Hassan al-Turabi

Hassan al-Turabi is arguably the most important figure in Sudan’s independent history.  Whilst never technically leading the Northeast African country, he influenced successive Sudanese regimes, and was frequently referred to as the “power behind the throne” in the first ten years of the leadership of Omar al-Bashir.

Turabi’s role in slowly imposing Sharia Law on the Sudanese people and instigating the 1989 coup that brought Bashir to power also made him one of the most successful Islamist politicians in the Muslim world. 

Bashir’s time in power was a terrible thirty years for Sudan, with the country experiencing two brutal civil wars, and ultimately the division of the country between north and south in 2011. Even though Turabi left the stage before this, his role in the initial 1989 coup means at least some blame must be apportioned to him, making him a worthy and interesting candidate for the podcast. His own philosophy also invites questions about the role Islamism plays across North Africa and the Middle East.

My guest today is Willow Berridge, a lecturer in history at the University of Newcastle. Willow has written extensively on Sudanese history and Islamism, and her 2015 book Hassan al-Turabi: Islamist Politcs and Democracy in Sudan, documents our subject’s life and influence.

We discuss the origins of Islamism in Sudan, Turabi’s desire to stay hidden from view, and whether this helped him or hindered him, his relationship with Osama bin Laden, who lived in Sudan for a period in the 1990s, and much more.