A Comment on El-Affendi’s Article, "Mahmoud Taha: Heresy and Martyrdom"

Paltry and Partial Paper

No doubt, Dr. Abdelwahab El-Affendi, a Sudanese professor at Westminster University in London, deducted a considerable time from his busy schedule to read the ideas of Ustadh Mahmoud Mohammed Taha (1909-1985) and the history of his movement in Sudan. This attitude, regardless of the consequences, is appreciated as a credit that many intellectuals fail to attain. However, a lot of the information he obtained probably from the book recently published by Abdalla Albashir titled, “Mahmoud Mohammed Taha and the Intellectuals”, was deliberately tarnished to look contradictory or bizarre. Though he conceded that some parts of Taha’s idea are difficult for him to grasp, El-Affendi did not contemplate these ideas patiently or pose his reservations in forms of questions. Instead, he issued his negative judgment without a hint of hesitation. His article revealed his dual personality that embedded two discordant characters. One exemplifies an active liberal democrat criticizing dictatorship and fanaticism as in “Who Needs an Islamic State” and the other reflects a typical member of the Muslim Brothers (MBs) group who accused other Muslims of heresy following the tracks of his leader Dr. Hassan El-Turabi.

Discrediting Heroic Actions

El-affendi started his article by an account of the fights that Ustadh Mahmoud Mohammed Taha encountered. This includes the British Colonial Regime, the sectarian parties, Hassan Turabi, the leader of the MBs and the Islamic traditional scholars (Ulamma). None of these civilized disputes was personal or for material benefit. They were either in the course of defending Islam or Sudan. Instead of praising the stand of Taha in the face of the colonial regime as the first political prisoner, and considering his critique to the wrong Islamic conception of Hassan El-Turabi, which resulted in the existing ‘Ingaz’ regime that El-affendi is now censuring bitterly, El-affendi, due to a reason far from justice, called this heroic actions (turbulent life)!!
When Ustadh Mahmoud steadfastly climbed the platform of the gallows, and the guard uncovered his face, the judges and shouting mob were stunned by his smile. Many poets and thinkers commented on that unbelievable smile. Some considered it Taha’s proof of certainty, solidity and unprecedented bravery. Others who thought deeper about the issue interpreted it as absolute submission to the Will of God and joy of meeting Him. According to them, it is a sign of acquiring a high stage of the holy servitude to God. However, El-Affendi has a different explanation. He said, (the hundreds of political prisoners housed in that jail shouted in unison a slogan calling for the downfall of the regime. His smile broadened slightly as he acknowledged the implied support). So for El-Affendi, the reason behind the “smile” on the face of Ustadh Mahmoud who was approaching death was the implied support of the cheering prisoners!
Although he told us about the courts like the one which convicted Taha being operating under emergency regulations, adopting ‘cavalier attitude’ and ‘harsh sentences’ and run by traditional ‘Islamists’ who were opponents of Taha’, El-affendi did not say a word in condemnation of the trial itself. This naïve attitude is better than his opinion in 1985 when the execution actually took place. At that time he was the editor of a magazine called ‘Arabia’ issued in London and funded by Saudi Arabia. He wrote an article about the subject and instead of blaming the fanatics who assassinated a pacifist; he gloatingly blamed Ustadh Mahmoud describing him as being a sophistical!