Al-Khalifa Sharif and the physician Al-Khalifa Ali Hallou. The Sayyid benefited from the influx of migrants to Aba Island, whose numbers were estimated annually at fifteen thousand. He had at his disposal a capable and cheap labor force for his projects. In any case, the Sayyid consistently insisted that his relationship with these migrants was based on preaching and fatherhood. He strongly recalled in his autobiographical notes, compiled by his grandson Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi, that neither he nor they considered that relationship to be economically motivated. The Ansar, as he told his grandson, undertook that long journey seeking spiritual guidance, while he inspired them with the principles of Mahdism and simultaneously provided for their material needs. Indeed, Sayyid Abd al-Rahman insisted that using hired labor would have been cheaper for him than arranging for the Ansar (20). Sayyid Amin Al-Tom, who graduated in 1934 from Gordon College and was one of Sayyid Abd al-Rahman's well-known assistants, fully supported this statement. He told me that he spent at least ten days each year on Aba Island, where he learned that the education of the children of those migrants in the numerous "Aba" khalwas and its local primary school was also a matter of Sayyid's concern. A colleague of mine at the University of Khartoum, who lived on Aba Island from his early childhood, also supported this view.

The "economic shackles" adopted by the government were of great importance, and by 1935, Sayyid Abd al-Rahman had become, even by the most conservative measures, one of the largest landowners and wealthiest men. His annual profits from his agricultural and commercial projects were estimated at between 20 to 60 thousand Egyptian pounds. In addition to this, he received Zakat and offerings sent by his wealthy followers. While Sayyid Abd al-Rahman had this prestigious annual income, his main rival, Sayyid Ali Al-Mirghani, had an income of less than two thousand Egyptian pounds (21).

Instead of wealth providing Sayyid Abd al-Rahman with a non-political outlet for his ambition, as might have been naively expected, it was used to strengthen the Ansar organization and to announce himself throughout the country. The Sayyid shrewdly used his religious reputation and economic power to attract supporters from three main groups. He did this without alienating the government, whose goodwill was a prerequisite for his success.

1- First and foremost were the zealous group of people from the West who believed in the Mahdi and considered that his Muslim son would liberate Sudan from Christian control. Their continuous arrival on Aba Island led to a significant increase in its population and a corresponding expansion in the cultivated area on and around it. Through these pilgrims, Abd al-Rahman was also able to penetrate the forbidden provinces, Kordofan and Darfur, and establish branches there.