The Khatmiyya Order: Religion and Politics

Sudan. Sayyid Muhammad Othman had six sons: the eldest was Ali, then Muhammad Al-Hassan, Abdullah, Ahmed, Jaafar, and Muhammad. Sayyid Muhammad Othman studied with his brother Sayyid Ahmed and his cousin Sayyid Muhammad Sir Al-Khatim at the Madrasat Al-Ashraf. This was a school attached to public education to ensure a certain type of interaction and upbringing for this generation of the descendants of the Marghani family. Some considered this a flaw, as it was akin to the concept of private schools today.

Sayyid Muhammad Othman left his higher studies to dedicate himself to public work alongside his father, Sayyid Ali, who was beginning to emerge as a leader of the Order and to oversee political work. Sayyid Ali assumed true leadership after a not-short life spent on various fronts. Many considered Sayyid Muhammad Othman's religiosity to be traditional. This means that at the same time he was a person keen on his worship, adhering to the principles of Sharia, he did not have distinct visions for Islam to be the core of life. He did not adopt reformist thinking based on renewal, and perhaps he believed that the local beliefs prevalent among the Sudanese were sufficient to be the ideal religion for Sudanese society. This is a religion, or a version of religion, that elevates the supernatural and focuses on concepts of dignity and the existence of saints with supernatural powers controlling life and influencing people. Some believe that Sayyid Muhammad Othman's religiosity does not go beyond this spirit, or exceed the thinking of contemporary Islamic schools that promote these values. This contradicts what emerged, which calls for a monotheistic Islam that harnesses life to elevate religious values and links human livelihood and afterlife to the divine methodology, and to rise above the superstitions and falsehoods that have mixed with Sudanese religiosity. This has made all religion dependent on supernatural values over which we have no authority and possess nothing. This does not negate Islam, but the emphasis on the existence of miracles or supernatural values has led to excess on the part of the Sudanese. This is due to the Sudanese people's lack of knowledge and weak awareness of authentic Islamic sources. Anyone who looks at Sudanese knowledge of religion throughout history, especially in the past, finds only limited connection to some of the Islamic schools that passed through the country, with few explanations of jurisprudence or theology. Meanwhile, the works of Al-Shaarani and Al-Suyuti stand at the pinnacle of the religious intellectual structure of the Sudanese mind. In addition to this, the ideas of Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi regarding the Mahdi concept have seeped into the Sudanese. The Khatmiyya themselves believed in the concept of the Mahdi.