In September 1983, president Gaafar Nimeiry introduced Islamic sharia laws in Sudan, known as September Laws (Arabic: قوانين سبتمبر, romanized: Qawānīn Sibtambir), disposing of alcohol and implementing hudud punishments such as public flogging for alcohol consumption and amputations for theft. Nimeiry declared himself the "imam of the Sudanese umma", leading to concerns about the undemocratic implementation of these laws. Hassan al-Turabi (then the attorney general) assisted with drafting the laws and later supported the laws, unlike the leader of the opposition Sadiq al-Mahdi. Nimeiry's alliance with the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood aimed to end sectarian divisions and consolidate Islamic governance. Despite Nimeiry's assertion that the sharia laws reduced crime rates, his economic policies, including Islamic banking, led to severe economic issues in Sudan, including high inflation and substantial external debt. This led to his removal in 1985, and the law was frozen during the transition to democracy between 1985 and 1989. Ultimately, Nimeiry's Islamic policies contributed to the Second Sudanese Civil War in southern Sudan in 1983, ending the Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972, which had granted Southern Sudan regional autonomy and recognised the diversity of the Sudanese society. This shift towards Islamic governance played a crucial role in Sudan's political landscape with multiple parties including the National Islamic Front advocating for Islamic laws during the Omar al-Bashir era between 1989 and 2019.
Background As part of the terms for national reconciliation in 1977 between president Gaafar Nimeiry and Sadiq al-Mahdi, the leader of the National Front, a requirement was the reassessment of Sudanese legislation and a review of the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, which had authorised self-governance for the southern region. By 1977, a committee was working to align Sudanese laws with the sharia, and the Muslim Brotherhood, headed by Hassan al-Turabi, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Khartoum, was gaining influence in university student political groups. The al-Turabi committee concluded that only 10% of the laws adhered to the sharia. However, legislative attempts to Islamise the law through the People's Assembly were met with resistance. In 1979, a longstanding dispute between the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood and the main Muslim Brotherhood organisation re-emerged. At that time, al-Turabi, serving as the attorney general, refused to pledge loyalty to the International Muslim Brotherhood, resulting in a division. Sheikh Sadiq al-Mahdi and his supporters sided with al-Turabi, causing a split within the organisation. Although Youssef Nour al-Daim had assumed leadership of the Sudanese Brotherhood in 1969, it remained a smaller faction with restricted influence. Al-Turabi named his faction the "Sudanese Islamic Movement". Between 1977 and 1985, Nimeiry's implemented an "Islamic approach" in Sudan, which aimed to end sectarian divisions, especially the al-Mirghani and al-Mahdi rivalry, and consolidate Islamic governance. His transition from nationalist leftist ideologies to a stricter Islamic stance was documented in his books The Islamic approach, why? and The Islamic approach, how? The link between the revival of Islam and his efforts to reconcile with opponents of the 1976 coup attempt coincided with the emergence of militant Islam in other global regions. In addition, Nimeiry's association with the Abu Qurun Sufi order also played a role in his turn towards Islam, leading him to assign followers of this order to significant positions.
The law and its implications
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