Reddit reply in r/Sudan: is sufism in sudan really losing ground to — October 16, 2025 | Ali Shukri Amin

Why are you researching this?

You should look at the broader spread of Salafism and reactionary neo-traditionalism across north and west Africa first before delving into this topic. Of course there are unique currents in Sudan, but modern technology coupled with Saudi petrodollars and the zeal of Salafis definitely shifted the post-colonial traditionalist Ashari Sufi Maliki landscape of Sudan.

That being said, I think your question is lagging global norms by a decade.

Saudi is no longer actively promoting a supposedly "normative" Salafism. Mohammad bin Salman has leaned heavily into revisionist Salafism, making statements that are more akin to Mohammed Abduh than ibn al-Uthaymin. As Saudi tries to modernize and secularize rapidly, the export of Saudi Salafism has been on a rapid decline.

Madkhalism was the last viable strain of Saudi governmental control over an Islamic theology, but I think they've concluded the juice isn't worth the squeeze going forward.

Typically, even Sudanese Salafis were more aligned with Maghribi Salafis in being sympathetic to Asharism, Sufism, and the madh'habs. The kind of hardline creedal/spiritual sectarianism of Fawzan or Madkhali has never been popular in Sudan (al-Faqeeri is probably the major Madkhali voice in Sudan), while Albani's anti-fiqh school settled in Jordan and Yemen.

If you look at figures like Hasan al-Turabi you'll see the influence of revisionist Rashid Rida or Mohammad Abduh Salafism whereas other "Athari" scholars are Salafi influenced but still atuned to the indigenous scholarly traditions.

An important point is that the average person is probably more educated about Islam today than they were 75 years ago. Colonialism did a doozy on the average Muslim's relationship and knowledge of Islam. So many people were reintroduced to Islam with a tradition that vehemently opposed the cult of saints, which became a mainstay by the 15th century. It is rare today to even find a neo-traditionalist who has not been impacted in some way by Wah'habi ideas about the cult of saints and certainly it's nowhere near as popular as it used to be.