Do we have culture?

[lol]

Salaam my friends,

I have been thinking really alot about the question of whether we have our own identity, culture, tradition etc. You see since we have been scattered around the globe by a war most of us didn't choose, nonetheless we have learned alot from the exposure to the outside world. But then we have lost ourselves on the way to achieving our immediate goals. Look at us! where ever we go we dress and act like the natives of that particular country sometimes we even go beyond them. Look at Somalis that reside in the Arab world; They wear Ibaya, talk worst than arabs, the youngsters are obsessed with their opposite sexes and women remain indoors. I mean don't get me wrong, covering one's body is a sign of being a Muslim but why do it to resemble the locals rather than for fear of Allah? Look at us in the West; Girls wear mini skirts shorter than the ones hookers wear, boys hooked on weed and baggy pants, walking sideways like a chained maniac whose lost balance; Mothers referring the use of English or the native language over the Somali given that she is having trouble comprehending and understanding her own kids; Fathers sitting at coffee shops waiting for the taxpayers to feed their children, talking of nothing but BS. In Africa, Our society men and women are ruined and have nothing better to do than chew Qaad and be in phone boots calling west for money.

 

Its scenerios like these that raise the question of whether we have a culture/identity of our own or are we taking the proverb " When in Rome do what the Romans do" a bit too far?

[shyhem]

I definately think we are all losing our culture in one way or another.

How about i start with you.Take alook at u'r signature and tell me what do you mean by "no breakfast in bed".

 

The good old somali women will never say anything like that especially when they are trying to attract "potential" husband..........or maybe the young girls nowadays have lost the art of shukaansi and ofcourse cooking.

[xiinfaniin]

I don’t think so because if we still have our culture intact it wouldn’t be difficult for a man like me to find second wife!

 

In my father and grandfather’s days and when our culture was well and thriving finding second, or third wife was fairly easy. My grandfather was known for that. He had his way with women and was very productive man. But it was our noble culture that provided conducive environment for his polygamy practices. You see, I have been shopping around in the Midwestern states for the last two years or so and I couldn’t find a date for a second wife, except for desperate single moms of course. Even I had hard time explaining to the westernized mind the permissibility of marrying a second, third, or fourth for that matter.

 

So it’s a sad reality that Somali culture has lost its mainstay values and time has not been nice for it! Oh what a lamentable heritage that we have indeed lost.

[shyhem]

Xinfanin

You are on your own brother.I can already see the dacaas and the frying pan flying around.remember what they say "Hell has no fury like an angry woman".

 

Even I had hard time explaining to the westernized mind the permissibility of marrying a second, third, or fourth for that matter

You should never explain anything to any woman. I'm not abig fan of "the whole second wife thing" since i barely can take care of the first one.However, i must say if and when i decide to marry a second wife,i won't discuss anything with my first wife.I will let her hear the rumours from the relatives and neighbours.

 

Finally when she confronts me,i will tell her like it is.And if she keeps nagging me well i will have no choice but to replace the sister with a third one from village just to piss her off.

[Miriam1]

^ How cruel...let her hear it from the neighbours and relatives...

I really wonder sometimes if people who get married really care for each other...doing what you said would be like the emotional equlivant of taking your wife and repeatdly steppin on her chest with big ol smile on ur face...simply cruel...where's the companionship and love these days....it simply baffles me...affairs..second marriages without a wifes consent,divorces for other women or men....wierdos really. Why get married if your incapable of fully commiting yourself...take it or leave it !

 

Went of the topic...bit of a rant...

 

To the topic..yea, there is no denying it many of us have lost our culture..but hey, look at the bright side..everyday i see smart young somali girls and boys in my university, pursing degrees inefforts to help thier ppl, running conferences and programs for the people of the city. We arent perfect, and u should expect people to change, some just dont have that strenght of character.

 

g'nite

[Garyaqaan2]

origianly posted by Shyhem

I definately think we are all losing our culture in one way or another.

How about i start with you.

Take alook at u'r signature and tell me what do you mean by "no breakfast in bed".

 

 

waraa ciyaal qarxis aad u weeyntahay lol waraa ishaa katuurtay.

 

going back to the topic sis i agree with 99% that we are loosing our cluture. If you need breakfast sleep where subxaanalaah

[CHE]

Somalis do have prominent culture,but it is another case that we chose not to adhere to it.

 

The Somali diaspora suffer merely from a chronic case of assimilation.Regardless of place, we try to catch up with the new enviroment, we are thrown into ,so much that we become detached from our roots.

 

Personal view: There are conditions that are favourable to preserving culture/identity,and one of utmost importance is an enviroment that compliments and promotes that culture.Had we not not left home I dont think we would be having this discussion now.

[Salma]

What Culture you are referring to? Coz if there is anything in our culture against the Islamic Teachings that won't make me preserve/defend them. As muslims we should speak about Islamic Culture not a Somali, Arabic or Western culture. We should follow what match our religion and abandon what we took from our ancestors which are away from our religous teachings.

 

Anyway, let us look at the subject from all the angles:-

 

First of all, culture is the customs, folklore,language, art, traditions, heritages, ideas ,,,etc of a particular society. And you cant make sure that you can preserve a culture for hundred years or more. Either it will be ignored/dropped or modified somehow.

Besides, common as people coming from a nomadic background, the majority of our people came from the Baadiya (Miyi) , do you think when they moved to the urban cities in Somalia they behaved the same way when they were living in the Miyi. Certainly no, they dropped or changed things. So, we don't have to blame the Somalis living outside Somalia, coz changing the style of your life has nothing to do with being inside/outside Somalia. Iam not defending the youngesters or the adults who are behaving like westerns,but what Iam telling you is that CHANGE is a normal thing in this life. But what matters is whether its for the good or the bad direction.

 

I don't believe that the Somalis inside Somalia who never left Somalia are the same Somali 10 years ago, ofcourse NOT.

 

2nd , Speaking of taking the others' culture. Now lemme ask you one question Hibo. Some of you might think that the Diric is the national dress or the original dress for the Somalis. I know that we have different clothes in different areas, but the Diric considered the main dress for the Somali women. Do you know that the Diric is not originally Somali, its a Yemeni dress. If you are blaming the Somalis who are living inside the Khaleeji countries for dressing like khaleejis and wear abaya; then why don't you blame the Somalis who are wearing the Diric, common thats Arabic dress too

 

3rd , Not all the changes in the Somali Culture were bad, some were good some were bad. Now mashallah, Women wear the Jilbaab and its kinda rare to see a woman wearing a Light transparent Diric with a light shalmad in the streets (Talking about my Area, and people here find it strange to see a woman wearing like that). I believe dropping such thing was a great thing. You can wear the diric but don't show your naked body to everybody. I don't mind wearing Arabic dress if its covering my whole body and protecting me and according to the Shari'ah. But I can't question the intentions of all these ladies wearing the Jilbaab or the Abayas whether they are wearing it for the sake of ALlah or just imitating the original residents. Intentions are in the Lord's Hands dear.

 

4th , We quit many things we used to consider sacred and valued habits; although they were against Islam, but Mashallah when the Somalis realized that they are not matching their religion, they dropped them. I salute and recommend such changes for the better

 

Again, people are not perfect and somalis are people too so we can't expect them to act perfectly. There are the good ones who fear Allah and follow their culture according to the religion and those who are airy people will go with the flow in everything. I dont agree totally with this proverb " When in Rome do what the Romans do", coz I don't believe on that saying @ all.

 

I agree with changing/abandoing the bad things in our culture and keep the good things. And I believe that everyone of us should check him/herself FIRST before asking about others around him. Coz whats the point of talking about the culture if the person himself is not keeping it.

 

Good Day Try Me a.k.a Bellisma

[lol]

Shyhem: About me, well its true i have a signiture that says wat it says, but don't you think as a Somali man you have your roles, which says, quote " Naag waa caruur kabo weyn, Nac nac ku sasab" unquote. Now why are you so threatened by my signature rather let me put it this way, what happened to the men who used to challenge the women's ways when it didn't fit their liking? Are u telling me that they are extinct with the rest of the culture?

 

And about not telling your wife of your intentions to marry another, well you are just breaking the law of marriage, and you will be held accountable in the day of JUSTICE.

 

Xiin: When u r able to handle all the wants and the needs of your woman I am sure she will let you fly and hit other places...so monopolize her in bed, as well as in the house... she will be so tired of you that she will let you go without a fight. Just a tip....and ofcourse if u come across one like me, I am sure u r in for a long battle.

 

Hayam: I agree, and I used to be part of a Somali student organization called MSSU which used to arrange fund raising events so that we could better the lives of somali students back home and could create an environment that is conducive for studies. But nonetheless their mentality and the way they look at life is quite another story... maybe u should try it.. talk to them about how they see our culture and actually just wat is somali culture? and see their responses..

 

Che: Why do we have to assimilate bro so much that would make us loose our culture. I mean adapting to the environment you livein is the smart way to survive in any country, but why can't we retain our cultural values while still repecting those of our hosts?

[Nephissa]

FGM is part of the culture, so is Polygamy like the guys mentioned. Do we want to preserve that part of the culture aswel?

 

Look at us! where ever we go we dress and act like the natives of that particular country sometimes we even go beyond them. Look at Somalis that reside in the Arab world; They wear Ibaya, talk worst than arabs, the youngsters are obsessed with their opposite sexes and women remain indoors. I mean don't get me wrong, covering one's body is a sign of being a Muslim but why do it to resemble the locals rather than for fear of Allah? Look at us in the West; Girls wear mini skirts shorter than the ones hookers wear,

So what is the "cultural" acceptable way to dress? Guntiino & Macawis comes to mind!

 

We never had a culture, what we have is a mixture of other cultures.

 

Fathers sitting at coffee shops waiting for the taxpayers to feed their children, talking of nothing but BS

This has nothing to do with our culture and tradition, few bad men chose to live their life that way.

 

Nice topic anyways.

[OG_Girl]

Masha-Allah , Classique said it all.I salute you girl .

 

Other thing what is the defination of Somali culture other than Islamic culture?

 

Salam

[xiinfaniin]

Originally posted by Shyhem:

 

You should never explain anything to any woman. I'm not abig fan of "the whole second wife thing" since i barely can take care of the first one.However, i must say if and when i decide to marry a second wife,

i won't discuss anything with my first wife.

I will let her hear the rumours from the relatives and neighbours.

Shyhem,

 

Explaining I did, but not to my wife! She is rare bread and fully adheres to the norms of our near extinct culture. She understands my mission of reviving that old tradition of ours!

 

Hibo,

 

Oh what an invitation for dual! But it’s a virtual dual though and as such it sure limits my performance!

 

The issue, good sister, is not about me not fulfilling my responsibilities its rather Somali girls in the west who consider polygamy dead cultural practice. That, in essence, is what I am lamenting for. To me it’s the jewel of our much-cherished culture!

 

In a more serious note, I have to agree that there’s no stand-alone culture as such. But there’re core values that need preserved.Those are the values that are either derived, prescribed, or approved by our Religion ofcourse.

[shyhem]

Hayam

I really wonder sometimes if people who get married really care for each other...doing what you said would be like the emotional equlivant of taking your wife and repeatdly steppin on her chest with big ol smile on ur face...simply cruel...

Damn you make it look so bad.Ok ama go to my first wife, i mean my future wife and ask permission for a second wife.I be like "honey you know me and you know us,of late i been thinking of this lady and i think we should welcome her in the family.She is a nice woman and its time we shared our love with her, actually donate 50% of u'r time u share with me to her"............Girl are you crazy,which woman in her right mind will agree with that.

 

Wiil duco

Brother you are putting in trouble.

 

 

Try me

Shyhem: About me, well its true i have a signiture that says wat it says, but don't you think as a Somali man you have your roles, which says, quote " Naag waa caruur kabo weyn, Nac nac ku sasab"

I never said "naag wa caruur kabo weyn,nac nac ku sasab" That ain't politically correct nowadays.I say that and my azz will be in trouble.we can work it out,even though i don't think the nac nac trick will work anymore.

 

 

what happened to the men who used to challenge the women's ways when it didn't fit their liking? Are u telling me that they are extinct with the rest of the culture?

They are still around,only this days they are sorrounded by girls with degrees on the right hand and baseball bat on the left hand.Who on his right mind will mess with that kind of woman.Plus Nac nac ain't good for the teeth and no man wants to be responsible for his wife's dental bill.

 

Xinfaniin

 

Explaining I did, but not to my wife! She is rare bread and fully adheres to the norms of our near extinct culture. She understands my mission of reviving that old tradition of ours!

Your wife ,nice woman i must say.Does she have sister .I need to excercise my options!

[makalajabti]

Do we have a culture ? hmm let's say yes but somalis people's culture nowadays reflects the country they live in : westernized or arablike.

is that a problem ? In my point of vue Not really but since language is essential to culture as long as somalis speak somali language, everything is under control!!

We shouldn't be worried, all societies are changing and we are following the trend like everyone else.

[CHE]

Good question hibo.I have a final to take and get back to this in a bit.