"Self-Determination" According to the Will of the Colonialists!
(Translated)

The influence of the disbelieving colonial West descended upon the lands of the Muslims, dividing them and tearing them into multiple fragments. It left them dismembered, shattered, with a piece here and another there. What happened in Iraq in terms of ethnic federalization and fragmentation, the separation of East and West Pakistan, the secession of East Timor from Indonesia, and the splitting of South Sudan from the North ,all exemplify how the fragmented Muslim lands continue to march along the path of further division and disintegration.

Our Islamic lands have become a stage for the struggle over wealth and influence between America and Europe. Regrettably, the tools of this struggle are some of the sons of the Ummah, whether in governments or rebel movements, as is happening today in Sudan, while the only losers in this conflict are the innocent, powerless people.

To achieve its divisive goals in Sudan, the disbelieving West used various malicious methods and implemented one plan after another. It incited ethnic, geographical, and tribal tensions and promoted the idea of "the right to self-determination," a euphemism for secession and division in the language of international politics.

The series of divisions began with Britain’s occupation of Egypt in 1882, after which it worked on dividing it, following its established plan for Islamic countries. America and Britain then worked to prepare public opinion to accept the idea of separation by signing an agreement in 1953 that stipulated what they called the “right to self-determination” for the Sudanese people and the holding of a popular referendum under international supervision. This agreement paved the way for Sudan’s separation from Egypt and the declaration of the Sudanese Republic in 1956.

Britain's cunning did not stop there; it went further, working to divide Sudan into two states, one in the North and the other in the South. It began implementing this plan after World War I in 1922, adopting a policy of isolating the South from the North. It imposed strict restrictions on the spread of Islam in the southern regions (Equatoria, Bahr al-Ghazal, and Upper Nile), banned northern customs and traditions, and encouraged southerners to view northerners with suspicion. In 1930, Britain issued a decision declaring southerners as a people distinct from northerners. It supported missionaries and missionary delegations to assist rebels, spy, incite sedition, spread rebellion, and promote hostile and malicious ideas against Muslims. Before leaving Sudan, Britain took many measures to deepen the divide between northerners and southerners both directly and indirectly through its agents in neighboring colonies.

When influence shifted from Britain to America, the latter adopted the idea of division using its own methods. Despite differing American and British interests in Sudan, stemming from the utilitarian concept imposed by their capitalist ideology ,they both agreed on the fundamental idea: separating the South from the North and dividing Sudan. Such agreement occurs between them in some international issues, particularly in Muslim countries.

One of the most dangerous methods adopted by the disbelieving nations, America and Britain, for separating South Sudan from the North was to internationalize the issue, removing it from the hands of the Sudanese and placing it under the control of major powers to resolve it according to their own whims and interests. This is what happened with South Sudan, which, due to the numerous international parties involved, seemed no longer to be Sudanese — or even Islamic! The South was opened to missionary activities and 35 different missions, as well as organizations pretending to act on humanitarian grounds and human rights, all providing financial aid to justify their presence and conduct sabotage under this guise. But Sudan, in truth, is a rich country, blessed by Allah with enormous natural resources, contrary to the common myth that it is one of the poorest countries in the world!

Agreements were signed between the rebels and the state, and the issue was framed as a deep-rooted conflict between African Christians in the South and Arab Muslims in the North. They then endorsed what they called the "Declaration of Principles," which included the so-called "right to self-determination" for Southerners, reviving this idea as one of the possible options after a popular referendum.

This is exactly what happened. On July 9, 2011, South Sudan officially declared its secession and became a state. Thus, Britain and America achieved their long-desired goal. The Sudanese presidency and cabinet officially accepted the results of the (predetermined) self-determination referendum, in which 98.83% voted for secession and the establishment of the South Sudan state  the dream of the disbelieving West. At the time, U.S. President Obama congratulated the so-called people of South Sudan on this outcome, which had been cunningly planned and foolishly executed by Sudanese rulers and politicians!

Today, South Sudan stands on the edge of a civil war, as it has witnessed continuous military and political tensions for months between the two ruling partners: President Salva Kiir Mayardit and his First Vice President Riek Machar. The conflict, ongoing for years is largely a rivalry between the Dinka and Nuer tribes, leading to multiple military confrontations, including the five-year civil war from 2013 to 2018, which killed around 400,000 people and ended with a fragile peace agreement in 2018.

This is the fate of states built on tribal, ethnic, or regional accords. And so, the series of Sudan's partition continues to this very hour amid the current conflict. Signs have emerged pointing to the potential secession of the Darfur region from Sudan, following the Rapid Support Forces' blockade of exports heading to Egypt from areas under their control in Darfur. The advisor to the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Al-Basha Mohamed Tabeek, stated that the forces need to form a government in the areas under their control as an urgent necessity and that this step should receive immediate recognition and welcome from the international community to maintain Sudan’s unity.

Moreover, the rapidly evolving events in Sudan are moving in one direction restoring army control over most parts of Sudan and leaving the western region, especially Darfur, to the Rapid Support Forces. If this direction is completed, the country is heading toward actual partition.

It also appears that America's interest in separating Darfur as it did with the South, is accelerating. Previously, it turned a blind eye to political solutions for Darfur, not wanting to handle both the southern and Darfur issues simultaneously, leaving the Darfur file to burn. It focused only on humanitarian and security files and the issue of displaced persons, without genuine efforts to solve them, always trying to cool down the tensions stirred by Europe, reassuring the international community of stability while knowing full well that the Darfur situation was heating up.

As is well known, the Darfur conflict originally consisted of minor traditional disputes between tribes over agricultural lands, irrigation, grazing, and water collection points disputes that were quickly resolved by tribal leaders. Such issues are typical in all tribal areas and are part of the natural disagreements that arise in mobile tribal societies. But Europe, especially Britain and France, enraged by America’s sole control over South Sudan and having been excluded, ignited the flames of sedition in Darfur between Arab and African tribes, all of whom are Muslims. Europe then militarized, politicized, and media-amplified the Darfur issue to embarrass America and destabilize the government of Bashir, America’s ally at the time, to prevent the U.S. from enjoying its prized catch in the South and to secure a foothold in Sudan.

Now, the time has come to seize control of the file, and America is doing just that. Sudan has become a plaything in America’s hands, manipulated at will. America’s solution to the ongoing Sudan conflict and Darfur issue will mirror the same scenarios it used to separate the South, thereby achieving its goal of dismembering Sudan, but through the hands of its own sons: the participants, the executors, the collaborators, or the silent!

The stance the people of Sudan must take against these conspiracies and conflicts, and to stop the collapse of Sudan’s regions, is to refrain from persisting in falsehood and from continuing a policy of submission and acceptance of being chess pieces placed by our enemies in any trench they choose. We must not rely on criminal America to address the country’s issues. We must not turn our country into a battlefield for the enemies of the Ummah. This is something Islam does not accept, as it leads to great catastrophe: humiliation, weakness, division, disintegration, destruction, and betrayal of Allah, His Messenger, and the believers. The disbelievers kill, plunder wealth, seize rights, and roam freely in Muslim lands to them; there is no difference between Palestine and Iraq, nor between Indonesia, Afghanistan, Sudan, or other Muslim countries.

So when will the Ummah awaken and recognize its enemies? When will it act based on this understanding, identify their tools, and reject them outright? When will it work for its honor and dignity by adopting Islam alone as the path to revival and salvation, ruling by Allah’s law and following the guidance of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) in all aspects of life, political and otherwise, both major and minor? Allah Almighty says:

[فَلا وَرَبِّكَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّى يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجاً مِمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيماً]

“But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission.” [Surat An-Nisa:65]And He says:

[فَإِنْ تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآَخِرِ ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلا]

“And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result.”[Surat An-Nisa:59]Indeed, therein lies the great triumph:

[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ]

“O you who have believed, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life [Surat Al-Anfal:24]

So, will you respond?

#أزمة_السودان

#SudanCrisis

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Rana Mustafa