Islam, Politics, and Society: Islamist Education and Epemistic Orientation in the Sudan

Funding: Fritz Thyssen Stiftung

Duration: January 2019 until December 2020

Project lead and execution: Dr. Bakheit Mohammed Nur

Located at the Chair for Anthropology (Prof. Dr. Kurt Beck)

Outside:

In this study, I critically examine the inner workings of the Islamist education policy and epistemic orientation in the Sudan, as well as their socio-religious and political impacts therefore contextualizing the three ideologically Islam-oriented universities; namely the University of the Holy Qur’an and Islamic Sciences (UHQIS), Omdurman Islamic University (OIU), and the International University of Africa (IUA).

I argue that the popularization of the Islamist epistemology and the recruitment of new protagonists mainly takes place in their Islam-oriented universities. I problematize Islamist education policy and examine which agencies and actors within the context of ideologically Islam-oriented universities serve to popularize the Islamists’ epistemic orientation, recruit new members to their ideology, and thus mobilize the wider society to empower the Islamist movement.

I further investigate how these Islam-oriented universities function and uncovers the learning practices followed there. It is imperative to undertake a thorough examination of their internal bureaucratic functionalities as well as the regulations that govern the curriculum and the enrolment of students to understand how educational policy is negotiated in practice. I also examine the pedagogical practices within these universities as well as the content of their curricula and its rationale.