Sudanese religious figure Al Khalifa Sheikh Al Tayeb Al Jadd (Khalifa Sheikh Wad Badr) passed away on 12 April 2026 in Cairo, Egypt, at the age of 96 after prolonged illness.
Originally from Umm Dawa Ban in Khartoum, Sheikh Al-Tayeb Al-Jadd was the leader of Nidaa Ahl Al-Sudan (Call of the People of Sudan), the khalifa (spiritual successor) of the Sajada/Wad Badr family in Umm Dawa Ban (he assumed the khalifa in 2002 by family consensus), and a member of the Islamic Jurisprudence Council (Majma‘ Al-Fiqh Al-Islami), serving as head of its fatwa/issuing‑rulings department since 1998. He studied Sharia at the Faculty of Law at the University of Khartoum, when it was known as Gordon College, and graduated in 1959. He later served in the Sudanese judiciary and rose to be a judge at the Supreme Court; he worked in multiple regions and served a five‑year secondment in Qatar.
He was devoted to the concerns of the people and national issues, and was a great pillar for the community and all Sudanese. With his passing, Sudan loses a leading scholar and Sufi figure. Sincere condolences to the Badrab family, to all Sufi circles, and to the entire Islamic community.
There have been wide condolences from religious circles, Sufi communities, and official statements, including from the Transitional Sovereignty Council and the Prime Minister. The Council stated:
“In mourning him, the Council mourns for the Sudanese people a scholar of the Islamic ummah who dedicated his time and efforts to spreading Islamic teachings and promoting piety, Sufism, and asceticism.
We ask God to grant him mercy and forgiveness and to join him with the righteous predecessors — the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous. Indeed, to God we belong and to Him we return.”
According to multiple news reports, his body has been transferred to Sudan for burial at his khalifa site in Umm Dawa Ban.
