Dr. Hassan al-Turabi (1932-2016) was a leading twentieth century Islamic thinker and  leader of Sudan’s National Islamic Front. He was a hafiz of the Qur’an, and after a traditional Islamic education in his homeland, completed a PhD from Sorbonne. He served Sudan as Speaker of the parliament, Attorney General, Minister of Justice, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Deputy Prime Minister, but was dismissed by President Bashir in 1999.

The essay below was first published in 1973 – using a ‘Gestetner’ printer – with the title Al-marra bayn al-talim wal-Islam wa adaat Muslimeen.

Women between Islam and customs of Muslim society (1973)…Click here…

It was written in a period when Sudanese society was contesting the issue of women’s right to vote and be elected to parliament. This essay was a contribution to the debate of that epoch. The Islamic Movement took a progressive stand, perhaps influenced by the earlier decision of the Jamaat Islami in Pakistan to support the candidature of Fatima Jinnah, in preference to General Ayub Khan, in the country’s presidential elections of 1965. The traditional Sudanese religious circles were in tune with such developments, with the Chief Qazi, Mohammed el-Gizouli himself appointing a woman justice in a Shari’a legal system in 1972.