Hasan al-Turabi: Sudan's Political Visionary

(1932-2016)

Abstract

Hasan Abdullah al-Turabi, with a white turban on his head and a wide smile on his face, scholastic in speech and humorous in word, was for many years one of the most influential figures in Sudanese politics. 

Born on 1 February 1932, in Kassala State, Northern Sudan, his father was a well-known Sufi sheikh and religious scholar. It was from him that al-Turabi received his early Islamic education, before going on to earn a law degree from the Gordon Memorial College (now the University of Khartoum) in the early 1950s.