Omdurman

Sudan

Friday Evening

January 31, 2020

This report was filed by Ala Kheir, John Burns and Ibrahim Algrefwi for Brownbook part of the the Guardian Africa Network on February 5, 2016.

In Omdurman, the largest city in Sudan, the Qadiriyya Sufi order meets every Friday outside Sheikh Hammed Al Nil Mosque which houses the tomb of their 19th century Sufi leader. 

Sudan has one of the largest Sufi communities in the world. Sufism is a branch of Islam often seen as mystical due to its followers’ pursuit of a personal, inner path to G-d. What unites each Sufi order is the belief that a path to God can be found through dhikr – absolute absorption in worship during which prayers, dances and spins may be repeated with enough fervour to induce a trance.