An Open Letter to Maryooleey

[Katrina]

My dear brothers and sisters,

I hope each and every one of you is in good health and Iman.

 

As Somali residents of Minneapolis you are probably aware of the case

against "Sanguub."

In case you are not up to date with the Somali community here is a

summary:

For those of you who are not familiar with Sangub: he is a renowned

Somali poet and playwright. He is the "Shakespeare" of Somalia if you

could award him that title!

Sangub was charged with molesting and raping a minor in 1996. In

accordance to the judicial system we are all presumed innocent, ergo let us

allow the court to decide his fate. There was a hearing on the 31st of

January during which a court date was scheduled for the 23rd of

February.

I have attached the police report for further information.

 

Like many of you I initially chose to be a spectator in this case. Let

us face it; it is much easier to sit back and watch. However, the

situation is far direr than I previously anticipated. It turns out that

Sangub is not the only defendant in this case. In fact, it is the fabric

of the Somali society- our morals, our culture, our religion and our

dignity that will be tried on the 23rd of February. Consequently, the

events related to this case dictate how the world views our people.

 

To date based on the overwhelming support and the ongoing fundraising

on behalf of the accused; our community depicts itself as the champions

of child abusers. This public display of support for Sungub (an

alleged molester) in and outside of the courthouse is grotesque and

ineffable. It is an embarrassment to see our community elders, mostly women,

blindly supporting a self-confessed child molester. The situation would

have been different if his supporters constituted of his immediate

family. Unfortunately, his entourage of supporters come from all parts of

Somalia * a loud public display of our nation’s moral standards and

integrity. I refuse to believe that our community who proudly proclaims they

are " the only ~100% Sunni Muslim population" will condone child abuse.

While I respect the defendant being our nation's poet, a remnant of a

dignified country. Being a local grandee should not allow anyone to

violate the rights of a child. These actions are also sending a negative

message to our children and the voiceless victims of abuse within our

community. We are indirectly victimizing them by staying away from this

issue. They have the right to know, we will not ignore such vile,

sadistic actions in our name. As such, we need to publicly take a stance in

support of the safety of our children and women. Please repudiate the

robbery of the one remaining shred of respect the Somali nation still

owns- its name.

 

I encourage all of you to talk about this issue of zero tolerance of

abuse a perfect sine qua non, in our masjids, community centres and in

our homes. Let us break free from the chains of silence. Let us defend

our integrity and our diin.

 

--May Allah bestow his wisdom on us and guide us to protect the

innocent and the righteous- Amin

 

If you are interested in attending the court session: It will be on the

23rd of February, Minneapolis Courthouse. (fadlun verify the address)

 

In Solidarity,

 

[Castro]

Just how many thousands of dollars were raised for the legal defence fund of the accused? Could the same effort raise the funds for the millions starving in Somali today?

 

Let me see if I understand this correctly, so a self-confessed child molester has the unequivocal support of the community and the people starving back home get a prayer and a shaking of the head?

[Blessed]

^It's disgusting sow maaha?

 

A few days ago, some ***** sent me an email which provided a link to a website donating for Sungub. I don't even know who he was and how he got my email.

 

I didn't know he actually confessed, maxay ka difaacayaan markaa?

 

Honestly, I don't know how these people are going to stand before Allah . SubxanAllah, this is testament to what Yasmin Mohamed was talking about in her article about the conspiracy of (silence) rape.

 

I hope he gets sent down for a long time and a taste of his own medicine. :mad:

[Castro]

^ That image is a copy of the official police report and is publicly available to anyone. It's unconscionable what our people are engaging in. This is not a case of libel. And my anger and frustration is hardly at the crime committed for the law will take care of that, but the amazing sickness that's engulfing us. That's what's killing me.

[Valenteenah.]

I concur. There's a deep sickness in our community. Men are protected, no matter how heinous the crime, while women are stigmatised, especially if they are the victims.

 

 

Blessed,

 

Yasmin was a 100% spot on. There is a conspiracy of silence when it comes to rape and other crimes against females. We all know that. Just in the UK, most Somali rapists get away with their crimes because their families buy them a one-way ticket back to the 'homeland' to escape the law. Really filthy people.

[Maf Kees]

I concur. There's a deep sickness in our community. Men are protected, no matter how heinous the crime, while women are stigmatised, especially if they are the victims.

And the staunchest protectors of these criminals are women. Why do Somali women always end up doing the dirty work for their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers? This victimhood of Somali women goes much deeper than meets the eye.

 

Castro, this is the result of a people that is mostly uneducated, ignorant and dumb to the core. This majority of worthless Somalis have nothing else to be proud of other than the tribe they belong to. Even our ancestors, those that are worshipped as Gods by some, ridiculed these characters with famous maahmaahs (maybe you might wanna help me out here). The people that benefit the most from the clan system are the weakest members. They need to be taken care of by the elders, because they can't take care of themselves.

[Che -Guevara]

Well we could counter their support of sangub by coming out in support of the girl, and making our voices heard in the court and media. Hopefully Qabiilism won't undo our efforts since the brightest of us usually fall for that.

[Castro]

^ I believe that's what the letter is calling for. But even beyond this short term goal of supporting the victim, it is a call to introspection and self evaluation. Exactly what defines our moral system of values?. Clearly, with this support of Sangub, it is not Islam.

[Rowda]

My question is, why the adms delated Sangubs post before???

 

Oh yeah I forgot, we not supposed to talk about this, it never happened, plus the girl didn't even have a breast at the time of the incident,so how can he molested her?? I really have a lot of respect for SOL webside,esp, anything that concerns a freedom of speech or someone stating their opinion without the risk of thier topic being dismissed (dee ma'ay dhicikarto marka aan tirtino).

 

Kat, sis why are you even bothering madax adeeg maryoolay oo haday waxbatayn iyo hadii kaleba ay la'aqli yihiin geel-jiraha soomaliya jooyo. we are very good at talking about topics that has nothing to do with the real problems of Somalida but God help you when you bring up topics such as qabiil,xoogitaanka dumarka, etc. Wardee muslim baan nahaye maxay inanta sheegayssaa??

[Castro]

^ Let's see if this topic is deleted. That will be an unambiguous statement by the administration of the site.

[Che -Guevara]

Castro...We as Somalis Need Cultural Reformation.

We use value system that has outlived its purpose. Essentially, the Somali race is unable to reform and move forward!!!

[Maf Kees]

You guys are acting as if you were present at the ordeal. Innocent till proven guilty remember? As far as I know Sangub never admitted to have sexually molested that girl. If he did, he would be behind bars right now. I also know that supporting someone who might be a rapist is equally as wrong as condeming someone to be a rapist who might be not .. all solo!

 

We are just spectators. Its between Sangub and the girl. Let justice prevail.

[Valenteenah.]

Originally posted by D-yeer:

And the staunchest protectors of these criminals are women. Why do Somali women always end up doing the dirty work for their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers? This victimhood of Somali women goes much deeper than meets the eye.

You're right. The level of hostility towards female victims from other women is ridiculous. It used to leave me deeply bewildered.

 

But from my interactions with my grandmothers, I have come to the conclusion that upbringing is to blame. Culturally, women used to be brought up to believe that they were completely worthless compared to men, and that their only role and recourse in life was to take care of the blessed folks, i.e. their men. To the older generations, there was no other choice but to take any and all the crap thrown at them and persevere.

 

Sadly, those attitudes seem to be deeply ingrained in the Somali psyche because a surprisingly large number of women still hold on to those notions.

[Blessed]

^True! It's about time we rid ourself of this ****** worthless tradition. I think we need to honour people like Yasmin Mohamed and join her campaing for justice.

 

 

D-yeer

Are you parially sighted? Read the police report walaal, he has admitted to the offence in a recorded telephone conversation and again to the police? Where's the doubt markaa? It's his and her words against his supporters.

 

Rowda

Approach the youngsters, the students and the educated Somalis, you don't need odayaasha iyo islaamaha - no one understands them anyway.

[Castro]

^ Blessed, the final word is that of the clan. The girl and her accusations be damned. They mean nothing. She's an opportunist with a questionable character who is carrying a clan-based vendatta against our poet-icon.

 

Che: from the looks of it, we really are going extinct for we are unable to evolve as the rest of humanity has.