Executedin January 1985 for crimes against Islam, Mahmoud Mohamed Taha was without a doubt, possibly one of Islam's leading modern heroes. Like his Indian near-contemporary, Mahatma Gandhi, Taha was a key figure in the fight for the independence of his homeland from British-Egyptian rule.

Born around 1909 in the town of Rufa'h on the east bank of the Blue Nile in central Sudan, Taha or 'Ustadh' Mahmoud (Revered Teacher) as he became known, came from a simple farming background. Rufa'h was then, as much as it is today a quiet and sleepy backwater. Nothing much happens there and people live out their lives in relative contentment, secure within a supportive and unhurried community. It was within the security of this environment that Ustadh Mahmoud spent his formative years.

Briefly moving to the village of Al Higailieg with their father following the death of their mother in 1915, Ustadh Mahmoud and his three siblings returned to Rufa'h n 1920. Their father had also passed away that year and had left the care of his children to their aunt. She allowed them to continue with their formal education, but it was only Ustadh Mahmoud who was to succeed within the rigorous and highly competitive educational system of the time. He went on to attend Gordon Memorial College (now the University of Khartoum) and in 1936, graduated from the school of engineering. He quickly secured employment with Sudan Railways, but this did not last for long and in 1941, he resigned and established his own private practice as an engineer.

It was during this period, from the late 1930's onwards that Ustadh Mahmoud took an active role within the burgeoning Nationalist struggle for independence from British-Egyptian rule. Dissatisfaction with the way that the struggle was being directed quickly set in however. The political parties that were vying for control of the country were compromising their ideals on full independence and succumbing to the divisive tactics of the colonial powers in an effort to secure favour. The educated elite were offering their support to the traditional religious leaders who commanded widespread support within the country at that time. For Ustadh Mahmoud, none of the available options seemed to offer much hope for the future of his country.

Along with others who similarly felt a deep sense of betrayal by those whose motivation seemed to be based on their own vested interest, whether political or religious, Ustadh Mahmoud established the Republican Party in October of 1945. The Republican's earliest publications began to set out their agenda for the establishment of a secular State, based upon a modernist understanding and orientation to traditional Islamic teachings.

By 1946, Ustadh Mahmoud and some of his colleagues had been sentenced to prison by the colonial administration for refusing to abstain from political activity. The Party's policy of open confrontation and political agitation had begun to threaten the political stability of the British-Egyptian authorities. Ustadh received a one year sentence but due to the vociferous and mounting pressure from the Republican's and their followers, a pardon was issued by the British Governor-General and Ustadh Mahmoud was released, having served only fifty days. Later that year however, he was again arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for his role in what became known as the Rufa'h Incident.

During that year, the government had outlawed the practice of Pharoanic circumcision - a practice that involved the removal of all of the external female genital organs. Although entirely in accord with the spirit of the new law and actively promoting an end to such abhorrent practices, the Republicans argued that legal interventions of this kind were extremely counterproductive and would only serve to drive the practice underground. Instead they argued for better education and an improvement in the general health and welfare conditions for Sudanese women. The opposed positions on the issue came to a head in Rufa'h when in an effort to mobilise public opinion against the colonial powers, the Republicans took up the case of a woman under threat of prosecution for subjecting her own daughter to the prohibited practice. Although the subsequent protest, lead by Ustadh Mahmoud lead to the immediate release of the accused woman, he quickly found himself under arrest along with other leaders of the Republican Party. Several thousand men had crossed the Blue Nile after Friday prayers into Hassaheissa - the administrative centre of the district to call for the woman's immediate release. Ustadh Mahmoud's arrest and incarceration over this incident proved to be a pivotal moment, not only for him and the Republican Party, but for also for the evolution of understanding of Islam.

Ustadh Mahmoud used his time in prison to undertake an intensive programme of prayer, fasting and meditation. Upon his release he committed to a further three years of self-imposed seclusion - known as a 'Khalwah'. Sometime later, in reference to this period, he said..."When I settled in prison I began to realize that I was brought there by my Lord and thence I started my Khalwah with Him". Ultimately his five year programme of focused religious practice aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of the message of God as laid out in the Qur'an, lead Ustadh Mahmoud to formulate what he called 'The Second Message of Islam'. Based on the insights that he gained into the Qur'an and the role of Islamic Law during the Khalwah, The Second Message articulated a new vision for the Islamic world. A vision in which the essential truths of the Qur'an and thus God's word, could be made not only relevant to a time and culture far removed from the one in which the Qur'an was laid down, but much more in line with the essential doctrines and expectations resulting from a true and full engagement with the word of God.

As a devout Muslim, Ustadh Mahmoud believed that all God-given revelations had ended with the Prophet Mohamed but none-the-less, he claimed that his vision and subsequent teachings on the future direction of Islam were God-given. In support of this he cited verse 282 of the second Sura of the Qur'an which states that 'God teaches the one who is pious and fearful of God'. He also cited the Sunnah (the examples of the Prophet) which states that the person who acts in accordance with what he or she knows, shall be granted by God knowledge of that which he or she does not know. It is this allusion to hidden or mystic teachings that is often used by the great Sufi masters in defence of their practices and orientations to Islam and that set them apart from the non-mystical teachings and interpretations of others. It was Ustadh's firm belief that through dedicated study and contemplative prayer and meditation, the believer can receive direct and unmediated enlightened understanding of the Word of God as revealed to the Prophet Mohamed.

In October 1951, Following Ustadh Mahmoud's period of religious seclusion and the dissemination of his new and comprehensive vision for the future of Islam, The Republican Party went through a major transformation from a political party into an organization dedicated to the propagation of Ustadh's spiritual teachings. Those members who wished to continue in a more politically active role broke away and joined other parties, whilst the Republicans, under the direct leadership of Ustadh began a campaign of spreading the The Second Message of Islam to the Sudanese public. This transformative process however did not preclude the Republicans from continuing their support for and dissemination of their deeply held convictions on a political front. The organisation simply re-orientated its principle focus, so that its view of the political landscape became inherently much more spiritual.

After a brief period working for the Water and Electricity Company in Khartoum, Ustadh resumed his private practice as an engineer. Initially continuing to pread his teachings through an ongoing programme of public lectures and newspaper articles, in 1955 he published a book entitled 'Usus Dustour As-Soudan' which set out an agenda for a new Sudanese constitution, which called for a presidential, federal, democratic and socialist Republic that contained at its heart a pacifist and inclusive agenda derived from his understandings of man's relationship to the Divine. Any attempt to impose laws derived from Islamic Sharia were anathema to him, seeing this as divisive and inviting distrust and animosity from the non-Muslim, non-Arab southern Sudanese.

In 1956, following the declaration of Independence on January 1st of that year, a committee was set up to begin the process of writing a new constitution for the country. Ustadh Mahmoud took his place on the committee as the representative for the Republican Party. After only a few months, frustrated and dissatisfied with the corrupt agendas of some of the representatives, Ustadh Mahmoud resigned his seat and cited interference from the executive authority as the reason. Ultimately the committee presented their findings and recommendations for a new constitution that were largely based on Sharia Law as demanded by the traditional sectarian religious parties.

In November of 1958 however, just prior to the adoption of the constitutional recommendations requested by the committee, a bloodless military coup seized power and all political parties, including the Republican Party were dissolved. Ustadh Mahmoud, not wishing to relinquish his vision of a new Sudan, seized the opportunity and wrote to the head of the new regime; General Abboud requesting that he implement the proposals of the Republicans for a socialist, democratic and federal government. He included with his letter, a copy of his book about the constitution. Although Ustadh Mahmoud's recommendations were dismissed out of hand, he continued to lecture publicly and spread his conception of the new Sudanese Republic and the role of Islam within society to all that would listen. His ideas however were intolerable to the closed minds of the religious traditionalists, who became more and more vociferous in their opposition to the Republican agenda.

After the dismissal of three students from the Islamic Institute of Omdurman for propagating the ideas of Ustadh Mahmoud, a ban was implemented prohibiting Ustadh and his followers from holding public lectures and denying them access to all the media. Restricted in this way the members of the movement went largely underground and confined their activities to the private homes of members and of sympathetic friends.

With the return of multi-party parliamentary government, the Republican Party was revived and once more continued with their programme of spreading the teachings of The Second Message of Islam through public lectures, newspaper articles and books. In 1966-67, Ustadh Mahmoud published three of his most important works: 'Tarieq Mohammed' ('Mohammed's Path'), 'Risalat Assalat' ('The Message of Prayer') and 'Arrisala Atthaniya min Al-Islam' ('The Second Message of Islam'). Two further books published in 1967 set out his proposal for direct talks to establish a peaceful co-existence between the Arab States and Israel. Ustadh Mahmoud was fundamentally opposed to the sort of Arab Nationalism as put forward by Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser as well as what he perceived as the primitive and anti-humanitarian applications of Islam being instituted in Saudi Arabia and promoted by the Muslim Brotherhood in other Arab states. Ustadh Mahmoud was certainly not averse to standing his ground and taking on the rest of the Muslim world in an effort to educate and enlighten others about what he perceived to be the true message of Islam.

In 1968, Ustadh Mahmoud's vocal opposition to the established Islamic order lead once more to his arrest. This time he had been accused by two Islamic University teachers of committing the crime of 'Ridda' or apostasy; a crime punishable by death. Ustadh invoked his constitutional right of freedom of thought and expression and refused to appear before the court. The accusations were investigated in his absence by the Khartoum Sharia (Islamic Rules) High Court. It is not currently clear as to the decision of the court, or whether the legal proceedings were in anyway interrupted by the military coup by the Free Officers Movement, lead by Jaafar an Nimeiri on May 25th 1969. Ustadh however lived and went on to continue his lecturing and public speaking for a little while longer. One of the first acts of the new regime however was to abolish all government institutions and to ban all political parties, including the Republican Party and so once again, the Republicans found themselves politically isolated and having to continue their activities underground.

This is the first part of the research and notes that I have prepared for 'Islam's Gandhi'. Further research notes will continue to be published here as the book takes shape. I am in discussion about this project with Ustadh Mahmoud's family and in time would hope to include here some of the interviews that I intend to undertake. A trip to Ustadh Mahmoud's home town of Rufa'h will also hopefully take place soon and I shall publish here any pictures of that visit along with new information as it is gathered. Please note however that this series of articles represents my working methods in the preparation of the manuscript for the book, and thus the series of articles may not necessarily follow a chronolgical order. I hope that you have found this initial introduction to the life of Ustadh Mahmoud Mohamed Taha - Islam's Gandhi - to be of some interest.

Many blessings and much metta,

Steve