INJUSTICE TO WOMEN: An ingredient of the Primordial Element

[NASSIR]

INJUSTICE TO WOMEN

An Ingredient of the Primordial Element in the Somali culture

 

 

Abdalla A. Hirad

April 1,2006

 

I am reminded of the subject of “injustice to women†- hence, the primordial element—by an article, which I read in WardheerNews.com, A Knight by A.H. Abdulla . Ali says:

 

“Women in 19th century Somalia and other parts of the Arab world were indeed helpless. Unfortunately, present day Somalia does not treat Somali women any different.â€

 

Up to that point in his article, which is several paragraphs down, the writer leads one to think that he is going to discuss the issue of “Injustice to Womenâ€. However, one very soon finds out that the writer is not; and that he is only using the issue as an epitome for, or a hyperbole to, highlighting the plight of Somalia in general—an equally important and current subject. Indeed, the situation in Somalia involves a ‘double jeopardy’ for its women, to borrow a legal concept. Women happen to have been part of the terrible experience in Somalia over the last two decades, and a most underprivileged group they are in the here and now, in addition to their traditional dilemma.

 

I thought I should hastily write about the subject on the occasion in solidarity with our mothers, sisters and daughters. In this spirit, I thank Ali A. Abdulla for having brought up the subject and to share his thoughts with all of us so that I was inspired to address the issue here. I must not pass without also hailing Yasmeen Maxamud for her article, in WardheerNews.com, on a related subject: "Rape: Conspiracy of Silence" of January 26, 2006. But I wish to tell a story—the story of Sh. Ali Maje-erteen and ‘Oday’ Jibrell—to illustrate the relevant issues involved. The Story happened in, Adhi Caddeeye, now a village between Burao and Lasanood, sometime in the 19th century. Before I tell the story, however, I must explain what I mean by the phrase “primordial elementâ€, which I used in the title of the article.

 

The Primordial Element:

 

The Somali culture harbors a minimum of three basic elements or tendencies which I respectively call: (1) the primordial tendency, (2) the Islamist tendency, and (3)the Western secularist tendency. These tendencies represent the main orientations and aspirations of the nation in terms of popular outlooks and attitudes. These tendencies might shape and determine the direction of departure from the status quo in any situation and progress towards the future.

 

The primordial tendency represents the most indigenous element in the mix of outlooks and aspirations. It includes all the components typical of any culture—the ideological, the sociological and the technological parts. Clanism is only one aspect of that tendency. If clanism is the ideology, in the primordial context, the clan social structure is the form of social and political organization; and, pastoral nomadism is the economic system. The boundary of the territory is defined by the kinship-right claim to land and the Somali “Xeer(s)â€â€”Somali customary law (built on a system of precedents)—represents the law of the land. Over the years it has remained a self-contained, effective and an efficient dimension of the culture unto itself to provide for the needs of that nomadic-pastoral society. It had its strengths as well as its weaknesses. It has remained adequate in many respects as much as it needed improvements in many aspects, over the centuries, perhaps millennia. The question that needs to be studied hereafter is how will it fare with the other competing, if not invading, tendencies—that is the Islamist tendency and the Western Secularist tendency?

 

Contrast with the Other Two Tendencies:

 

By comparison, for example, and in passing, one might agree that in the Islamic context of the culture, the Quran, the Prophet’s teachings (Prayers and Peace be upon him) and his practices would represent the doctrine and the source that defines the ideology of the social order. The Islamic Umma would have been the model for social and political structure and organization. The Islamic economic order would have set the basis for the economic system. The boundary would have been global and the shari’a laws represent the law of the land, in theory.

 

Of course, in the Western secular systems, the nation-state is the form of social and political organization; capitalism and/or its off-soot (socialism) provide the source of ideology and the economic order. A formal body of laws—“constitutionâ€â€”contrived and framed by, hopefully, a representative legislative embody the law of the land. The boundary is as proclaimed by the constitution of the nation-state and recognized by other nation-states (primarily the neighboring ones). I hope that this brief description of the main features of the three tendencies will be good enough for explaining my general connotation of what I have called the tendencies or elements.

 

As indicated above, the primordial tendency in the Somali collective consciousness emphasizes traditional values, mores, norms, ethos, ethics and attitudes. It represents the system of pull-factors in a continuum of pull-and-push factors. It encourages loyalty to kinship and heightened clan-consciousness. It underscores clan identity. In the balance between the pull and the push factors, it favors clan identity over national identity. It favors fragmentation over unity, traditionalism over modernization, subsistence economy over development economy, informality over formality, adhocracy over bureaucracy, egalitarianism over social stratification, superstition over science, customary laws over formal legal systems, territoriality over statehood, clanism over nationalism and tribalism over internationalism.

 

Today, as in the centuries past, the primordial tendency remains the most overriding and seems, therefore, to prevail over the other two in the scale and scheme of things in Somalia. It is given ground by the sheer number of the larger pastoral-nomadic segment of the society (over 60%) and thrives on—indeed accentuates—the feelings and aspirations of local communities loyal to primordial identity, i.e Reer Hebel. It endorses the institution of traditional leadership. It seeks to preserve the traditional heritage and poses continual resistance to external pressure and influence, especially, on the sociological and ideological dimensions of culture. Thus, it represents the backdrop against which processes of social transformation and political change take place, where it sets a contextual base line for any invading new social and political order, never mind technology, in the future. Therefore, as well as preserving culture, unfortunately, the tendency also conserves the negative ingredients of the culture, from a development point of view. Hopefully, the story will highlight how it precisely does that.

 

The story will also provide a sneak view of the inner dynamics between the tendencies in the Somali, collective psyche—in this case between two of them—and will illustrate how the tendencies have been competing for the attention and free choice of our nomadic ancestors in the past, and how this conflict continues to impact our lives until this day. The following story will also, hopefully, depict the inherent dichotomy and occasional clashes between the many parts of the culture—i.e., between the tendencies. Following is the story.

 

The Adhi-Caddeeye Encounter:

 

This story is about an ancestor of a friend of mine. It took place some time in early to mid 19th century in the Nugal area of Somalia. It involves my friend’s ancestor and one legendary religious leader known to history as Sheik Ali Majee-rten, and whose resting-place, I am told, is in Barava today. The story goes that, when Sh. Ali arrived back in Somalia, returning from the Arabian peninsula, probably Mecca, he left the coast, in the north of Somalia, southwards, on his way to the hinterland with a mission to educate his nomadic kinsmen on matters of faith and religion—Islam. On his journey south he came to meet and know Jibrell, who was, at the time, on a semi-permanent domicile (not migrating as a nomad at the time) in a place called Adhi-Caddeeye.

 

Sh. Ali soon found out that not only was Jibrell a prominent traditional elders of his time and place, but that he was also currently engaged in a peace-making mission between his own sub-lineage (jilib) and another, both of them from the same sub-clan. It quickly occurred to Sh. Ali that Jibrell was an excellent candidate for education in Islam, which, in the Sheikh’s view, could only enhance Jibrell’s leadership skills and sense of justice in his traditionally assumed role as an elder. But more importantly, the Sheik saw the potential for a groundbreaking leap of faith in the area by the education of a traditionally influential man like Jibrell. Jibrell was not only the right candidate in this case, the sheikh had thought, but one who was also apparently eager and willing to learn the affairs of religion. So they had an understanding that Sheik Ali would stay for a while to educate Jibrell and others who were equally eager to study the subject, including literacy.

 

The story goes that, after some time, when Sh. Ali felt that Jibrell was learned enough in the basics of the Islamic Shari’a to run his own court alone, the Sheik decided to continue his journey south but that he would give Jibrell (now Sh. Jibrell) the final test. He waited for an opportunity to present itself in that regard. It soon did. A man from Jibrell’s own sub-lineage died, surviving two married daughters behind, without any other inheriting next-of-kin. Let us say one was married to a man from Jilib “X†and the other was married into subclan “Yâ€. He asked Sh. Jibrell to try the case in accordance with the Shari’a law and to distribute the legacy accordingly.

 

It turned out that the man left behind a considerable number of camels, as inheritance. Camels are very important to Somalis and have been, and continue to be, the basic unit of value for most things that matter in that nomadic pastoral context. It took Jibrell some time to try the case and resolve the issues. On the day of his presentation, he called all the important elders and leaders of his area to hear his conclusion and to witness the proceedings together with Sh. Ali.

 

He told the gathering that, simply put, the Islamic Shari’a was very unambiguous in pronouncing appropriate principles and procedures for the law of inheritance and that; in this case, the measures to redistribute the legacy were indeed very simple and straightforward. But, he went on to say that, as he had found out in his extensive consultations, over weeks, with the elders of the heiresses’ jilib, there was also another perspective—the deceased’s own sub-lineage.

 

From an Islamic perspective most of the legacy, if not all—and subject to confirmation, I add—goes to the two daughters, he observed. The heiresses’ clansmen had argued that neither sub-lineage “X†deserves a grant of camels from them at that particular juncture; nor had sub-clan “Y†ever shared their camels with them. (Apparently one of the daughters was married to a member of the sub-lineage (jilib) with whom his jilib was have hostilities at the time; and, the other was married to a member of another, larger sub-clan with whom the girls’ jilib shared a distant common progenitor).

 

Discussion:

 

It is hoped that this “encounterâ€, as I call it, has been a good illustration, vividly demonstrating one situation in which there was a clash between the “primordial tendency†and the “Islamist tendency†in the Somali psyche. The clash as presented in this encounter affects several dimensions of the traditional Somali existence. In addition to its legal implications and its impact on the sense of justice of the society of the day, it had economic ramifications as regards the function of inheritance as a measure of wealth redistribution. Since the decision to administer one way or the other was a measure of social justice, it would have worked as a factor of social and economic discrimination against women, if administered one way rather than the other.

 

The decision in the traditional way, as it were, would have underscored the nature of clan relations in that setup and would have highlighted the ramifications for the benefits of all the actors involved. While threatening to abrogate the rights of the heiresses, to prevent giving away, what is considered, the Jilib’s shared assets to other entities, the traditional way threatened to remove Jibrell of his traditional leadership role within the clan context—the primordial context—if he did otherwise.

 

But in the long term, the precedent would have also functioned as a hidden instrument of social engineering, which would, contrary to the Islamic provision, deny the women folk of the clan their rights to acquire property. Here women are viewed, perhaps, second only to those discriminated groups (the groups we Somalis wrongfully call Sab) who have not been allowed to make wealth in the first place, let alone inherit it. In this respect, the anecdote has lain bare the position into which women have been traditionally relegated throughout the centuries, at least in economic terms, by our primordial element of culture and view of the world.

 

The clash itself was a product of the social and political reality of the day, in as much as it was, immediately, a function of the relations between the kin-based units of the society. Therefore, political rationality in the struggle for power and resources between clans would demand the enforcement of the primordial element here. But Social justice considerations (the technical rationality) naturally favored the Islamist provision over the primordial orientation. Jibrell, it seems was caught in the middle and I leave it to you, my reader, to consider the dilemma which Oday/Sheikh Jibrell had to endure about a century and a half ago.

 

Conclusion:

 

Rather than adding to his influence, the incident presented clear and present danger for the political future of Jibrell in his role as an elder then. It has had far-reaching implications for his likes, since then and for centuries to come, if and when they chose to wear both hats at the same time—waranle as well as a wadaad. It seems that, at least on this occasion, and contrary to the expectation of all, rather than enhancing Jibrell’s effectiveness in his role as a traditional leader, the learning of the new values and techniques in Islam presented new challenges to him and his society. Indeed, it demanded a change of the society’s erstwhile ways of doing things—and a fundamental one at that—one that is striking at the political, economic and social nerve roots of that society of old, which we still have. And most of all, the anecdote illustrates, and I do not need to overemphasize this, the fact that the primordial dimension of our culture—the very original Somali part of it—condones, indeed fosters, the perpetration of injustice to women, as you may have concluded from the above story and its related discussion. The question for me and for all Somalis remains, perhaps looming high afresh, how much has changed since the days of Jibrell, and how much are we willing to change?

 

Abdalla A. Hirad

E-Mail:MHirad@aol.com