It seems that most sociologists or political analysts always portray al-shabaab as a some kind of a secretive armed group with political aims. These political analysts who are colored by orientalism have no clue into the somali pshyche and how our culture has changed in this post-colonial world. Since the 30 years of the somali civil war, every area our culture has been in some way been influenced by a changing world but also by war. First of all what most poltical analysts remain silent about is that Somali identity that was traditionally tied traditionall sunni islam with the sufi tariqa has completely destroyed. Galbeedi completelt ignores this fact and thinks that a few thousands of turkish trained commando troops can erase them. I rejecet this claim and say the problem is way more complicated. Sufism has allways been a a strong tradition in southern Somalia specially in Mogadishu and the coastline. It was the coastline somallis who produced Somali scholars as Shaykh Suufi Ashhaashi, and Shaykh Cabdiraxman Zaylaci /Zaylaciya spread to the northern parts of Somalia into the somali region of 6 and he is now buried in kilinka 5 in the city of Quluunqul. Shaykh Qasim al Barawi and Shekh Aweys continued the Qadaria-Uweysiya into southern Somalia while the Idrisiya (axmadiya, rashidiya) stayed in the bay bakool region. All of these Somali scholars wrote great books of value and very knowlidge able in shafici fiq. Every student of religion in Yemen who studies in Tamim, the traditional stronghold of shafite scholarship begins the book of the maqaasid written by a Somali scholar. The pre-colonial order was that these the scholar was embedded and respected and acted a mediator. The arrival of colonialism challenged this and the armed stuggle against the colonialists were often led by this sunni scholars. While The sunni world was in chaos a sect within sunni fold led by Muxammad Binu Cabdul-wahaab wrote his infamous fatxul-majid and used and obscure medevil scholar Ibn Taymiya as his source and made mass takfir on his fellow sunni muslims. They fought the ottomans and anyone who resisted their rule. The Rashidi arab tribe who sided with the ottomans were ejected from the khaleej and fled to sudan and Eritrea? How is this relevant to Somalia?. Somalia was only communist by name, Barre never initiated communist doctrines that tried to erase the islamic dynasty. While Mengistu was busy destroying the orthodox church Barre respected and saught legitamacy though famous Somali Ulama as the great Shayk Malacim Nur Siyaad, Sheekh Muxiyadin Celi, and lasty the late Sheekh Abba and Shaykh Abbaa gode and Shaykh Maxamed Rabiic who ulltimatelty established "rabiiciya" or timoweynta ( Mocking the ways of the sublime prophet is kufr, the prophet had long hair and those timoweyn simply wanted look like the prophet, their afro did not stop their desire but its choking to see modern day scholars who are clean shaven in the head mocking them for this. One thing that they do lack is studying fiq as the south and integrating themselves with the society.). The late Said S Samatar also commented in his book that the only multi-clan settlement that clan eventually become non.irrelevant was for example The uweysi settlements. You could D-block xerow students from Qabridahr with H-block living 60 years with each other and marrying each other and eventually developing new identities. When the Shaykhs sent their best students to Azhar they were eventually exposed to the pan-islamic ideals by the muslim brotherhod founded by the Sufi Scholar Shaykh Xassa Banna (alle ha u naxariisto). A disengage the regime occured when Barre took the colonial law western out into law and rejected the islamic way inheritance. Since that incident Alle ha u naxariisto Macalim Nuur Siyaad, and Sheekh Aw cabdi celi cumar stopped coperation with government and used their private funds to finance students coming from harar and garisa to study in the settlements. Everything, literally everything changed in when oil was discovered in Saudia Arabia. The obscure saudi sect of wahabism suddenly had billions of dollars. They established Wamy. Secular-Arab nationalism was dead with the defeat of the Arabs. The Iranian revolution that was inspired by Sh Xassan Al Banna showed the confused post-colonial ummah that their was a third way. Islam was political solution sounded good. While Islax the muslim brotherhood om Somalia coperated with the traditional leaders Sunni Islam (infact most of them were students of those scholars) they also pursued higher education. During the boom of 1980 thousands of Somalis flooded to the Medina universaty, what those Somalis did not know was that the 4 madhabs of Sunni islam were dismissed. Shaykh Alawi al Maliki and his likes. Hard-core wahabist scholars Shaykh like Bin baz, and Shaykh Albani who utterly rejected 1300 of islamic jurispudence were made professors. The Saud arabs never abandoned the hanbali fiq but came with the innovation that all 4 major sunni schools were not legitimate. A living legend, Shaykh Cabdullahi Qudubi,who is still alive described the mess as "for 1400 we sunni muslims respected our diffirences and diffirence of opinion did not mean that one was right and other was incorrect, it means both were right as the prophet might have done in the way of the opinions, we as somalis have now chaos in our hands" Students were also taught that all non wahabi sunnis were moshriks, non muslims, having the belif that the prophet could hear you and you could ask intercession from him our from a wali was deemed to kufr. Thus in a split of a second most Somalis were non muslims by the students like Sheekh umul and Shibili, When the civil war broke out traditional sunni islam was it lowest point, people needed a new ideology, Communism was dead. Somali nationalism was its lowest. Many intellectuals looked at wahabism. Billions of dollars of pumped into somalia demonizing our cherished scholars that had for a 1000 years protected as sunni muslims. Shaykh Yuusuf Kowneyns thousands years old of teaching kids alif la kor***** was replaced by "ba bii buu fatxatayn". Debates raged weather the mowlid was correct and traditional shafite fiq as toughing skin of female breaking your abulation was challenged. Thats history but how is that corrected to Al-shabaab? Few now about this day but the wahabis of najd once captured mekka and pillaged the city and killed many pilgrims in the 1800 century. An ottoman expedition led by Pasha Muhammed Albani captured the chief leader Al-Saud and he was beheaded as a heretic in Istanbul. The Book of fatxul majid and kitab tawxid and dividing tawxid in some kind of trinity "uluhibya rububiya" were book of mass takfir. Another author who was not a islamic scholar shaheed- Sayid Qutub borrowed leninist stances and even deemed whole societies to be in a state of "jahiliya" So how does this narrative fit within Somalia ? Unlike the Taliban, they never abandonded their hanafi fiq and naqshbandi tariqa. The Somalis were quick to join the wahabist narrative, bizarre fatwas of hyeana meat being halal, Shibili being a rockstar claiming that he had with own eyes seen 300 girls with aids aged between 14-17-teen was mindboggling. Imagine if Ethiopia with its 1800 year histort of being a coptic orthodox nation changed into protestant one during 30 years. Academical articles would be full of information about this. The gang of Ictisam who fully supported a jihad (umul) against Cabdullahi Yusuf simply changed his mind a decade later and boarded a plane and even had dinner with cabdi iley. During universal tv debate, Bashir Salad who is the gudoomite of this gang was asked this mind boggling question and had no answers. The interview became infamous. Worse was the voa- discussion where Islax and tradionalists united against the takfirism, bashir salad once against condemned al-shabaab yet propogated their views in sermons.While the traditionalists who refused to join the civil war and condemned as "fitna". While Itixaad was 1991 in chaos civil war. Al-shabaab did come out from nothing, they are a part of al-ictisam, and large segments of the Somali society do belive in what that they believe in. In Somaliland, Shayk Mustafe tries to educate Somalis about Sultan Suleyman Qanuni but does not tell the people that acording to his wahabi belifs suleyman qanuni is a non muslim becouse of being the maturidi-sunni-hanafi school and adhering to the naqshbandi tariqa. He loves to boast about non somali islamic heroes like salaxadin ayubi but fails to mention that Salaxadin was a devout sunni ashcari, the same creed as somalis belong to. And a creed that shibili declares to non muslims. Never will you hear him talk about 1800 century somali scholars. THE CHANGE AND DOWNFALL OF WAHABISM AND RESURGENCE OF TRADITIONAL ISLAM. The traditionalists had to adapt and have done so. Most Somalis are traditionalists. Seeing Saudi Arabias crown prince saying live on CNN "we were to export exremism" was a death blow to ictisam. They can no longer draw inspiration from Saudi Arabia and no funds will be coming from Saudi Arabia. While on a visit in Kenya I was suprised to see how a poor umul from 1994 had become rich real state magnate. Macalim nuur siyaad educated thousands and did not leave a penny behind. Such are true sufis who distance themselves from this world at minimum and concentrate on the next world. Al-shabaab will only dissapear once Somalia turns back to Azhar and not Saudi Arabia.

I have seen the interview of a local Gaalkacayo man who killed 17 people over ten years. He flowed similar methods . Sometimes, when the security people show up at the murder scene, he points them to the wrong direction. When I listened that interview and many others, the Al shabaab issue is no longer a military issue, but a law enforcement matter. A well trained investigators and detectives could crack most of these cases. Usually when a major robbery or active shootings take place, you cordon the whole perimeter and check both people and vehicles. You could arrest and detain anyone, especially young people you encounter in the murder scene. There are cheap electronic equipments to check for gun residue to determine if someone had shot a gun hours ago. Corruption and incompetence kills in these days. Small detective work could eliminate Al-shabaab killers in big cities like Mogadishu, Gaalkacayo or Boosaaso.