A friend of mine sent me this article from the New Yorker on the life and death of Mahmoud Muhammad Taha, a radical Islamic cleric in Sudan who was executed for opposition to the government. The twist is that Taha was a radical progressive, an exponent of a liberal reinterpretation of Islam.

Taha’s direct influence seems small, but the article suggests that the Sudanese are wearying of Islamism and that a vision like Taha’s may have a futre in the Islamic world. It’s a long, but fascinating, read.