Sudan Friday prayers: Sermons protesting and others backing military junta
During Friday prayers, the sit-ins in Khartoum and various other Sudanese cities witnessed varying speeches. Some of them were welcomed, other speeches were stopped.
Nasreldin Mufarrih, imam at the Grand Mosque in Rabak in White Nile state, preached for the worshipers at the sit-in front of the Fifth Infantry Division in the North Kordofan capital of El Obeid, on Friday. He called on the people of El Obeid “to unite and prepare for a general strike and civil disobedience actions”.
Sudanese protesters listen to the Friday sermon at the sit-in near the military headquarters in Khartoum, May 17, 2019 (AFP)
During Friday prayers, the sit-ins in Khartoum and various other Sudanese cities witnessed varying speeches. Some of them were welcomed, other speeches were stopped.
Nasreldin Mufarrih, imam at the Grand Mosque in Rabak in White Nile state, preached for the worshipers at the sit-in front of the Fifth Infantry Division in the North Kordofan capital of El Obeid, on Friday. He called on the people of El Obeid “to unite and prepare for a general strike and civil disobedience actions”.
Ali El Zubeir, spokesman for the North Kordofan Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) branch, told this station that they were happy to hear the imam supporting the protest actions.
The imam who preached this Friday at the sit-in in front of the General Command of the Sudanese army in Khartoum, urged the authorities to “immediately and publicly bring the people accused of corruption and other white-collar criminals to trial”.
He further said that he hoped “reason and wisdom would prevail among the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the Alliance for Freedom and Change (AFC) during the current difficulties in reaching an agreement about the composition of the country’s Sovereign Council.
“There are many people in Sudan who have a broad experience with conflict resolution,” the imam said, and called on them “to take urgent action”.
Imam banned
In Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, worshipers at the Bawaris Mosque have banned Imam Osama Khatim because of his anti-revolutionary speeches.
“Osama Khatim is a figure of the former regime. He is still a manager at the Red Sea state Ministry of Social Affairs,” journalist Amin Sinada reported to Radio Dabanga. “He has been preaching about the intifada in a hostile way since the protests started.”
He said that Khatim delivered a pro-junta sermon on Friday last week “which prompted the worshippers to force him to leave the mosque for good”.
El Gedaref
Worshipers at the Ibrahim Mousa Mosque at the Grand Market in El Gedaref have stopped speeches by affiliates of the National Congress Party, which was headed by President Al Bashir until he was ousted on April 11.
A worshiper told this station that anti-revolution slogans coming from loudspeakers in front of the mosque after Friday prayers.
“We managed to stop the loudspeakers, and called for their prosecution instead,” he said.
The source also reported that the worshipers banned the imam of the mosque from preaching on Fridays because of his anti-revolutionary speeches.
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