Reflection: Witness To A Crime, The History of Somali Cultural Violence

[Jacaylbaro]

Do Somalians need to quetsion their culture? What went wrong, and caused the huge problems that faced the well standing country, Somalia, who once had strong economic etc.? Should Somalians change their way of thinking and change the way they tackle problems like child upbringing? What about the way somali men treat their wifes like being violence ? Those quetsions and many others is Faah M. Mohamed answering in the following article. Be prepared for a long but very worth article!

 

Somali cultural violence came to world attention in the early 1990s when General Mohamed Siyad Barre’s regime was overthrown and Somalis started slaughtering each other. As I was in the United States while Somalis were doing this butchering, I remember some of my colleagues and co-workers asking me, "Why are you guys killing each other? Don’t you have the same culture and religion, and speak the same language?" As these questions are not easy, I had to scratch my head many times to come up with a believable response. Regrettably, I never found a convincing answer an ordinary American could understand. However, these tough questions forced me to be more curious and I started asking myself, "why have my people all of a sudden become so violent?" This self-debate has encouraged me to look beyond the civil war as I started investigating other possible factors contributing to the violence. The first suspect factor has become the role of Somali culture.

 

Many Western authors of Somali history and anthropologists have reported that Somalis are the only African ethnic group that is very much homogenous as everyone equally shares in the same language, culture, religion and values. They further maintain the wars among Somali clans were struggles over limited resources such as water and pastures. However, these Western historians and social anthropologists never looked into whether any other factors might contribute to the Somali violence. As a matter of fact, these European historical accounts helped lead to the common misconception about the subject, one I myself subscribed to in my teen years. Now that I have matured and traveled around the world, I am more convinced the issue of Somali Cultural Violence (SCV) runs much deeper than fighting over water or limited pastoral resources.

 

One important aspect to consider regarding SCV is the role of the Quranic Schools (Madressa.) As an Islamic duty, every Somali child is enrolled in the Madressa between the ages of 5 and 6 or at least before going to regular school. The Madressa serves as a pre-school in many Somali Communities where traditional Western schools are limited or non-existent while functioning as the only education form in many rural communities where a student becomes a Sheikh (Islamic Educator.)

 

I remember the first day at the age of six when my cousin took me to the Madressa. It was a small rundown building next to an aging Mosque, the only Mosque in the city at the time. The Ma’alin (teacher) of the Madressa was standing at the front of the building with a long stick in his right hand. My cousin and the Ma’alin greeted each other and had a short conversation. I could hear the loud voices of the kids reciting the Quran coming from the inside of the Madressa. At times, their voices sounded like busy bees gathering honey, while at others I would have guessed the kids were undergoing torture. Curious, I leaned forward to peek inside the Madressa to find out what was going on. In spite of the fact the place did not have a light, I was still able to see a bunch of kids sitting in rows and loudly reciting the Quran.

 

After their conversation ended, my cousin and the teacher exchanged goodbye handshakes and my cousin left me right there. The teacher stared at me and told me to go inside the Madressa. When I did so, I could clearly see those kids reading the Quran who were now all starting to stare at me. A tall boy standing between the rows in the middle of the children held a long stick in his right hand, and when I took my first step forward, he started beating the kids, beginning from the right side and moving counterclockwise. The kids were shielding their loohs (a wooden stand used to write the Quranic alphabets) from the stick. I was traumatized to see what was happening to the children.

 

The boy with the stick came up to me and pointed me to an empty spot, saying, "sit down there" with a deep voice. The empty stop was the end corner of a row. He immediately handed me a small looh which had (prewritten) Arab Alphabets on it and said "read…say: Alef, Ba Ta…" Now I recognized him as the Kabir, the most senior and knowledgeable in memorizing the holy Quran. In most cases, to become a Kabir you had to know the entire Quran by heart. The Kabir also relieves the teacher and has full authority to discipline all the children under his command.

 

My heart began to thump painfully with fear as I began to shake. I could not comprehend why the kids were being beaten for no discernible cause. My eyes started rolling sideways and I immediately began thinking of running away. While I entertained this thought, I heard the sound of the stick followed by an excruciating pain in my left shoulder. I felt part of my skin had been ripped off. When the Kabir saw me crying, he came back and commanded me to "stand up and turn around." After I got up, he started whipping me. "Nobody cries here," he told me. It was an absolute shock to me. Why were they beating me up before I had even learned anything?

 

The Kabir once again came around and started hitting kids indiscriminately, shouting "read, read, read the Quran." As he was doing when I first came in, he started his beating from the right corner and moved counterclockwise. As he got closer and closer to me, my heart was thumping so much I felt it would jump out of my chest. When he hit the boy next to me with his long stick, I leaped up and ran away. "Get him, get him!" I could hear the Kabir in the background. I looked back and saw four big boys chasing me, one of them just a few feet away. I tried to outrun them, but they were very experienced and much stronger than me. I had no illusion I could evade capture. After chasing me for a good 15 minutes in the narrow alleys of the city, one of them finally caught me by the neck and they carried me like a bag of rice back to the Madressa.

 

I was screaming and begging for mercy, saying over and over, "Please leave me alone, please let me go." But although they heard my pleas, they didn’t give a damn. The teacher and the Kabir were waiting for me outside. "Karbaasha," the teacher said, meaning "whip him up." The four boys held my legs and arms up forcing me to lie facedown while the teacher started pounding me with his long stick. It was an agonizing pain, which still lingers in my mind. After the teacher tired of beating me, he asked the Kabir to relieve him and continue the beating, then asked him to put me back in the Madressa. No one explained to me what crime I had committed, but I had learned my lesson, and that was end of my crying. From now on I had to swallow my pain.

 

Yet the question of "why" remained in my mind for many years to come. In the end, it has become clear to me such beatings are part of the Somali culture of teaching that continues as long as a child is part of the Madressa program. In Somali society, if kids "misbehave" at the Madressa, not only does the teacher have full authority to physically discipline them, but they can also report to their parents who will eventually whip them as well. In Mogadishu where I spent most of my younger years, parents used to give teachers one simple guideline, "the body is yours and the soul is mine," which means you can discipline the child with no limitation, but don’t beat him/her to death! It is every Somali family’s pride to see their child memorize the entire Quran, but I disappointed mine because I never memorized a quarter of it. The trauma and the humiliation I experienced in my first day of the Madressa also made me dislike most of the Somali teachers.

 

The physical punishment of children does not end at the Madressa, but unfortunately continues from first grade to high school. Before the Somali nation’s disintegration, almost 99.99% of Somali schools were public ones where all teachers were underpaid, badly trained, and never showed any alternative of disciplining students other than corporal punishment. We have to also remember these teachers themselves had also experienced the same cruelty from their former teachers, which is the reason they took out their pain on innocent children. The physical punishment of school children is not even confined to traditional whipping, slapping, kicking or punching, as during General Mohamed Siyad Barre’s regime (1969-1991) it became more sophisticated and much more malicious.

 

After General Barre came to power in October 1969, he adopted the former Soviet Union’s socialism doctrine and mobilized much of the society to be part of the socialist propaganda machine. During this campaign, many citizens including, teachers, doctors, students, civil employees and soldiers were sent to the indoctrination camps such as Halane, Eil Jallle and Hill Weyne. Those who got lucky or had government connections were sent to the Soviet Union or other nations of the former Soviet Block. The trainers of these notorious camps were predominately cadets who came from the former Soviet Block. These cadets had learned many sophisticated techniques of torture and brutality and later taught their subjects (the trainees) how to master the cruelest and most vicious practices.

 

As participants in the group, Somali teachers also learned from these camps a far more sophisticated level of torture and punishment. These punishments included standing barefooted on a concrete slab in over 100º F temperatures. I remember having to stay home after the concrete slab burned both my feet. I could hardly go to the toilet let alone school. You may wonder how the hell these teachers got away with such criminal actions, but I’m telling you my family was very pleased with them for disciplining me for "my bad behavior."

 

Of all the other cruelties, the most popular and widely used punishment technique was the "Mig" as it was an easily manageable method of torture. The subject has to lie down on his/her belly on the ground with legs and hands being tied up behind his/her back. The subject then would resemble the shape of the "Mig" Soviet Fighter Jets Somalia once had. As there was no accountability or consequences for the perpetrators of torture, God knows how many victims had broken bones, nerve damage or even died from these inhumane practices. Yet for many years, the "Mig" style has become the most preferred trademark of torturers.

 

SCV is not restricted only to children, but is commonly used against women, prisoners, domestic laborers, soldiers (particularly those who are in training) and anyone who has no protection from the dominant culture. The irony of SCV is its broad social acceptance including the huge indifference among the educated elite.

 

As is true in many Third World countries, Somalia has never had enforceable domestic abuse laws that would protect the most vulnerable in its society. Instead, resolution of domestic violence issues is left within the clan system. Even though during the Barre’ regime clan influence diminished somewhat in urban areas, it continues up to now as the ultimate leading choice of social order and problem-solving. For example, if a man beats his child and the child consequently suffers severe harm, the clan elders who usually intervene in clan conflicts do not interfere because the issue is considered a domestic dispute, so there is no way the father would even be reprimanded. In other words, because the father is the ultimate authority of his household, there is no prescribed consequences or retribution against him regarding his actions. However, in the case of harm against his wife, the husband may face a considerable penalty, because without an appropriate retribution the woman’s clan, particularly her brothers and cousins may launch a retaliatory action that could cause an all-out war among rival clans.

 

Thus to avert clashes with the woman’s clan, the elders of the man who caused the harm summon their man and often find him guilty, particularly if the wife suffers severe injures. The retribution against wife beaters is customarily a financial one as he is normally obligated to pay what Somalis call "Haal," which in the Somali language means something (in the Western sense) like monetary damages. No criminal provisions exist to prosecute these kinds of crimes.

 

As most Somalis live in the countryside, the compensation can be paid in the form of livestock; based on the extent of the injury, the compensation could be a goat, a cow, a camel or more. In view of the fact the man and his wife continue to live together afterwards, the "Haal" may never become the woman’s own property. Thus we may call it only "a temporary satisfaction" on the woman’s part. Therefore the "Haal" system is a very unjust arrangement to satisfy a woman after her rights and dignity have been maliciously violated. It is also only a slap on the wrist in response to the man’s aggression, which can hardly be calculated or compensated for in units of farm animals.

 

In the late 1980s I immigrated to the United States where for around ten years, I was part of the social work industry. During my tenure with this industry, I worked with many refugees and immigrants including Somali clients. One of most interesting and rewarding positions I held was a Family Counselor. In this particular position, I interacted with very diverse populations including women, children, men and the elderly.

 

Even though it was not one of my job descriptions as such, I often counseled Somali parents on how to discipline their children without employing physical punishment. Prior to their coming to the United States, the only means of discipline these parents knew were the commonly used physical punishments in Somalia. Some of these parents became bewildered when I explained that beating children is against American laws. After learning about these laws, some of the parents felt helpless. Because they had never known any other alternative, they felt their rights to control their children had been taken away.

 

Although I have tried to persuade Somali parents that other means of child discipline methods exist such as grounding, taking away privileges, etc., many of them have become unimpressed with this American version of child discipline. Strangely enough, many parents contend they know better how to discipline their children, and that emulating "the failed American system" is not worthy. Ironically, some of the Somali parents convinced themselves they are morally superior to the American parents "who failed to raise their kids in the right way." Some of these parents further wished to have the opportunity to raise these undisciplined American kids.

 

For the most part, in this particular experience with Somali families, I realize that none of them seem to understand the negative side of physical punishment. I view this conviction of Somali parents as being profoundly dangerous and harmful to future generations. Take the example of a Somali boy subjected to inhumane treatment, or who simply witnesses brutality against someone else. When this boy grows up, what is his outlook on the real world? What kind of man will he be? One day this man will follow Somali tradition by marrying and having his own family. Based on his childhood experience, how will this man treat his wife, children and other people under his authority? Generally speaking, we can safely say there is high probability this man will follow in the footsteps of his father and become another abuser.

 

In some cultures including that of Somalis, one may accept the future emotional and behavioral consequences to a child who is physically abused, but may not comprehend how it will have any future consequences when a child merely witnesses violence against someone else. Yet in fact, there are many undeniable scientific studies available in the developed countries that relate to how seeing violence impacts ordinary people. Some of these materials focus on refugees and immigrants who have been through civil war situations and subjected to violence or witnessed violence against someone.

 

During Barre’s regime, many people were executed for political motivations. A few days before the public execution, particularly if it was a summary execution, the government used to utilize its propaganda via the media and make the event public so that people could be witnesses. Besides public announcements encouraging everyone to attend, many people were also forced to come and witness the work of the firing squad to take with them an important lesson. The most memorable execution that I will never understand was the execution of ten religious men on January 23, 1975. Several young boys and I heard the announcement and thought it would be kind of exciting to see the firing squad. We had never witnessed any death let alone a public execution. Therefore we walked miles to see this interesting event that our government so heavily advertised. We never questioned the government’s intent or the suffering of these innocent men who would die a horrifying and unimaginable death.

 

The victims and their executioners were brought in with a number of police or military trucks. The victims were wearing white clothes with all of them having some kind of black hood over their heads. These men were quickly tied to the firing squad posts while the soldiers formed two rows of lines facing them. The first row started kneeling down pointing their guns toward the victims. An officer who was standing in a corner ordered them to get ready and prepare for firing. As I saw the imminent death before my eyes, my heart started bumping fast and I became numb as all my excitement vanished. Although many people were watching the execution, I didn’t hear even a whisper; it was so quiet you would think nobody was there. "Fire," the officer yelled, and the brash sound of the bullets followed. He continued ordering until he thought everybody had died.

 

We could the see the blood and the bullet holes in the victims. It was a horrific situation for a child to witness. One of the victim’s tied robe got loosened and his head started dangling. The assigned medical doctor checked the guy and said, "he is still alive," so the officer walked up to the victim and shot him in the head. When all the men were pronounced dead and loaded into the mortuary truck, the spectators walked away quietly. It was an appalling situation and I was so disgusted about even being there. This incident taught me that human beings can be vicious animals and that the hideous actions of adults may immensely influence children’s behavior and personality. I thank God for sparing me from becoming a violent felon.The thesis of my argument is not to make a blanket accusation against my culture or my people, but it bothers me when I see many educated Somalis who are indifferent or completely in denial about these stories and many others that have never been told.

 

To feel out how the Somali elites see these issues, one day I initiated a discussion on the subject with two Somali men. After a long heated debate, one of them posed this question: "what is wrong in how we discipline our children? Unlike Americans, you can see how our kids respect their parents. I think you are influenced by the American culture, so you’ve completely changed." He conclude. The other guy jumped in and said, "I heard you say children can be sanctioned without physical punishment, but you are out of touch with the reality. In Somalia, there are no toys, Game Boys, or anything you can take away from the children. Therefore you can’t compare American and European kids whom you can control through material goods with the Somali children. The only option you have with Somali children is to discipline them—and it works."As with all the debates I previously had with other Somali men, this discussion didn’t produce any fruits, or shall we say, we all failed to persuade each other about our opposing ideas.

 

Whatever the circumstance, I sincerely believe many educated Somalis are determined to circumvent the fact the root cause of Somali violence stems from the culturally accepted domestic violence. The important question is why these men are in denial that these abuses exist or ignore the societal consequence these crimes will have on many generations if not restricted or totally prohibited.As a matter of fact, within the Somali society, the most enjoyable social debate is politics. Anything other than politics, particularly regarding sensitive social issues, are considered highly contentious and avoided for serious discussion. Some of these social issues include child and spousal abuse and female circumcision, or as they call it in the west Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). These issues have become social taboo so no one dares to speak about them. In the case of female circumcision, there were a few Somali women who dared to speak about the cruelty of the FGM, but those women often faced a rush of accusations.

Consequently, those women were labeled as feminists, pro-Western, anti-Islam, traitors and any bad name you can imagine.The nastiest story about SCV I ever heard was about a man we’ll call Gedi. After getting married as a young man, Mr. Gedi told his young bride that he wanted his first baby to be a boy. Whatever the reason, Mr. Gedi believed his wife had the capability to conceive the gender of baby he wanted. When she became a pregnant with her first baby, it was not Mr. Gedi’s wish, as she gave birth to a baby girl. Mr. Gedi was not happy about the outcome and their relationship became unpleasant. To make things worse, his wife had another two girls consecutively.

 

According to the one telling me the story, Mr. Gedi became so enraged and he started beating up his wife almost every day until she finally had a baby boy! As maintained by the narrator, everybody in the neighborhood knew about the situation, but nobody ever intervened.Now we can see both why Somali men as the dominant power in society either stay quiet or oppose any discussion on the subject. In point of fact, I’m not suggesting all Somali men are inherently violent, but many of them are, and the Somali culture unfortunately condones their iniquitous behavior. Besides the worries I have about the Somali children who continue to be physically abused by their parents, guardians, teachers, or whoever has authority over them, I’m equally concerned about the magnitude of culturally accepted violence within the Somali society. On the other hand, I’m not entirely pessimistic about the future of Somali men and the way they will treat their children, wives, and those under their authority.

 

My optimism is based on a historical perspective, as there was a time before Islam came to the Arabian Desert when Arabs used to bury their daughters alive. At that time, it was a shame to have a girl; therefore it was common understanding among Arab nomads that they could dispose of their daughters this way. I’m sure that although this wicked idea of murdering young girls was widely held in the Arabian Peninsula, people massively reformed when they accepted Islam as their religion and complied with its prohibitions against killing young girls. The moral of this story is that although no father would enjoy murdering his little baby, it is very evident that because of cultural and societal pressures, man can become the worst monster ever created by God, but when enlightened, a man can become the most productive and valuable among all God’s species.

 

Without a doubt, if Arabs could change when God commanded them not to kill their daughters, any human being can change for the better; and the same is true for the Somalis.As a result of the persistent and continued civil war, many Somalis immigrated to Western Europe and North American to seek asylum or were resettled as refugees. This mass immigration had a positive impact on how Somali parents behave; particularly the way Somali men treat their children and wives. Because Somali men were subjected to foreign laws that took away their ability to abuse, although some became delusional and ended up in mental hospitals, many of them became law-abiding citizens of their adopted countries. In addition, as many Somalis travel between their adopted countries and their original homeland, their travel has a positive impact on how the local Somalis treat their children.

 

There is also is a growing realization among new generations that the physical abuses of children, women and the weak are considered barbaric practices so that those who still subscribe to these shameful ideas will soon become the minority.As this new trend of social change continues, I’m very optimistic that many Somali men will also realize the irreversible harm they have caused to their children and those over whom they have real or apparent authority. I’m also confident these men will also one day recognize the psychological impact of the cruelty to children and the weak and will hopefully become a part of the greater movement to eliminate these crimes.

 

Today as Somali people strive toward a greater peace and stability, that peace has to begin in the family, in the Madressa, in the schools, among the leaders, and finally with the entire society. Cultural violence must not be treated only as hostilities between clan warriors, but as where society in general stands on common violent behaviors. Therefore, as Somali men we have a moral obligation to raise our voices, to defend those who cannot defend themselves, and to adopt a holistic nonviolence culture. This is the only way we can prevent future full-scale violence and raise non-violent generations.

 

 

By Faah M. Mohamed

Virginia USA.

 

Email: qurbaawi@gmail.com

 

http://batulo.blogspot.com

[Fabregas]

nice one

[me]

This rubbish. Not worth reading.

 

Where is this dude heading with his piece? ma wuxuu leeyahay soomaalidu waa violent? and if they are violent are they more violent then other nations?

[BORN_BRANIAC]

J.a.c.a.y.l.b.a.r.o, Why ur articles are soooooooo long.. NO OFFENCE.. they are good, but to get ppl attention make it short and straight to da point... it an advice use it in da future..

[Jacaylbaro]

Me, Yes Somalis are violent in nature that is why we are different from the rest of the world. From the childhood to the last stage we're just a violent. Look inside that country and look at those who live in the abroad ,,, aduunkii oo dhami soomaali buu ka qaylinayaa ,,,

 

 

Born, This is a cut and paste topic ,, it is not my piece where i can shorten.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Before the Somali nation’s disintegration, almost 99.99% of Somali schools were public ones where all teachers were underpaid, badly trained, and never showed any alternative of disciplining students other than corporal punishment.

He didn't mention, I see, the other key facts: Schools were universally free, from grade one to university. Soomaali schools were the only Afrikan school system [except Carabi-speaking ones] whose schools were taught only in their native tongue as official curriculum, up to to university-level.

 

Few African and other third world countries could afford this.

[me]

Jbro I know in aad Soomaalida necebtahay xabashyahow! Thats why its no suprise that you had to post this rubbish.

 

How are Somalis more violent then other nations horta? naac naac un ayaad halkan ka wadaa. Instead of throwing around this Somalis waa violent BS, why don't you just say why you think Somalis are violent and are Somalis more violent compared to the Germans? the British? the Russians? the Ethiopians? the Americans? who do you compare the Somalis with when you say they are violent?

 

Somali nacayb un ayaa waxan kaa yeedhsiinaysa Jbro.

[Jacaylbaro]

Originally posted by me:

Jbro I know in aad Soomaalida necebtahay xabashyahow! Thats why its no suprise that you had to post this rubbish.

 

How are Somalis more violent then other nations horta? naac naac un ayaad halkan ka wadaa. Instead of throwing around this Somalis waa violent BS, why don't you just say why you think Somalis are violent and are Somalis more violent compared to the Germans? the British? the Russians? the Ethiopians? the Americans? who do you compare the Somalis with when you say they are violent?

 

Somali nacayb un ayaa waxan kaa yeedhsiinaysa Jbro.

I've just got the proof ,,,,, thanks for coming in ,,,,,,,,

[me]

Nin dhintay unbaa aakhiro ka soo hadla Jbroow

[Jacaylbaro]

Ilaahay ha kuu naxariisto .............

[peasant]

I would not go that far by asserting somalis are violent by nature or violence is deep rooted in our culture. I dont think the brother fully understood the problem we have in somalia and how a previous subsequent events have contributed to this quagmire.

He is very much absorbed into what is taking place right now in somalia rather than looking back and observing the nation chronologically how things have evolved into this shape. I would vary much argue we did not get the proper baby steps of a nationhood after getting our independence and higher percentage of our population remained illiterate as majority of somalis still led nomadic life style. The problem we have has its roots in lack of education.

[cynical lady]

Peasant, the author is absorbing anything apart from his own ********* “SVC” god help us there is nothing more dangerous than an ignorant man.

[Jacaylbaro]

Well, i don't think that we had a timeline where we can look at it in the past. It starts from the beginning where all the reported history was violent and fighting among clans for revenge, camel problems, land disputes and so on. Look and read the poems somalis registered since long long time ago ,,,,

 

Again we have the colonial period where we were forced to obey the ruler's management besides those brave ones who chose to fight against the Kufaars until we get the independence.

 

During the first 9 years those weak governments were fighting politically and the nation didn't get rest at all. Some small clashes has been happening among clans until the military regime came to the power.

 

During the period where Siad Barre was on the top, the country has been ruled by force and everybody knows if that is not the case the government would not last that long and wouldn't achieve the little progress it made as a governemnt.

 

And don't even talk about now ,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[peasant]

JB do we have this much of war list in somali history? if not how somalis are more violent than others?

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_wars

[Jacaylbaro]

The only difference is that our wars are not registered in the books.

 

I believe we fought more than the English ppl ,,