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Religious Beliefs and Spirituality in Sudan

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Sunny Islam is the majority religion in Sudan, representing 70% of the population but is predominant in the north. Animist or indigenous beliefs have 25% and Christianity has 5% of the population and, together, they are prevalent in the south.

Sunny Islam has all the Sudanese Muslims as its adherents. The religion is characterized by the formation of religious orders or brotherhoods, requiring its faithful to perform obligations that would form the five pillars of the faith. These pillars are the shahadah or the profession of faith confirming that there is no other God than Allah and His prophet is Muhammed; prayer at five specific times of the day; almsgiving; fasting in the daylight hours during Ramadan month; and pilgrimage to Mecca. Under the Islamic law, eating pork, engaging in gambling and drinking intoxicating liquor are prohibited.

Christianity has various denominations in the country, namely, the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Reformed Episcopal Church, Presbyterian, Orthodox Christian, and the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox. The major churches of Christianity are the Roman Catholic Anglican and Presbyterian. Adherents of the Anglican faith are the Dinka people while the Presbyterian has the Nuer people as its faithful members.

The indigenous Christian Churches enjoy continued external support and have either opened up new ones or repaired the church structures destroyed by the long civil war of 1983 to 2005. The Sudanese people continue to practice indigenous religions with the animist group believing that spirits are forces of nature or are a manifestation of their ancestors.