Before repeating the viral claims about Sudan and the UAE, pause....

Before repeating the viral claims about Sudan and the UAE, pause.
Sudan’s tragedy is being weaponized online, not to help Sudan, but to redirect Sudanese anger away from the Western powers whose policies weakened Sudan for decades, and toward closer, easier targets instead.
And Allah says:

“O you who believe, if a fāsiq (an unreliable source) brings you news, verify it — so you do not harm people out of ignorance and later regret what you did.”
— Qur’an 49:6

This is a command to think before sharing, especially when lives are involved.

1/ The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) traces back to the Janjaweed militias formalized by Omar al-Bashir, the former President of Sudan.
This occurred while Sudan was already collapsing under decades of U.S./Western sanctions (since 1997) that:
- Crippled trade and banking
- Blocked investment and debt relief
- Collapsed the currency
- Drove inflation and shortages

The economic crisis was not caused by al-Bashir alone, but by sustained Western pressure (IMF).

2/ When Bashir was removed in 2019, Sudan inherited two armed power centers:
- Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) - the national army
- RSF (the paramilitary that Bashir empowered)

Many people believed removing Bashir would fix the economy because they misplaced the blame on him personally, instead of on the Western sanctions and external pressure that had weakened Sudan for decades.

The result was that he was removed emotionally, without a structured transition plan.
And when he fell, the central authority holding SAF and RSF in balance collapsed, leaving both forces to compete openly for power.

3/ A civilian transitional government was formed after the toppling of al-Bashir but it had no control over SAF or RSF. Both armed blocs still held full military and economic power.

In October 2021, SAF and RSF acted together in a joint coup that removed the civilian government.
This eliminated the only neutral actor capable of negotiating a peaceful restructuring.

After the coup, their alliance broke down over a critical issue:
How and when the RSF would be integrated into the SAF.
- SAF pushed for rapid integration (1–2 years) under a single military command.
- RSF insisted on slow integration (10+ years), to keep its autonomy and independent command structure.

This disagreement was a struggle over who would control the state.

The dispute escalated, tensions rose, and it exploded into open conflict in April 2023.

So Sudan is facing two armed structures that were both produced by the same state.

- RSF developed into a highly predatory militia that has committed mass killings, displacement, and widespread abuses, especially in Darfur.

- SAF is the formal national army and has its own record of repression and corruption, though the scale and nature of its abuses are not equivalent to RSF’s campaign of terror.

4/ Both sides have access to money, networks, and weapons.
This war is not the result of a single foreign supplier.
Sudan and its surrounding region have long-standing:

- Gold and mineral smuggling routes
- Cross-border trade corridors
- Post-Libya arms trafficking pipelines

The RSF specifically built financial autonomy before the war by controlling:

- Gold-rich territories in Darfur
- Border trade routes into Libya, Chad, and CAR

The SAF controls state institutions, arms depots, and formal military channels.

So the question is not “who is arming who” but who controls territory, men, and revenue streams.

5/ Online narrative frames the conflict as “UAE stealing Sudan’s gold,” but the reality is more complex.

- Gold smuggling networks in Sudan long predate this war.
- They are run primarily by Sudanese, Chadian, Libyan, and Sahel networks, not by the UAE.
- The UAE is a global gold trading hub, which means gold from many regions passes through Dubai, it does not mean the UAE is the one smuggling it.

Sudanese gold is not unique. Gold from DRC, Mali, CAR, Burkina Faso, South Sudan, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe also flows into Dubai through informal networks. Because wherever there is conflict, armed groups monetize gold, and the UAE is the main liquidity market in the region.

This does not mean the UAE is causing those conflicts.
It means conflict actors go where gold can be sold.
Just like oil trades in London and currencies settle in New York, gold clears in Dubai.
So the core issue in Sudan is who controls the mines and the borders, not which country buys the gold afterward.

6/ Another claim is: “The UAE is arming the RSF.”
Sudan’s government even took this to the ICJ.

But the case was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, but even if not so, the evidence submitted for the claim did not meet legal standards of proving intentional support.
The UN tracing reports showed:
- Some weapons sent to Chad later appeared in RSF areas
- But shipment tracing ≠ proof of state-backed arming
- The region is already awash in weapons since Libya’s collapse
- Arms move through smuggling networks, intermediaries, and battlefield capture

In other words, circumstantial movement of weapons does not prove deliberate supply.

And this matters because:

General Burhan brought the case as a political pressure tactic to push the UAE to side with him, just as he is doing now rhetorically.
He is shifting blame outward to avoid answering for the collapse of the transitional government, the mismanagement that fueled internal fracture and the failure to prevent civil war.

Calling out external actors is easier than taking responsibility.

This proves the claim cannot be substantiated at the level required in international law.
And narrative is not evidence.

7/ Another key narrative being pushed right now is the idea that Sudan’s conflict is “Arabs vs Africans” “UAE vs Sudan" or “Arabs are trying to colonize African Muslims.” This framing was created by the British, who deliberately divided Sudanese identity into “Arab” and “African” categories to fracture a population that was historically mixed and culturally interwoven. That colonial wedge is being recycled today to turn Muslims against Muslims, Africans against Africans, and break natural regional alliances to prevent collective sovereignty in the Global South.

The tragedy in Sudan is now being weaponized online to redirect Sudanese anger away from the West, the very power that caused the collapse, and redirect it instead toward neighboring Muslim states. The goal is to prevent Sudan, and the wider region, from building collective sovereignty and independence.

This is a colonial script, just being played on TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram now instead of newspapers and missionary schools.

Recognizing this is not “taking sides.”
It is simply refusing to play the colonizer’s script again.

8/ At this point, the RSF is a real power on the ground.
They control territory the size of a nation-state, revenue sources, and a large fighting force.

The SAF also remains a major institutional military power with regional backing.

No side can fully eliminate the other without years of destruction, famine, mass displacement, and the collapse of Sudan as a unified state.

This means the endgame is not total victory. It is negotiation.

Just as:

The Houthis in Yemen became part of formal talks after holding ground

Somaliland gained de facto autonomy without international recognition

Power on the ground forces political settlements.

If we deny this reality, we don’t help Sudan,
we prolong the war.

Analysis is not justification.

Saying the RSF is entrenched power is not defending them.

Explaining the structure of power is necessary if Sudan ever hopes to end the war.
You cannot solve a conflict you refuse to understand.
You cannot negotiate from a reality you deny.

9/ The UAE’s engagement with the RSF seems to follow this realpolitik logic:

RSF controls:

- Territory
- Fighters
- Gold zones
- Trade corridors

Once a group controls these, no state can pretend they don’t exist.
Engagement ≠ endorsement.
It is recognition of an entrenched actor.

10/ The likely outcome is negotiation, not total victory.

- Power-sharing
- Federal autonomy
- or de facto partition (Darfur / Khartoum split)

This is the trajectory of every comparable conflict in the region.

11/ This is not about defending UAE.

It is about recognizing how Sudan reached this point and refusing to fall into the same narratives that helped create the collapse in the first place.

A reminder to me and you what Allah says:

“O you who believe, if a fāsiq (an unreliable source) brings you news, verify it —
so you do not harm people out of ignorance, then regret what you have done.”
Qur’an 49:6

This is a command to verify whatever information you get before spreading claims, especially when those claims can shape war, peace, blame, or unity.
Misdirected anger weakens Sudan and the Global South
Clear analysis protects us all.

Sudan cannot afford another mistake born from emotion instead of understanding.

May Allah protect Sudan and grant justice, stability, and unity.

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The more we understand, the more we can act with precision.
Watch the Middle Nation episode on the topic: youtu.be/OHSWl16bavk?si…

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