Sudan

Originally the term Sudan was one used to signify a large sub-Saharan swathe of Africa from the eastern to the western edge of the continent. Bilal al-Sudan, meaning literally "the land of the blacks," extended far beyond the borders of today's modern political boundaries drawn by the colonial powers who prescribed for Sudan a much smaller allotment of the African continent in the nineteenth century scramble for Africa. Even so Jamhuriyat as-Sudan (the Republic of the Sudan) is today the largest country in Africa, bordering Chad and the Central African Republic to the West; Egypt and Libya to the North; Ethiopia and Eritrea to the East; and Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the South. On the east coast is the Red Sea, and from north to south within Sudan flow the Nile River and its tributaries. The total land area of the country totals 2,505,810 sq km (967,491 sq mi), about one quarter the size of the United States.

As of 2000 the estimated population was 35,079,814 with an average population growth rate of 2.8 percent. But Sudan's population has suffered interminably with drought and politico-military induced famine; nearly a million Sudanese were on the verge of starvation in early 2001, and millions more, as many as 4.5 million, have been displaced by the civil conflict and warfare that have gripped the nation in a humanitarian disaster of catastrophic proportions.

Since its independence in 1956, Sudan has had three military dictatorships interspersed with brief attempts to introduce a parliamentary democracy. Under the dictatorships, more progress and development seem to have been made than under the rule of elected officials. The transition to true democracy has been deceptively elusive, particularly because the perceived success under military rule in developing the country's resources has made military leaders more attractive to voters than candidates from other political factions in Sudan.

As a victim of colonialism, Sudan has a history of using education as an ideological and political weapon. But there are positive aspects to an Islamic-oriented education. Islamic approaches to education are more flexible in nature. Students can begin their education at any point in life, and the process of learning is lifelong. There is much to be said for a system that accepts students whether they are in their young, formative years, or at a somewhat later stage in life when responsibility and maturity will evidence a serious dedication to learning.

In a traditional Islamic educational context, there is less importance attached to the awarding of certificates, degrees, and diplomas than in the West. But such qualifications do exist in the form of the ijaza, a diploma conferred upon students by the Islamic teacher, and the isnad, which lists the names of Islamic teachers who have passed on traditions and teachings. This intellectual and spiritual pedigree of sorts, validates the teaching of its holder, and places him in a line of scholars reaching back to the early scholars of Islam, the companions of the Prophet Mohammed, and the Prophet himself. Teachers in possession of an isnad bearing the names of respected scholars will themselves be esteemed in proportion to the prestige accorded to the scholars listed on the isnad.

In Islam, the search for knowledge is a duty of Muslim believers. Traveling in quest of knowledge has a long history in Islamic tradition, and learners are exhorted to "Seek wisdom though it be in China." Learning and the search for wisdom are equated with worship, and the successors to the prophets are those who seek knowledge. In the collective body of recorded traditions surrounding the life of the Prophet Mohammed, the Hadith, a stamp of approval is given to those on the path to knowledge, and rewards are promised in the hereafter for men and women of learning: "God eases the way to paradise for him who seeks learning," and "angels spread their wings for the seeker of learning as a mark of God's approval" (Bray, Clarke and Stephens 1990).