Turabi, Hasan al-

Turabi, Hasan al-

(born 1932, The Sudan) Sudanese Muslim religious scholar and lawyer. After receiving a traditional Muslim education, he studied at the University of London and the Sorbonne in Paris. In the early 1950s he joined the Sudanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. While teaching law at the University of Khartoum (1957–65), he participated in the 1958 revolution that ended military rule. He later served in the national legislature (1965–67). He supported the 1985 overthrow of Gaafar Mohamed el-Nimeiri. That same year he formed the National Islamic Front (NIF), an incarnation of the Muslim Brotherhood. In 1989 the NIF supported a coup that brought 'Umar Hasan al-Bashir to power. He later served as speaker of the National Assembly (1996–98) and was arrested in 2001 during a power struggle with al-Bashir.