The Khatmiyya Tariqa: Religion and Politics

The youth associated with them, as well as Abdullah Muhammad Mahmoud, and the group of Sheikh Abdul Aziz. This is a strong group due to Sheikh Abdul Aziz's connection to Sayyid Muhammad Uthman. There is also the group of Sheikh Ali Zain Al-Abidin (may God have mercy on him), who is one of the sheikhs of the Khatmiyya, supporting Sufism and the Household of the Prophet. He was accused by the "traditionalists" of Shi'ism, but it is clear that he denied this about himself. His group includes Sheikh Muhammad Hamed Muhammad Khair, from a religious family from northern Sudan, who is a chemical engineer who graduated from the University of Khartoum and wrote a book supporting the Shi'a, but he retracted it in the recent period. This group, it seems, is not in agreement with the group of Sheikh Abdul Aziz. Among its followers is also Sheikh Abdul Raouf Ahmed Musa, who is one of the senior students of Sheikh Ali Zain Al-Abidin. There is also the group of Sheikh Taj Al-Sir Ahmed Muhammad Ibrahim, one of the successors of the Khatmiyya in northern Sudan. Sayyid Muhammad Uthman has recently begun to gain significant acceptance. This is one aspect of the active groups within the Khatmiyya, which operate with or without the approval of Sayyid Muhammad Uthman, but are influential and effective at the same time. Another influential figure in the Khatmiyya is Sayyid Abdul Majeed Abdul Rahim. He is a well-known merchant whose origins are from northern Sudan, where his ancestors were owners of Quranic schools in the nearby region of Maroota. He is now considered Sayyid Muhammad Uthman's primary man in Sudan, overseeing and following up on his finances in the country. He is also one of the figures who worked to reconcile the Islamists and the Khatmiyya. If we return to the criticisms directed at Sayyid Muhammad Uthman, within this framework, we find what the Sudanese "Religion and Politics" presented in its book by Saeedah Ramadan. In it, she discussed the personality of Sayyid Muhammad Uthman and presented many criticisms about her. Sayyid Sir Al-Khatim dismisses this book, considering it to have been written for purely personal motives. However, many believe that Sayyid Muhammad Uthman lives far from reality, in an ivory tower, cut off from news and what is actually happening, and oblivious to the truths around him.