بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The Necessity of Eradicating Secularism from Islamic Lands
(Translated)
Al-Rayah Newspaper - Issue 605 - 24/06/2026
By: Dr. Ahmed Abdel-Fadil – Wilayah Sudan
With the ongoing war in Sudan and its escalating political, economic, and security problems, political forces and parties in Sudan are proposing secularism as a way to stop the war and for the Sudanese people to agree on a political vision for governing the country. A number of journalists have joined this call, writing articles that align with the vision of these parties and political forces regarding secularism as a solution. For example, the Nairobi Conference, held by the Forces of the Declaration of Principles on May 24, 2016, adopted a political document stipulating the secularization of the state. This document stated, “Building a nationalistic state that establishes a unified and democratic Sudanese state based on a decentralized federal system that separates religion and state.”
Even the Rapid Support Forces force government, which operates parallel to Burhan’s government in Port Sudan, had its prime minister declare to Al Jazeera Mubasher on October 31, 2015, “Our goal is a secular democratic system.” It is worth noting that Hamdok, the former Sudanese Prime Minister ousted by Burhan, who is currently active on the international stage, also signed an agreement on secularism with the two-armed rebel factions: the faction led by Abdel Wahid Mohamed Nour, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement, and the faction led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, head of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North. This agreement, signed at a conference held in Juba, the capital of South Sudan on May 18, 2024, stipulates the principle of separating religion from the state and maintaining neutrality towards all religions and identities. Even Burhan, who governs Sudan under a secular system, has abandoned Islam as the state religion, signing an agreement with al-Hilu in Juba on July 4, 2021 which states, “The state shall not impose any religion on anyone, nor shall it adopt an official religion.”
All political forces, groups, and governments embrace and advocate secularism. But what exactly is secularism? Why do these forces consider it suitable for governance and politics? What is Islam’s view of secularism? And how can we eradicate Islam completely and discard it to oblivion, or have its own adherents abandon Islam without regret?
It is self-evident that secularism originated in Europe. As a result of the ongoing conflict between the Church and thinkers and philosophers, European peoples revolted against the monarchs and the authority of the Church, which claimed to be God’s shadow on Earth. The French people, in their revolution, chanted, “Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest!” A compromise was reached in which temporal power was separated from spiritual power, and the Church’s authority was abolished. This resulted in the separation of religion from life, and consequently, from the state and politics. Religion was confined to the relationship between man and his Creator, with the Creator having no role in managing the affairs of life, the state, and society. European countries adopted the separation of religion from life as their creed—the creed of capitalism—and carried this thought to Muslim lands. They introduced it when these European countries invaded Muslim lands. The British occupied Egypt and eliminated the remnants of Islamic ruling governance there. They entered Turkey and transformed it into a secular state after abolishing the Khalifah. They came to Sudan, imposing their laws and systems, and establishing regimes governed by this secularism. They created groups that see no solution to political and economic problems other than secularism due to their subservience and are unable to deviate from the dictated path. This led to these intensified calls for secularism. These days, regional and international conferences are promoting secularism to obstruct the growing awareness within the Islamic ummah, leading them to believe that ending wars and achieving security and stability can be accomplished through its adoption!
However, Islam views secularism as a creed of disbelief. Deen is not separate from life but rather intertwined with it, and the state is inseparable from Deen. Islam is a Deen, and from it emanates the state, and politics is inseparable from it. In Islam, political activity within groups is guided by Islam, and Muslims have the right to form groups, provided that their foundation is Islam. Islamic ‘aqeedah is the basis of the state, and nothing within its apparatus or its accountability can exist except on the basis of Islam. Group relations are confined to domestic affairs, and the state prohibits any group’s relationship with any foreign entity. There can be no foreign conferences, political meetings, or the signing of any political document that threatens the state’s integrity, nor can any group advocate for any illegitimate ideology. All secular thoughts are prohibited in Shariah, such as democracy, freedom, popular sovereignty, popular rule, the people as the source of authority, federalism, and so on. Islamic thoughts are what are advocated, as long as they are based on Shariah evidence, and they are advocated purely and unadulterated, unaffected by anything non-Islamic. Islam is advocated and disbelief is rejected.
As for why this call for secularism is so intense these days, with writers being hired and political parties being mobilized, it is because the disbelievers have a political objective. They are working to remove what is found in the constitutions of some Muslim lands that indicates Islam as the official religion of the state, or that Shariah is a source of legislation. The disbelievers want a purely secular constitution and laws without any reference to religion. They also want to remove the remaining Shariah rulings related to the relationship between men and women in matters of marriage, divorce, khul’ (annulment of marriage initiated by the wife), and child custody, so that they are governed by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Thus, under secularism, men can marry men, women can marry women, and marriage becomes civil, not religious, and so on. The disbeliever even seeks to abolish collective religious practices during Eid and special occasions.
This call for secularism must be countered through intellectual conflict and political exposing.
As for the intellectual conflict, we must show the falsehood in these secular thoughts, even if at first glance they appear to be enlightening thoughts that call for justice and equality, which our Ummah lacks as a result of the imposed ruling governance by force and oppression, so there is no freedom or democracy. The strength of the Islamic thought, coupled with its method, is sufficient to defeat all false thoughts and show the falsehood in them.
As for the political struggle, these parties, movements, and groups, by embracing the disbeliever, are disloyal to the Ummah. They are emotionally and intellectually detached from the Ummah and care only about seizing power and serving their masters.
As for the Islamic system, it is the only correct solution that groups must adopt and strive to bring to power through intellectual conflict and political struggle, exposing the plans of the disbelievers and adopting the interests of the Ummah. The disbelievers are the root cause of the Ummah’s suffering, including wars, poverty, disease, insecurity, and shortages of food and medicine. Therefore, there is no way out except through the resumption of the Islamic way of life, for which there is already widespread public opinion and unparalleled awareness within the Ummah. Herein lies the role of the armies in Muslim lands, who are explicitly called upon to grant military support (نصرة nussrah) for this thought and bring it to power. No thought can succeed without the power to back it up. These secular parties rely on the disbelievers, not on the Ummah, to seize power.
As for the sincere, aware Hizb it relies, after Allah (swt), the sons of the Ummah in the armed forces, just as the Prophet (saw) did with the Ansar (ra), so he (saw) established the state, spread justice, removed injustice, and honored the Ummah.