Sudan, also officially known as the Republic of the Sudan, is the third largest country in Africa and in the Arab. It was popularly known to be the largest country in the whole Africa and Arab world before the creation of South Sudan in 2011. This country is located in the Northeastern part of Africa. It is surrounded by very well known countries such as Chad, Egypt, Libya, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Central African Republic. It is also located near the famous Red Sea. Even though it is surrounded by a lot of popular places, the country of Sudan is considered as one of the poorest countries in the entire world.
Sudan has a very rich history. Their nationalism blossomed up during the 20th century. For 54 years, this country was ruled over by the Muhammad Ali dynasty, aslo well known as Alawiyya dynasty during the years 1820 to 1874. This dynasty was overpowered by the British during the year 1898. In 1953, Britain granted the country its own self government. Sudan’s independence was officially proclaimed on January 1, 1956. Since the establishment of the country’s independence, a lot of military regimes and unstable governments have ruled over Sudan. The Sharia or the Islamic law was first introduced by Jafaar Nimeiry in 1983.
Sharia is an Islamic law that has been a big part of Islamic traditions ever since. This law actually distinguishes criminal acts such as blasphemy, conversion from Islam to another religion, apostasy, and questioning or criticizing the Quran (Islamic Bible), the Sahaba (the Companions of the Prophet), or the wives of the Prophet. This law does not provide protection to the minority religious groups in Sudan such as Islamic minority groups. Any disrespect towards the religion of Islam is considered as a crime in Sudan as most of the country’s population are Muslims. Some people in Sudan also don’t respect any of the other religions that are present in the country but they mostly get their way.
In January of the year 2019, there have been a lot of official talks between the government of Sudan and other foreign country’s governments. This talk took place during a religious freedom workshop that was attended by a lot of foreign governments. U. S, officials encouraged the Sudan government to have respect for the people’s religious freedom. They also appealed for the government to offer a little bit of protection to a lot of minority religious groups. Officials from the United States urged the government to adopt a few laws that will not only permit, but also actively promote the ability of all people to have and practice their own beliefs. Lastly, they highlighted the importance of having enough people in the government with different religious beliefs. They also imposed that the government of Sudan should not interfere with the practices and decisions of the different religious minority groups and vice versa. In 2019, the Secretary of the State placed the country on a Special Watch List, different from the ones before, as the country has made a lot of big steps to make a lot of progress in trying to improve their people’s religious freedom.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion_in_Sudan
