The passing of Mawlana Sayyid Muhammad Othman al-Mirghani calls up Sudan’s political, social and religious memory. Ibrahim Shaqalawi describes him as one of the figures whose presence was tied to the history of the national movement and to efforts to find a formula that could bring Sudanese together despite their differences. His departure is not only the loss of a religious and political figure, the article says, but also a reminder of a phase in the country’s history and the opportunities for consensus it carried.