Hasania in Sudan

People Name:	Hasania
Country:	Sudan
10/40 Window:	Yes
Population:	822,000
World Population:	822,000
Primary Language:	Arabic, Sudanese
Primary Religion:	Islam
Christian Adherents:	1.40 %
Evangelicals:	0.10 %
Scripture:	New Testament
Online Audio NT:	Yes
Jesus Film:	Yes
Audio Recordings:	Yes
People Cluster:	Arab, Sudan
Affinity Bloc:	Arab World
Progress Level:

Introduction / History

The Arabs are one of the world's largest and most rapidly growing ethnic groups.

In the seventh and eleventh centuries, Arabs invaded North Africa, causing many tribes and pre-Islamic Saharan nomadic groups to be displaced. These invasions also overran and absorbed, to some extent, the passive communities of black farmers, Jewish artists and Berber refugees who lived in and around the oases and trading centers of the northern desert. For this reason, many different Arab groups exist throughout North Africa today, including those tribes that have become "Arabized."

The Arabs are subdivided into thousands of ethnic groups and subgroups based on their particular Muslim sect, Arabic dialect and regional adaptation. One of the Arab subgroups that remains are the Hasania. Their language was later replaced by Berber languages, but most of them now speak Sudanese Arabic. Like other who fall under the category of Sudanese Arabs, the Hasania culture has some elements from Subsaharan Africa.

What Are Their Lives Like?

Hasania Arabs are dependent on farming and animal production for their livelihoods. For most of the Arabized tribes, agriculture is the basis of the economy. Sorghum and millet are their staple crops, along with watermelons, gourds, okra, sesame and cotton. They also raise cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys and dogs. Hasania Arabs make cheese and butter from the milk of both the cows and goats.

Most of the Hasania live in permanent settlements or villages. Their houses are simple round huts with thatched roofs. The nomadic groups live in temporary camps due to their constant migrating tendencies. They usually live in dome-shaped shelters made of branches covered with grass. In the cities, where the few merchants and businessmen live, the houses are generally rectangular in shape and have tin roofs.

The Hasania dress in similar fashion to other Arabic communities. They typically wear sandals, cotton turbans or caps and long-sleeved cotton tunics called djellabas.

Their lives revolve around important ceremonies such as birth, marriage, death and the first haircut and circumcision for boys. The most elaborate of all ceremonies is the marriage ceremony. Polygamy (having more than one wife) is a common practice among the Arabized tribes. However, according to Islamic law, a man cannot have more than four wives. After marriage, the newlywed couple generally lives with or near the husband's parents. However, in some groups, the young couple will live with the wife's family until after the birth of the first child.

What Are Their Beliefs?

With the death of Mohammed in A.D. 632, the Arabs erupted from the desert pastures of Arabia and overran the lands to the east and west. They intermarried with the local North African tribes and introduced them to Islam. The tribes began adopting the traditions and practices associated with Islamic culture. The spread of Islam continued and became even more advanced in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when many schools of religious learning were founded. Today, virtually all of the Arabized tribes are 100% Muslim.

For the Hasania, Islam is not just a religion, but also a cultural identity. It is a way to differentiate from animistic and Christianized African peoples.

What Are Their Needs?

The Hasania are not being ministered to by agencies and there are no known believers living among them. Further evangelistic work and much prayer are needed to penetrate the hearts of these precious people with the Light of the gospel.

Prayer Points

Ask the Lord to call people who are willing to go to North Africa and share Christ with these Muslims.
Pray that African Christians will be compelled to take the gospel to their unreached neighbors.
Pray that Bibles, Christian broadcasts and other literature will be made available in the Sudani language for the Hasania people.
Ask the Lord to raise up Christian medical teams to work among the Hasania.