Jabhad, with all due respect, power is not with sophisticated guns and big scars sustained over how many battles, it's with people or people power as they say. As long as UWSLF can play its cards well enough to win over the local people through a grassroots campaign of comprehensive peace and political rights and implement them concurrent with the constitution of the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia, Sheikh Ibrahim and the UWSLF might indeed outlast the failures its rivals jealously predict or even gain popularity and prestige, beyond the election time, methinks. UWSLF's biggest leverage is that its leader is both religious pundit and populist, therefore, his credentials can challenge the secular ONLF leadership, opposed by many Somalis for its one-clan orientation and political vision. And Sheikh Ibrahim just like Sheikh Sherrif is willing to build on the established institutions of the Somali Regional State or reform it altogether for an extended autonomy. I believe--as many other experts--Somalia won't be truly stable until the question of ****** or western Somalia is resolved.

Though I'm not a Sheikh and my knowledge of deen is quite limited, "Unbelief" or declaring someone Gaal becomes a "hukm shar'i" or legal category the same way as Slavery, and that is an extreme decision that only an entity vested with authority can pass since the verdict makes his/her blood and property licit. However, so long one adheres to the Shahada and knows the boundaries between al-takdhib (denial) and al-tasdiq (assent) with regards to our Prophet's authentic transmission , placing someone under the category of unbelief is tantamount to putting your own faith at risk in equal measure. A Muslim person can't openly claim to deny the illegality of alcohol consumption , but as long as this particular sin is so clear to that person as to induce an admission of guilt and thus hides it from public knowledge, the gates of repentence and of mercy are still open to him. Qarsashada (hadal iyo ficilba) denbiga Ilaah laga galo wey ka miisaan yar tahey tan aad banaanka ka muujisid ama vice versa Sheegida (qoraal iyo ficilba), maxaa yeeley, saameynta ay ku yeelan karto ummada kale Read al-Ghazzali's book, "The clear criterion between Islam and Godlessness" to find out the insurmountable difficulties involved in calling a brother/sister Gaal.

Waaheen, the author here as well has done his homework and he plodded the field even deeper to substantiate our venerated indigeneous history that spans more than 1000 years, not a few hundreds. Link A polemic article like this one to deny others of their roots and thus their geneological nobility is an absurd case to defend same as results of the genetic study cited. Somalis aren't of one pure race but they have nevetheless evolved to become one big nation with common cultural and genetic characteristics, and that is what matters the most to our posterity.

KK, odayga ma marwuu u heesayaa? Other than that, good song!

Originally posted by chocolate & honey: Ok. So basically so far only Nassir thinks Abortion in its entirety is immoral. The rest of you beleive in some cases(incest, rape, under 4 months, the health of the mother)abortion is a OK? Thats the point I was making. If these pro-life people had distinguished between a woman in danger from a selfish woman who frequents Frat parties and leaisurely walks into clinics, the I wouldnt have a problem with that. But THEY dont! So waan if fahanay. [/QB] Is it only me in here. U right abt the frat parties.. As for saving the life of a mother, such procedure is compatible with our religious doctrine since there is only one option to save one life.

Great Project! The dearth of professionals is a new challenge Somalis in the Diaspora have to deal with. There are similar problems in London and other areas of North America. As a first generation of immigrants, we haven't yet developed the social or practical skills in our respective professions on how to navigate the treacherous waters of let's say "the Great Recession" Keep up the good work, Mr. Ahmed. Ps. In the history, one of three countries to cast a Yes vote on our political independence was Israel.

Waaheen, you missed my sarcasm. Even as highly prejudiced as Burton was, he credited the oral history more than the written ones, and he wasn't referring to Somalis alone. Some of his funniest quotes: The half-famished Bedouins, Somal or Arab, think of nothing beyond the stomach,--their dreams know no higher vision of bliss than mere repletion. A single article of diet, milk or flesh, palling upon man's palate, they will greedily suck the stones of eaten dates: yet, Abyssinian like, they are squeamish and fastidious as regards food. They despise the excellent fish with which Nature has so plentifully stocked their seas.[32] "Speak not to me with that mouth which eateth fish!" is a favourite insult amongst the Bedouins. If you touch a bird or a fowl of any description, you will be despised even by the starving beggar. You must not eat marrow or the flesh about the sheep's thigh-bone, especially when travelling, and the kidneys are called a woman's dish. None but the Northern Somal will touch the hares which abound in the country, and many refuse the sand antelope and other kinds of game, not asserting that the meat is unlawful, but simply alleging a disgust. Those who chew coffee berries are careful not to place an even number in their mouths, and camel's milk is never heated, for fear of bewitching the animal. [33] The Somali, however, differs in one point from his kinsman the Arab: the latter prides himself upon his temperance; the former, like the North American Indian, measures manhood by appetite. A "Son of the Somal" is taught, as soon as his teeth are cut, to devour two pounds of the toughest mutton, and ask for more: if his powers of deglutition fail, he is derided as degenerate. Of all the slave-dealers on this coast, the Arabs are the most unscrupulous. In 1855, one Mohammed of Muscat, a shipowner, who, moreover, constantly visits Aden, bought within sight of our flag a free-born Arab girl of the Yafai tribe, from the Akarib of Bir Hamid, and sold her at Berberah to a compatriot. Such a crime merits severe punishment; even the Abyssinians visit with hanging the Christian convicted of selling a fellow religionist. The Arab slaver generally marries his properly as a ruse, and arrived at Muscat or Bushire, divorces and sells them. Free Somali women have not unfrequently met with this fate.

Hadana ma taariikhdeeni saxda aheed baa loo soo dhigtey. Dagaalka nalagula jiraa badanaa. Please visit Maanhadal.com and read scholarly articles on the origin of Somali clans. Even Richard Burton believed the integrity of the oral transmission as opposed to written or recorded ones. We seem to have developed the tendency--a pernicious one at that-- to discredit our oral historical transmission and credit western prejudices.

Why do you guys resort to collective name-callings based on false physical or diet attributes. The promise of a good faith negotiation on peace, political rights and economic developments can hardly be rejected. War is not the answer.

Maybe a great demand for it in Middle Eastern societies. But there's hadiith that advises us to reveal good dreams and conceal the bad ones. Some of us don't even remember them the next day lol.

I read an NPR article in response to the Greece’s debt crisis. It said that SEC officials had launched an investigation on the role that Goldman Sachs and several other banks had played during Greece’s accession to the European Union. EU officials first complained to the Fed that Goldman Sachs devised the derivative instruments to conceal the extent of Greece’s sovereign debt. Goldman sold to the Greece government a financial instrument known as cross-currency derivatives to help her conceal a large portion of its national debt. Though it is perfectly legal to sell such instruments, the Greece government used it in her bid to join the EU. According to the article the Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke testified before the Senate Banking Committee and said that his department will take a serious look into these allegations and possibly determined whether Goldman Sachs and its affiliates had any bearings on Greece’s fiscal and debt crisis. There has been a huge concern on the Greece’s financial health and its contagious effect on the Euro Community or whether member countries would commit to shoulder the burden of its bailout. It is also alleged that two financial instruments arranged by the alleged banks have helped Greece conceal its government debt from EU regulators and investors. The cross-country derivative is one of them. It creates an off-balance sheet, which basically transfers a government debt from its balance sheet account. The instrument therefore improves the solvency of the government. In this case, investors that initially purchased and held government issued bonds found that they were on the wrong end of the stick and immediately sold them in the secondary market. Another instrument that Goldman Sachs arranged was the credit-default swap, a derivative security that functions as insurance against a possible loss of an underlying assets or liabilities. Investors do not have to hold a government bond or own shares of any government bond. They can however trade on these instruments in the open market and bet on swaps held against a borrowing entity. In this case, the risk rate of Greece bonds had soared and its market value traded far below its real value. EU officials allege that were it not for the Goldman Sachs’ role, the current debt crisis of Greece would have been reversible. Fed chairman Bernanke defended the Goldman's arrangement to hedge Greece against market perceptions, but he openly criticized its use to destabilize a country like Greece. Amazing developments so far..

Originally posted by Maaddeey: Mr.Somalia, Isbaarada Puntland hadaad sidan u difaacanaysid Meiji tiisa maxaad ka rabtaa? Lol@Maadeey, meel walba waxaad u heysataa sida Xamar oo kale. PL is a "refuge from anarchy".. For the first time, the city’s tradition of tolerance was noticed by the Western press, dominating the headlines of many prominent newspapers. Canada’s national newspaper, the Globe and Mail (May 17, 1996) reads its International News: “Somali city a refuge from anarchy”. The newspaper elaborated well why Bossaaso became the ultimate “final destiny” for many people:Left to fend for itself, Bosasso has become a refuge from anarchy. Even those from other clans other than *****, who have long dominated the northeast, say they are welcomed. “These people if you tell them you are hungry, they give something,” said Abdalla Essa, a wrinkled old man who came from Mogadishu six months in a shanty town along the garbage-strewn shore of the shimmering blue Gulf of Aden. Gabriel Ali, 37, a builder who lost eight relatives in the war, braved highway bandits to move to his family from the capital. “In Mogadishu, if you work and get some money they take it by force or kill you. But here, I can keep what I earn,” he said. Now he earns about $100 a month. -Robdon Forum

Great great, page-turning, superbly written book based on a true narrative account. Figure who is that guy in the middle wearing the shalwar khameez

A series of articles compiled by Biyokulule Online I was so surprised...

So hillarious lool. Would they call it a consensual stuff and free choice? Crazy world.

^You have a point but this is a matter of saving life or destroying it. Let's look at it from religious and scientific side on what is considered a human form. Starting with this quote, "The scholars all agree that abortion is forbidden after the first four months of pregnancy, since by that time the soul has entered the embryo.....The Shafi school (dominant in Southeast Asia, southern Arabia, parts of East Africa) allows abortions to be performed up to day 120. For the Maliki school (prevalent in North and Black Africa) an abortion is permissible with the consent of both parents up to day 40; it is no longer allowed after that. For the Hanbali school (predominant in Saudi Arabia and United Arabic Emirates) abortions are principally prohibited from day 40 onward." Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D. Since this is the case in Islam, the scientific side perfectly proves the Qur'an that after 40 days soul enters the embryo. But in most cases, termination procedures is done after more than 40 days. To illustrate how a form of human life develops, it's important to consider the scientific explanation. Almost all adult males produce thousands of spermatozoa (male germ cells) each second. It would take about 500 of them lined up in a row to total 1 inch in length. They take a month or so to travel from a testicle, through a long tube called the "vas deferens," to reach a small reservoir inside the man's prostate gland. Here, semen (a mixture of spermatozoa and various fluids) is formed. Each spermatozoon contains human DNA. They certainly appear to be living organisms. As seen in a microscope, they seem to be moving energetically with the sole motivation of fusing with an ovum. Most people consider them to be a form of human life, because they appear alive and contain human DNA. Secondly, The woman ovulates and produces one mature ovum (egg cell). It travels down one of her fallopian tubes towards her uterus. It is about 1/100" in diameter, and is barely visible to the naked eye. It also considered by most of the public to be a form of human life, for the above reasons. But it does not meet some scientists' strict definition of a living organism, because it lacks one factor: the ability by itself to reproduce. It can only reproduce with the assistance of a spermatozoon. The evident is that male are carriers of life. After the above steps, the zygote(waa xuub samaysma oo u eg plasma membrane) now consists of 16 cells and is called a 16 cell morula (known as pre-embryo) It has normally reached the junction of the fallopian tube and the uterus. The process now begins in full. Approximately after one week, the grouping of cells are now called a blastocyst. It has an inner group of cells which will become the fetus and later the newborn In week five, small arm and leg buds have formed. Hands with webs between the fingers have formed at the end of the arm buds. Fingerprints are detectable. It's a very little, but there you can tell it has human forms. Let's jump to week six. the embryo is about 1/2" long. The face has two eyes on each side of its head; the front of the face has the basic structure of human. Now it has a full life.

^There was a big protest in the twin cities, I was told. Protestors wearing T-shirts with the SSC on it. Mobilization and awareness pays dividence.

The Admiral has answered all those questions correctly btw. He is not a citizen of any country, he is fighting for his country. Ethiopia is the enemy and Somalia is an ungoverned wasteland.They both do not belong to him Jabhad, we'll wait and see where it goes, but, if (in your stance reflect that of the admiral), then why were you protesting against Farole of that much-attacked and ridiculed assertion/gaffe? Do you see the moral contradiction here? What Somali pride Is ONLF fighting for If it is at fundamental odd with the very name it derives its legitimacy---a nation divided by the colonies (Britain as the main culprit) and whose flag is for the unification of Somali territories..

Such terrible cases are very few in our community, I hope. Che, regardless of a rape incident, this thing shouldn't be allowed. That idea is simply against our belief system of pre-destination. The perpetrator of that crime would be severely punished and the child of that birth would be treated like any other orphan. As for saving the life of a mother, such procedure is compatible with our religious doctrine since there is only one option to save one life or allow two lives get destroyed under your watch. And all other scientific hypothesis and argument that the feotus hasn't fully developed into a child disquilifies the very basic definition of "pro-life vs. pro-choice". Or should we place social stigma, financial burden, and materialism above the life of a human being?

Originally posted by Maxaatiri: There is something tragic about a woman past reproductive age having to buy love and submission from someone who is relatively a child in comparison. Tragic indeed! A cultural pride we have , I believe, to shield us from the hackneyed 4s of tourism: sun, sand, sea and sex. Somalis are haughtier than Arabs in relation to the European women (forget the Nilotes and Bantus), as the saying goes, "hadaad dhimaneysid, dhareerka waa la iska duwaa". And in congruent with the observation of the Scotish anthropoligist, our lot have natural apathy for foreign exploitation and would rebel against it to the last breath. But 20 years of armed conflict, human smuggling, secessionism, anarchy and piracy (and its related ills) seem to have stripped us of that ancient pride. At last, there are still those among us who would stoop so low as to be enslaved by such thriving industry in their secluded world. . To the fear expressed by our fellow nomads, I would say Somalis won't openly tolerate the establishment or promotion of such business however the contemporary societal ills, war and griding poverty we subject to ourself or by our enemies. I think we must export that pride and confidence along with our business acumen to the rest of Africa.

The gender problem is universal and differences in communication style caused by entrenched social norms is the main culprit. Researchers have recently found out a patterned style of communication. Whereas women relate to similarities, emotional attachment and match experiences, men compete for status and dominance, and this is where the friction starts. Misunderstanding! The article has some good points.

Wow Amazing.. I see Dr. Said Fahiye and others among the dignataries invited. A Grand Event held and organized by the esteemed women of S.S.C. To celebrate the richness of our culture, history and to attempt to patch up our differences! Keep it up. I'm surprised by how she, the speaker, talked of the biography of Saado plus her immense knowledge of our nomadic way of life like the list of cultural terms hardly known by majority of persons like I'm.

Originally posted by Mansa Munsa: At the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends. Mansa, I'm sure you remember Ismail's experience on how Somalis have a habit of not coming to the rescue of each other, under the delusion that injustice far off their clan's territory might not reach or affect them later. As MLK said, 'injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere.' "Somaliland" aggression and colonial-type behavior will only kill its image of peace and of a community who went through similar experiences. And this will also make reer SSC stronger in their resolve to remain united with their brethrens...

How about combating corruption, Duke? That is my biggest fear.

Fergusson, sorry I meant sheikh Ibraahim. How do you see this news and do you agree this idea that is gathering storm, that is ONLF might change the face of its struggle and opt for a negotiated settlement?