Sennar Capital of the Islamic Culture Prepares for Celebration
02 December, 2015KHARTOUM (SUDANOW)—The Sudanese city of Sennar was named as the Islamic Cultural Capital, 2017, by the Islamic, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (IESCO).
This is considered a true addition of the Sudan's asset of civilization, knowledge and culture and an extension to the historic role played by the Sudan in demonstrating the Islamic civilization values.
There are several advantages for Sennar to win the title as the capital of the Islamic culture to be celebrated in March 2017. Sennar, which lies on the western bank of the Blue Nile about 280 km southeast of Khartoum, was the first Islamic kingdom to be established in Sudan in 1504 as a result of an alliance between the Fonj tribes, southeast Blue Nile, led by Umarah Dungus, and the Arab Abdullab tribes led by Abdullah Jamma'a. That Islamic kingdom laid down the basis of an organized system of government in a country of diverse cultures and contributed to upholding the Islamic religion after the fall of Andalusia. It provided an important center for dissemination of Islam as the kings of Sennar encouraged Muslim scholars to come to the Sudan to help spread the Islamic faith and established a branch for Sennar learners in Azhar University, Cairo.
One of the kings of the Islamic state of Sennar founded endowments in Medina, Saudi Arabia, to host visitors from the kingdom to the Holy Lands; the remains of those endowments still exist. The city possesses an Islamic and cultural heritage the like of which cannot be found in another town. The kingdom played a significant role in disseminating the Islamic faith within its borders by establishing Khalawi schools for teaching the Holy Koran, Sharia, Arabic and arithmetic.
Sennar also was an important trading center to which commercial convoys came from India, Ethiopia and Egypt and it was second to Cairo in the population density.
In preparation for the celebration of Sennar as the capital of Islamic culture, the Council of Ministers formed a national committee chaired by First Vice President Bakry Hassan Salih and a secretariat-general headed by historian Yusuf Fadul and a budget was appropriated for the occasion. The preparations began in 2014 after approval of the plan of the celebration and infrastructures of Sennar and the surrounding towns in which the celebrations will be held.
Four states- Khartoum, Gezira, Blue Nile and Sennar are involved in the celebration which starts from villages north of Khartoum, where the Abdullab established the first Islamic emirate, then Ailufoun, Arbaje up to Sennar. Several ministries- Culture, Information, Guidance and Endowments, Tourism and Education- will take part in the celebration- each with its corresponding task.
The streets of Sennar city are now being asphalted to link the residential quarters and the tourist sites together while an archaeological survey is being conducted, while the grand mosque, the palace of Sultan Bade are being rehabilitated and cultural and information centers are being constructed.
The preparations consist of a number of aspects, including the external relations which, in turn, included a visit by a delegation of the secretariat-general to Nazwi city, the capital of the Islamic culture in Oman, where the delegation participated in the Islamic conference that was held in the Sultanate last month, after which it toured other places.
Another aspect of the preparations is concerned with the human resources which involves the training of a number of youngsters for participation in poverty alleviation, introducing Sudanese industries and holding courses for Muslim prayers leaders, preachers and volunteers.
The scientific aspect includes book of Sennar city, while the cultural aspect will consist of festivals and other events in coordination with the Holy Koran society, and a camel race.
The celebration will be an international event in which numerous countries and organizations will take part and during which the Sudan will be a focus of international attention.
The Secretary-General of the celebration committee, Ahmed Abdul Ghani, said the festival will provide an occasion for rewriting the history of Sennar and for introducing the first Sudanese Islamic state to the people.
Mecca was chosen the first Islamic Cultural Capital in 2005 and afterwards the IESCO decided to hold the celebrations successively in three cities in the Muslim Asian, African and Arab regions.
The project is aimed at dissemination of the Islamic culture, linking the present with the past and commemoration of the cultural and civilized roles played by the historic Islamic cities.
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