The Context of Takbir and Praise in Hate-Driven and Racist Violations
Mohamed Badawi
The world has repeatedly witnessed, through alternative media, scenes of severed heads being displayed with triumph and vividly captured on camera. These horrific acts are often accompanied by chants of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) and rhetoric steeped in hate and racism. Such actions spare no victims based on gender or age, entirely devoid of any moral or religious values centered on humanity.
This phenomenon has sparked ongoing debate about its contradictions. Numerous schools of thought have attempted to analyze the situation, particularly the association of "Allahu Akbar" with acts of violence or during the display of severed body parts on camera for public dissemination. Similarly, there are reports of detainees or civilians being forced to mimic animal behaviors, repeat degrading language targeting their identity, or endure wide-scale humiliation, all while the incidents are recorded for distribution. The motivations for perpetrators to document and share these violations remain a contentious topic.
Some analyses have linked these heinous acts to fundamentalist groups or Islamist political militias fighting alongside the military. However, in my view, such interpretations risk drawing incorrect conclusions, as they narrow the scope of the issue to a specific faction. This assumption stems from the idea that "takbir" is exclusive to those groups, which is not reflective of reality. In this war, all parties chant "takbir," revealing the impact of "Islamization of war," akin to how past political armed conflicts—such as the so-called jihad war between the Sudanese authorities and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army—were framed. Declaring a war as jihad served political motives, portraying combatants as Islamic martyrs in case of death. However, this interpretation is disconnected from the current political nature of the war.
The ongoing conflict in Sudan, which revolves around power and resources, exposes the underlying drivers of such phenomena. Hate speech and ethnic discrimination are the primary motivators behind these violations.
Key Elements of Hate Speech:
Dehumanization: Stripping individuals of their humanity by equating them with animals.
Animalistic Treatment: Physical violations such as flogging, mimicking animal sounds, hurling obscene insults, or execution by beheading.
Documentation and Revenge: Recording these acts satisfies the perpetrator’s desire for revenge, often driven by racist tendencies. The recordings may serve as currency for mercenaries or militias seeking material or political rewards.
Public Display: Sharing these violations amplifies humiliation and asserts dominance, often for psychological or propagandistic purposes.
Some interpretations have attributed this extreme violence to the normalization of state-sponsored torture over decades. Torture, typically intended to extract confessions or coerce individuals into compliance, differs from the violence driven by hate and racism. The latter aims for punishment—either individual or collective—culminating in murder without any regard for the victims identity, age, or health. Perpetrators view their victims as animals, employing brutal methods to execute them.
The transformation of violence in Sudan’s war necessitates examining the record of Sudan’s Islamist movement and its history of violence classified as terrorism. Following the failed 1995 assassination attempt on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa, the regime increasingly relied on foreign operatives and Islamist factions. This reliance culminated in violent incidents, such as the 2000 attack on a mosque in Omdurman’s Al-Jarafa suburb, the assassination of U.S. diplomat John Granville, and more recently, events in Khartoum’s Jabra neighborhood involving an Egyptian-dominated cell.
The emergence of overt Islamist violence since 2018 reflects the regime’s loss of power and subsequent desperation. Its failure to harness Sudan’s natural wealth during its rule led to misguided economic austerity measures post-2011 South Sudan secession. This focus on resources explains the reliance on hate speech and the escalation of racism as tools to fragment communities and hinder collective resistance.
Political Islam and its Role in Sudans War
Sudanese political Islam, shaped by the Islamic movement, relied on systemic displacement and exclusion of the "other" to consolidate power. Policies like the "empowerment strategy" replaced national institutions with partisan ones, erasing diversity and pluralism. Racist and divisive tactics were employed to perpetuate societal fragmentation, preventing solidarity against the regime.
Paramilitary forces such as the Popular Defense Forces, National Intelligence, and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) replaced traditional military and law enforcement. This dismantling of Sudan’s obligations under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 resulted in a collapse of wartime ethics. Immunity from accountability emboldened combatants to target civilians indiscriminately, destroying what remained of human dignity in Sudan’s wars.
The Weaponization of Hate
Hate speech and racism have fueled mass civilian killings, extrajudicial executions, and starvation sieges. The ultimate goal appears to be the elimination of "the other" through acts like slaughtering or burning victims while chanting "Allahu Akbar." These chants are not merely declarations of faith but are used to dehumanize victims, reflecting cultural perceptions of animal treatment.
Sudan’s long history of human rights violations, coupled with the normalization of violence, highlights a dire need for reconciliation and justice. Without addressing these systemic issues, there will be little hope for protecting even the basic dignity of humans, let alone animals, in a society steeped in violence and division.
