Muhammed Sudan, who adopted the Qur'an as a source of his morality and devoted his life to Islamic services, is known as one of the eminent pioneers of the Islamic struggle in Turkey.

Who was Muhammed Sudan?

Muhammed Sudan was born in the Dercimt village of Lice district in Diyarbakir province of southeastern Turkey.  His father, Sabri Sudan, was the one of prominent scholars of the region.

Having his childhood in a pious family and receiving Islamic studies, Sudan met with the leader of Hizbullah Jama'ah Hüseyin Velioğlu in the 1980s and got involved in Islamic activities.

Moving to Diyarbakir in 1987, Sudan began to run a wholesale store in the Balıkçılarbaşı neighborhood. He had a good financial situation and left his business to commit to his Islamic duties, though. He led with his friends and thousands of students to teach the Holy Quran in Diyarbakir and other cities. Owing to their efforts, thousands of children and young people learned how to recite Quran and many people gave up their bad habits and became committed to religious life.

Security forces began to seek Sudan due to his great Islamic works in 1993 and he started to pursue his activities secretly. Having had to leave Diyarbakir, Muhammed Sudan lived in different cities.

After a raid conducted in İstanbul in 2000, Muhammed Sudan was detained and incurred incomprehensible tortures. Imprisoned in early 2001, Muhammed Sudan was sentenced to 12 years and 6 months in prison over the charges of being a member of Hizbullah Jama'ah by the State Security Court (DGM).  Muhammed Sudan stayed in Diyarbakir E type, Bingöl M type and Diyarbakir D type prisons for 10 years 6 months. After serving his prison sentence in worship, contemplation, and studying Islamic knowledge, Muhammed Sudan was released from prison in 2011.

After his release, Muhammed Sudan went on pilgrimage to Mecca. There he got sick and had medical treatment for a while. After he had returned to Diyarbakir his illness relapsed and he was diagnosed that he had lung cancer and also had cardiovascular disease. Having medical treatment at Dicle University in the oncology unit for a long time, Muhammed Sudan lost his life on 10th April 2014. (ILKHA)