Sudanese religious group says targeted by government

February 24, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The leader of Sudan’s mainstream Islamic Salafi faction, Ansar al-Suna, has accused the government of waging an increasingly hostile campaign against their creed under the influence of rival religious groups.

Ansar Al-Suna’s leader Abu Zaid Mohamed Hamza said during a sermon he delivered prior to Friday’s prayer in Khartoum that rival Sufi factions are exerting intensive pressure on the government to limit the activities of his group.

Hamza, who was addressing a crowd of his group’s followers, said he expects the government to conduct a “ferocious” campaign against Salafi movements in Sudan.

Ansar Al-Suna followers clashed earlier this month with their Sufi counterparts during celebrations of prophet Mohamed’s birthday in the Sudanese capital.

The clashes prompted the police to intervene and arrest dozens of supporters from both sides.

Ansar Al-Suna, which adheres to a textual interpretation of Islam, sees heresy in Sufi groups’ practices of idolatry and celebrating the prophet’s birthday.

Hamza said that the authorities had taken measures to halt the public scholarly seminars that his Ansar al-Suna group used to hold.

He went on to demand that the government declares a clear position on what he described as the aspects of polytheism practiced by Sufi groups.

Ansar Al-Suna’s leader also denied accusations that his group had destroyed shrines of Sufi Sheiks, calling for an investigation into the allegation.

Several Sufi shrines in Allafon suburb, 35 kilometers south of Khartoum, were set ablaze and exhumed in late 2011 by unknown people. Sufi groups accused Salafis of being behind the incident.

(ST)