military coup on 30 June 1989, and began institutionalizing Sharia law at a national level...
, there is little actual distinction between the two. It is nominally led by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The NIF has shown itself to be both politically adept and ruthless in its use of violence, in particular in the internal conflicts of the Second Sudanese Civil War
Second Sudanese Civil War
The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile by the end of the 1980s....
and the Darfur conflict
Darfur conflict
The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...
, as well in the provisioning of proxy forces such as the Lord's Resistance Army
Lord's Resistance Army
The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is an ongoing guerrilla campaign waged since 1987 by the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group, operating mainly in northern Uganda, but also in South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, West Nile Bank Front
West Nile Bank Front
The West Nile Bank Front was a rebel armed force in Uganda under the command of Juma Oris. The WNBF began a campaign against President Yoweri Museveni in 1995...
and Uganda National Rescue Front II against Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
.
History
Created in the 1960s as an IslamistIslamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
student group, it was known as the Islamic Charter Front. From 1964 to 1969 it was headed by Hassan al-Turabi
Hassan al-Turabi
Dr. Hassan 'Abd Allah al-Turabi , commonly called Hassan al-Turabi , is a religious and Islamist political leader in Sudan, who may have been instrumental in institutionalizing sharia in the northern part of the...
after the overthrow of the government of President Ibrahim Abboud
Ibrahim Abboud
El Ferik Ibrahim Abboud was a Sudanese president, general, and political figure. A career soldier, Abboud served in World War II in Eritrea and Ethiopia. In 1949, Abboud became the deputy Commander in Chief of the Sudanese military. Upon independence, Abboud became the Commander in Chief of the...
. In this period, the ICF managed to eject the Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
from the parliament. It also supported women's right to vote and ran women candidates. In 1969 the government was overthrown by General Gaafar al-Nimeiry in a coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
, after which the members of the Islamic Charter Front were placed under house arrest or fled the country.
For a 15-year period from this point, the organization was called the Muslim Brotherhood after the Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. In 1979, when Nimeiry sought an accommodation with the Muslim Brotherhood, Turabi was invited to become Attorney-General, a position in which he pushed for the strict application of sharia in 1983. Throughout the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the organization benefitted from the pro-Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ist support of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
. They gained disproportionate power over the Sudanese economy through their dominance of Islamic banking
Islamic banking
Islamic banking is banking or banking activity that is consistent with the principles of Islamic law and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. Sharia prohibits the fixed or floating payment or acceptance of specific interest or fees for loans of money...
.
It also benefitted from a surge of anti-Communism
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
in the Nimeiry regime. This is because the Communist party had been its rival amongst University students. The Communists and NIF appealed to University students by being less based on family connections than the mainstream Sudanese parties. (source: Francis M. Deng) Although Nimeiry called his regime socialist to the end he turned on the Communists as a threat to his power and likely as an impediment in gaining aid from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In 1985, the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood was charged with sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
. This came, in part, because al-Nimeiry had grown suspicious of their banking power. This official condemnation of the group proved temporary though as President Nimeiry had lost support of the Sudanese people and the military so was consequently overthrown. An attempt at democracy followed his overthrow and the organization attempted to use this to their advantage. In the 1986 elections their financial strength and backing among university graduates still gave them only ten percent of the vote and therefore a third place position.
They made up for this by increasingly gaining support of the military during a time of civil war. The well educated status of their leadership, Turabi was one of the best educated men in Sudan, also gained them prestige. In 1989, the organization was therefore able to overthrow the elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi
Sadiq al-Mahdi
Sadiq al-Mahdi is a Sudanese political and religious figure...
with the help of the military. After gaining power, Turabi renamed the organization the National Islamic Front. While some NIF leaders, including Turabi, were placed under house arrest following the coup as part of the internal power struggle that brought President Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir to power, they were soon released. The NIF created the National Congress Party
National Congress (Sudan)
The National Congress or National Congress Party ' is the governing official political party of Sudan. It is headed by Omar al-Bashir, who has been President of Sudan since he seized power in a military coup on 30 June 1989, and began institutionalizing Sharia law at a national level...
as a legal cover.
Once in power the NIF intensified the war against the South. They also placed Sadiq al-Mahdi in prison. Intriguingly, though Sadiq is related to Turabi by marriage, the two had become bitter enemies by the mid-1980s. The regime also committed what are widely deemed to have been massive human rights violations against religious minorities, particularly in the South. Although not as harshly sexist as Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
's later Taliban, women in the Sudan could face execution for adultery even in cases of rape. This was used by several soldiers in their war against the South.
The NIF also tried to position itself as the world's leading Sunni Islamist organization. They would, arguably, be the only Sunni Islamist state before the Taliban (The Gulf states being monarchies). Although critical of Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
Turabi held an anti-American Islamist conference during Operation Desert Storm, toward the end of supporting the Iraqi people in their war. During terrorism expert Steven Emerson
Steven Emerson
Steven Emerson, is an American journalist and author, who writes about national security, terrorism, and Islamic extremism.Emerson is the author of six books, and co-author of two more. His television documentary Jihad in America won the 1994 George Polk Award for best Television Documentary, and...
's 1998 testimony before the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, he implicated the Sudanese National Islamic Front as partly responsible for the February 1993 World Trade Center bombing
1993 World Trade Center bombing
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing occurred on February 26, 1993, when a truck bomb was detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The 1,336 lb urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced device was intended to knock the North Tower into the South Tower , bringing...
. That attack, on February 26, 1993, occurred on the 2nd anniversary of the retreat of Iraqi forces from Kuwait, thus ending the 1991 Gulf War.
Beginning in 1991, they also harbored Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
for a time, after the Saudis revoked his citizenship. It is suspected they hoped he could aid them through his wealth and construction company. However, eventually the NIF government deemed him too great a liability and ejected him.
Bin Laden had been exiled to Sudan because he had publicly spoken out against the Saudi government for basing U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
in order to oppose Iraq's takeover of Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
. So although bin Laden and the NIF appeared to be on opposite sides of sympathy for or against the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, they both found differing reasons for their greater and common concern, the presence and involvement of the United States in that region's conflict.
After more than a decade of civil war a shift may have begun in Sudan. Starting around 1999 Hassan Turabi's political clout waned. After the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
the regime made attempts to downplay, at least on the public international stage, any international Islamist aspects of the organization. Further Turabi was imprisoned in 2004 and the regime allowed the Christian John Garang
John Garang
John Garang de Mabior was a Sudanese politician and rebel leader. From 1983 to 2005, he led the Sudan People's Liberation Army during the Second Sudanese Civil War, and following a peace agreement he briefly served as First Vice President of Sudan from January 2005 until he died in a July 2005...
to be Vice President in a peace deal. However abuses in Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
have gained note and the government is still dominated by high ranking members of the NIF.
External links
- National Islamic Front at SudanUpdate.org
- Profile: Sudan's Islamist leader, BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, 14 October 2003