The Islamic Shari‛a (Laws) and the Conceptualization of an Islamic State by Different Muslim Groups in Northern Sudan

The paper is supported by field data from the urban and rural communities of Shendi Province, which represent the southern part of the present River Nile State, on the eastern bank of the Nile. It reveals the ideas of an Islamic state that the various Muslim groups in Shendi Province have, and how each conceptualizes an ideal Muslim society and an ideal government. These issues represent areas of religious beliefs and practices over which a controversy among the Muslim groups in Northern Sudan is presently debated regarding the implementation of the Islamic Shari'a in an Islamic state.