Burun, Arabized

The origin of the Arabized Burun traces back to sub-Saharan communities that, over time, were absorbed by the expansion of Arabic language and culture in Sudan. This process intensified after the country's independence in 1956, when the power left behind by the Egyptians and the British passed into the hands of Arab Muslims, who further extended their influence through an Arabic-based education system.

Through successive generations schooled in this language and formed in Islamic practice, the people gradually traded their original identity for an Arab identity, a path followed by several other Sudanese tribes of African root.

Agriculture sustains the life of most of the people: sorghum and millet are the main crops, alongside watermelon, squash, okra, sesame and cotton. Many families also raise cattle, goats and sheep, and produce cheese and butter from cow and goat milk for their own consumption. Those who still follow more mobile habits set up temporary dome shaped shelters made of branches covered with grass.

Social life revolves around major ceremonies, especially birth, marriage, death and boys’ rites of passage, with marriage being the most elaborate of them. Polygamy is a common practice among the Arabized Burun, as among other Arabized tribes of Sudan.

Nearly the whole people professes Islam, following the five pillars of the Muslim faith: the declaration of faith, daily prayer, almsgiving, fasting during Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca. For the Arabized Burun, being Muslim is directly tied to the identity they adopted along with the Arabic language. This faith tends to be lived quite strictly, with little openness to other religions, which reinforces among the people a cohesion around the Islamic identity inherited through Arabization.

Alongside formal Islamic practice, elements of folk religion persist in daily life, such as the use of talismans and amulets for protection and good luck, a trace that still echoes traditions from before Arabization.

The people’s language is Sudanese Arabic, for which a complete New Testament already exists, along with the Jesus Film and audio recordings of Scripture produced by Christian organizations. A complete Bible in this language is still lacking, however, and Arabized Burun families’ real access to this material remains, in practice, quite limited by the distance from any living Christian witness in their midst.

Among the Arabized Burun there is no Christian memory or tradition: faith in Jesus is practically unknown, and Muslim identity is fused with the very identity the people adopted through the process of Arabization. This fusion of language, culture and religion makes any approach to the gospel rare and delicate, with no local references of Christian faith for anyone to turn to.

Like many communities in Sudan, the people have already lived through cycles of instability and violence that affect women and children above all, leaving deep marks of insecurity and daily vulnerability. There is a real need for lasting peace and concrete protection for the most vulnerable in these families.

On the spiritual front, the people lack any nearby Christian community, discipleship or support for anyone who might come to take an interest in Jesus, which makes the journey of a possible new believer even more solitary and uncertain.