Who is Abdul-Hayy Youssef ?!

One of the articles that I will never forget is published by the intellectual, historian, and a senior professor in the University of Khartoum before it was destroyed by the defunct regime, Professor Mohamed Saeed Al-Qaddal. The article was entitled (Save the University of Khartoum before it becomes an academic graveyard) and was published by the prestigious newspaper (Al-Sahafa) in (2004).

The article touched on the chaos that spread throughout the university due to the interference of the defunct regime immediately after seizing power in (1989). As they interfered with the administration and tampered with the University’s strict academic laws and values, appointing those who lacked ability and competence to occupy the most important academic positions, prompting them to spread corruption and tamper with its laws and respected academic legacy, as they granted degrees and titles to undeserving individuals.

Amongst the examples Prof. Al-Qaddal cited in regards to the issues of tampering and academic decline in that period were the Master’s and Doctorate degrees (Abdul Hayy Youssef) obtained!!

Professor Al-Qaddal had published a newspaper article concerning (The veil in the Qur’anic discourse), and was surprised a few days later by a response published in the name of (Dr. Abdul-Hayy Youssef, Assistant Professor at the University of Khartoum) written in a manner far removed from the known academic style and containing nothing but insults and curses, which aroused Al-Qaddal’s curiosity to search the academic history of this university professor who doesn’t seem to understand the first thing about academic writing and scientific criticism, and concluded the following:

* The (Miracle) doctor works as an assistant professor at the University of Khartoum in the (University Requirements) department. He obtained his university degree from (Medina), his Master’s degree in (1995) and his doctorate in (1999) from the University of Khartoum. I read both of his theses, which were discussing Sharia and the Sudanese Criminal Law of (1991).

On the second page, I was stunned by a paragraph from his Master’s thesis in which he stated: “In recent history, the Sudanese judiciary ruled on the (misguided) Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, who doubted the infallibility of Sharia. That courageous ruling was one of the most wonderful achievements of the Sudanese judiciary throughout its long history. Paying no mind to the ignorant’s objection to the just ruling, as their situation is similar to that of a cat puffing and attempting to mimic the arrogance of a lion.” Imagine that these phrases were worded in an academic thesis!!

The writer used the same insulting words such as: misguided, ignorant, and cat. He added expressions such as: (That was a brave ruling..and the infallibility of Sharia). These expressions are unscientific and uncommon in the academic field. Has he taken the time to look up all the rulings of the Sudanese judiciary and surmised that this particular ruling was the bravest ? Does he mean to state that the efforts of scholars in the matter of Sharia are infallible ? Or is he issuing rulings without paying much attention to their accuracy ? Perhaps he is using expressions whose meanings he doesn’t fully grasp ? How did his supervisor approve the use of such expressions ? And how did the external examiner approve them as well ? How is any part of this accepted as a scientific research ?!

The miracle doctor writes the contents of the research at the end of the theses, not at the beginning. Why, only God knows ? And in both theses, he uses two different titles. In the first he writes; the index of topics, and in the other he writes; an index. In the master’s thesis he uses the title (Conclusion of the statement), which is -indeed- a strange manner of expression. However, when listing the contents he only writes (Conclusion).

Which begs the question; What happened that the word (statement)? Why did it disappear ?Perhaps the researcher didn’t care about such trivial matters because he was dealing with (major issues)!!

It is common for a university thesis to include a written abstract in English, but the miracle doctor failed to write one. Perhaps he doesn’t want to defile the purity of his thesis with the language of colonialism and arrogance.

Both theses were supervised by Professor Hafez Al-Sheikh Al-Zaki, and this professor’s affair with the University of Khartoum is astonishing. As following his graduating from the University of Khartoum, he turned to practicing law and politics, and he has made notable and appreciated achievements and activities in both fields, but he failed to practice any academic activity, whether theoretical or practical, except for obtaining a master’s degree!!

At the beginning of their rule in (1989), he was summoned from his home and appointed Dean of the Faculty of Law, to the astonishment of the university community. His appointment was met with strong opposition, but the authority holding the reins and the university director imposed the a decision. Then he was summoned again from his home and awarded the title of associate with the financial allowances of a professor.

However, he began to use the title (Professor) even though he never went through the suffering of preparing for a doctorate. And began to supervise master’s and doctoral theses, which resulted -naturally- in these theses that lack most of the components of academic research, and the university was transformed from a national academic institution into a backyard for a political party, where appointments and promotions are based on party loyalty.

* This was part of what was included in Professor Al-Qaddal’s article regarding (Abdul-Hayy Youssef), and I don’t feel the need to add more for you to comprehend the reality of the person issuing fatwas, when he doesn’t even possess the required knowledge to write a university thesis, let alone the content of such thesis, what he teaches his students and the fatwas he issues on the pulpits!!