SPT – The Political Editor

In a dangerous precedent adding to the record of extremist fatwas inciting murder and violence, hardline Islamist cleric Abdel Hay Youssef- a member of the advisory council of the Sudanese Islamic Movement and a prominent figure in the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood appeared on the satellite channel “Tayba” two days ago, where he issued a fatwa describing U.S. President Donald Trump as “an infidel waging war against God and His Messenger, harming Muslims and spreading corruption on earth”. Acharacterization that, according to extremist Salafi-jihadi Islamic jurisprudence, warrants a death sentence.

This fatwa was issued in the context of U.S. President Donald Trump’s recently concluded Gulf tour which started in Riyadh, continued through Doha, and ended in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE. The trip, primarily political and economic in nature, included high level meetings with regional leaders.

Abdel Hay Youssef, a leading figure in Sudan’s militant Salafi-jihadist current, made these remarks live on a fatwa-focused broadcast watched by millions of Muslims worldwide. His comments have sparked widespread controversy and condemnation among Sudanese audiences, particularly because his description of the U.S. president took on a takfiri (excommunication) religious tone. According to extremist interpretations embraced by jihadist Islamist groups, such rhetoric amounts to explicit incitement and an implicit fatwa justifying the killing of the American president.

Abdel Hay Youssef’s remarks were not merely an individual interpretation but were laden with sharp, uncompromising religious rhetoric, portraying Trump as a direct enemy of Islam and blaming him for the “killing of Muslims” in various parts of the world. This discourse, broadcast from a media platform based in Turkey, highlights the growing role of Tayba TV in promoting hate speech and incitement to violence, according to multiple Sudanese reports.

Owned by Abdel Hay Youssef, Tayba TV is a key media outlet for the Sudanese Islamic Movement. Observers note that it has become a prominent instrument in the Islamist campaign to regain power through armed conflict amid the war that erupted in Sudan on April 15, 2023, following their ouster after the 2019 Sudanese revolution.

The seriousness of the channel’s role is further underscored by former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s admission during his trial in the transitional period, when he explicitly acknowledged before the court that his government had funded Tayba TV from state coffers. This admission highlights the profound intertwining between governance and the transnational religious-political agenda of the Sudanese Islamic Movement, raising critical questions about the legitimacy of such media outlets.

During the 2019 popular protests that culminated in Bashir’s ouster, Abdel Hay Youssef issued a fatwa calling for the killing of “one-third of the people for the sake of the nation.” This extreme ruling later reverberated through Islamist circles, with many criticizing al-Bashir for failing to implement it.

In another troubling instance, Abdel Hay Youssef used the same platform on April 23 to call on members of the Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood following the Jordanian government’s ban on all Brotherhood activities and declaration of the group as unlawful to relocate their operations to Sudan. “Sudan stands fully prepared to host you if your country becomes inhospitable,” he declared.

Furthermore, Youssef’s rhetoric, laden with implicit takfiri (excommunication) undertones and veiled calls to violence, comes at a time when Sudan is grappling with one of its most devastating civil wars a bloody conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions. Against this backdrop, such inflammatory statements risk further fueling the cycle of violence, promoting an uncompromising ideology that rejects both peaceful resolution and pluralism as viable concepts.

The role of politically aligned Islamic media platforms – particularly those using religious discourse as a cover for ideological agendas, has become increasingly evident. Foremost among these is Tayba TV, which has emerged as one of the most powerful mobilization tools for Sudanese Islamists in the ongoing conflict. This is particularly alarming given the lack of meaningful oversight or a clear international stance on its content.

Notably, Abdel Hay Youssef previously issued a fatwa advocating the killing of Sudanese groups calling for a return to democratic transition and opposing the military backed religious dictatorship. He specifically targeted “ The Civil Democratic Alliance of the Forces of the Revolution (Smoud) , led by former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, stating that some members should be killed while others should be expelled from the country after revoking their Sudanese citizenship.

Abdel Hay Youssef’s statement cannot be reduced to mere incendiary rhetoric from an extremist cleric. Rather, it constitutes a clear and deliberate declaration by one of the leading figures of the Sudanese Islamic Movement, a movement actively seeking to reclaim power in Sudan by fueling conflict and destabilization. It serves as a renewed warning about the genuine threat posed by such groups, underscoring the urgent need for coordinated regional and international efforts to shield the Sudanese people from the resurgence of this current, which threatens not only Sudan but the stability of the entire region.

This statement reinforces a long-standing demand by Sudan’s civil and democratic forces: the urgent need to classify the Sudanese Islamic Movement as a transnational terrorist organization. This is a group that systematically instrumentalizes religion as a tool to propagate violence and destabilize nations in pursuit of political power.