Don’t Think… You Are in Sudan
By: Ali Askouri
The mind is the basis of accountability, as jurists say. The Qur’an includes many verses urging humans to think; it is the intellect that differentiates humans from other creatures of God.
Just look at predatory animals — they still hunt their prey using the same methods their ancestors used thousands of years ago. They haven’t evolved even slightly. At the same time, look at how human life has changed and developed — even in the ways humans kill one another. From dueling with swords, to bullets, to weapons of mass destruction capable of killing thousands.
What happened is that man developed his life and methods — for better or worse — through the use of his intellect. All the change and development we see in human life today stems from one simple truth: the use of reason.
Material progress in human life cannot happen without the development of value-based and social concepts that allow people to think about improving their lives. But the development of such concepts cannot happen without a broad space for freedom of thought — thinking about anything related to the life of society without suppression from the authorities or from others claiming exclusive ownership of the truth.
Take Sudan, for example: Our lives haven’t developed — not because we lack resources, capital, or skilled labor — but because we do not think.
We don’t think — not because we lack minds — but because the laws in place for decades have restricted thought. Our educational system is sterile; it does not produce thinkers, but rather parrots — rote memorizers lacking even the basics of critical thinking. The system is built on indoctrinating children with certain social “truths” as untouchable absolutes. And so, our universities and institutes graduate herds of like-minded individuals, where critical minds are rare. Everyone blindly accepts what they are taught and memorize it word for word in the exam booklets to get top grades — even honors.
Take a look at the number of PhDs and Master’s degree holders in our country. What real impact have they had on our grim reality? Blood continues to flow for nearly a century. What value do these degrees hold if they can’t help us solve our societal problems — or at least stop the bloodshed?
What value is there in having an advanced degree if the holder doesn’t hesitate — even rushes — to draw his sword to solve any problem? What’s the difference between him and an illiterate person? The illiterate can also take up arms and fight. Carrying a weapon was never the exclusive domain of the educated — but reason, insight, and contemplation should be. As our friend Mohammed Mohammed Khair affectionately calls them, the “enlightened” — not just the “educated,” since “culture” seems to have no place here. The “cultured” are not necessarily “enlightened.”
Our late teacher Mansour Khalid wrote extensively, harshly criticizing the elite. Instead of reflecting on his writings, the “folks” attacked him with fierce tongues — some even accused him of treason. This pattern repeats: any time a writer or thinker rises to warn the elite of their failures, they are bombarded with attacks until they retreat back into the intellectual wasteland.
Our religion urges us to think. The late Egyptian thinker Abbas Mahmoud Al-Aqqad even wrote a book titled “Thinking is an Islamic Duty.” Guidance, generally, is tied to reason and thinking. People came to know their Creator and believed in His oneness through their minds.
In Sudan, the reality is this: you must think like the Islamic Movement, or the Marxist left, or the Arab nationalists. These are the predetermined frames allowed for thought. Step outside these boundaries, and you’re met with doom — a mob descends on you like vultures on a carcass until they stone you back into submission.
History shows that no nation has ever risen without criticizing its reality and striving to change it. But one cannot change reality without first criticizing it and presenting alternatives. However, in Sudan, presenting alternatives is a real challenge. Very few people want to change the miserable reality we live in. We still hear phrases like “We will restore its former glory” — but what glory are they referring to? Frankly, I know of no glorious era in our country’s history except during the Nubian kingdoms — or perhaps some of the stability and institutions left behind by colonialists. As soon as we got hold of those institutions, we destroyed them, labeling them failures — though the real failure was our inability to manage them.
After this war, we have two options: either to continue with the old ways that stifle thought and prevent change, or to seek a new path to govern our society and state.
The first option — continuing with the old — will inevitably lead us right back to the destructive war we just endured. It’s foolish to assume that the same approach will yield a different result. A sausage factory won’t produce yogurt — no matter what you do! In other words, our current state structure is designed to reproduce wars and sustain them. As long as it remains, it will keep producing war.
The second option — change — is the only way out of this vicious cycle. This requires everyone first to admit that the past seven decades are nothing to be proud of, that we’ve all wronged one another and wronged the country. This is the right starting point. Without acknowledging mistakes, we can’t correct them. We must also recognize that we have no golden past to return to. If everyone agrees on that, we can move to the next step: leaving the old path and seeking a new arrangement that brings us peace and stability. Any arrangement that achieves both should be welcomed.
We must also admit that every peace agreement — from Addis Ababa in 1972 until today — has failed to bring peace or stability. They have only fragmented our country further.
But finding a new path for change requires an idea — and in our country, thinking is forbidden.
I will not despair of God’s mercy, which may one day guide us to an idea that stops the bloodshed. Still, I believe the majority remain attached to the old approach, preferring its continuity and choosing bloodshed over peace. These people still believe that all the blood spilled so far is not enough reason to seek a new path.
In conclusion… dear reader, do not think — you are in Sudan, where minds are locked and sealed, and people are immersed in battles like Dahis and Ghabra. Those who place no value on human life cannot build a nation.
This land is ours.
(From “Sudanese Echoes”)
