Abdisaid Abdi Ismail, a professor at East Africa University in Bosaso, recieves death threats after writing a controversial book on Islam

[DoctorKenney]

^^Stop polluting this thread Alpha

 

Galbeedi, I agree. This Professor's arguments seem innocent at first, but the long-term implications would be disastrous for Somalia. It frames the Somali penal codes as well as Somalia's social customs through their paradigm.

 

In the West, it's actually legal to insult Jesus Christ or to mock the Bible, and they have the nerve to term this as "freedom of speech." Imagine the same thing occurring in Somalia. where Muslims would constantly be exposed to insults against Islam by corrupt self-serving Secularist/Atheist groups and individuals. I can tolerate debate and discussion between Muslim scholars and Christian/Jewish/Buddhist/Secularist leaders, and this is a tradition which was started with the Prophet himself. The Prophet (saw) himself got into debates and religious discussions with Christians in his own mosque, and Muslims have continued this tradition for centuries. Abu Hanifa famously involved himself in debates with Christians and Atheists. Many other Muslim scholars and teachers have done the same thing. The truth is not afraid of debate and Muslims frequently get into debates with others. But the debates have to be within specific social and public forums.

[galbeedi]

in any issue , there are exceptions to the rules. I do not think we can judge this issue on the behaviour of few individuals who for engage hatred against Islam for publicity and material gains. For example Ayaan hersi, was even refused to make lectures in many well known American universities. she was a daughter of educated and well known family, yet she presented herself as a someone who was forced marriage and abused. She is exploited by right wing islamophopic groups. this is un exception to the rule.

 

your laws and customs must reflect your culture and faith, while upholding fundamental rights of the individuals. Here in Canada we have hate speech laws that protects people from being targeted and abused. it says you can't incite hate or promote hatred against un identified group that may lead to harm. I know in America and other places, devilish entertainment industry and others target or mock Jesus. We know the freedom of the speech which the American founding fathers intended to challenge the tyranny of the rulers and public debate , have been used throughout the world to insult faith and prophets. Every nations democracy reflects it's own values. Somalia won't be different.

 

The main issue here isn't about debate, it is interpreting Hadith and the Quran in a way that makes the life of Muslims unbearable. I suggest to you to read carefully the chapters about politics and religion. I think decent Muslims should address this constant spilling of the blood for power, while using religion. The main cause is , a band of extremists could decide who is not following the Sharia. fundamental rights ingrained in the Quran are discarded favoring weak or disputed Hadith for certain segments to have power over others. Following these harsh interpretations Al-Baghdadi of ISIS will be the all knowing Amir that couldn't be challenged. He will be acting as infallible Amir and he will rule until he dies, just like the kings of the Arab world. We should not afraid of moderation. The religion is mercy, tolerance and forgiveness, not oppression and hardship. please read carefully the book.

 

 

 

[Khadafi]

 

 

Galbeedi and Kennedy good inputs.

 

I' have not read the book but I radically changed my approach to the book when I read Hiiran.com's introduction of the author behind the book. I do not trust those mentioned Culomo so called "islamic scholars" but at the begenning I felt that this book might have been written by frustrated missionary or a controverisal starter. Fame to day is today to trash Islam, just join the caravan of Ayaan Xirsi.

 

Dr Abdi Sa'id is a well known islamic intellectual and all that he has done that I can say is that he is trying widen our understanding of ridda (apostasy) during the time of our prophet (pbuh) and reconciling it our times. Khayr said it before me, He is trying open the gates of ijtihad.

 

Islam is a religion of peace, and it spread mostly by peace. The Qur'an clearly states that their is no compulsion in the religon but the penalty for apostasty is death. So how do we reconcile these polarised issues?. Just as brother Kennedy stated their is no confusion. Sprituality (Imaan) belif in god etc is hidden in it's pure form. God clearly says that he is the only one who knowes what lays in our hearts and it is to him/her/it (pronouns does not describe Allah) that final judgement lies upon. This is Bâtini or the meta-physical aspects our religion. No tool, no machine, can enter your soul and tap in too your nearness to God.

 

The Axkaamlayta for apostasy (gaalnimo) must be understood in the context of time that the messenger lived. As every messenger, he was persecuated and his own nearest kin were ready by blood to wipe out the poor and marginalised followers of Xabiika (jacaylkeena) scw. In those harsh times betrayal could have a devestating effect.

My limited understanding is that the author simply tried to create a discussion, a intellectual one and BTW many before him have done this, Tariq Ramadan, Shaykh Qaradawi and even Nasaradin Albani (the albanian who said that the gates of ijtihad were open).

 

These intellectual theological discussions are needed, for every century God has promised as a mujadid (renewer). If you de-compile the word "renewal" you will see that one has to argue with the old, a pracrical example is during chaotic time of Mu'tazila in islamic history. Theological wars ranged and chaos prevailed. Greek philosophy made it's entry into the intellectuals/theologians of that time. A star, and bright one,

 

Abu hamid al Ghazali, famously refuted and reconciled philosopgical arguements with Islam. After his demise, alle ha u naxariisto, Orthodoxy returned to the diffirent muslim civilisations. The point here is that al-Ghazali met stiff resistance during his time before they were widely accepted. So who are we to judge this Somali Islamic scholar for taking the pencil and with a respectfull tone writing his thoughts.

 

MMA and Nuune and Galbeedi, what I dont understand is why did the BBC Somali choose one of the most radical preachers that today exists within the Somalis? Umul is famous for being a fire brand preacher of Jihad during the days of the late president Cabdullahi Yusuf. He even encouraged war during those times. His speaches are archived in youtube for those who doubt him. The poor, from rags to multi-millionaire preacher Umul's succses in Nayroobi is like seing the rise of a Nigerian TV-evangelist. Those famous for ramblings and claiming to be God's represantives on earth.

 

A year ago, Umul claimed a famous somali Shaykh (the preacher on the state somali tv) for being a Sh'iite. The news spread and the poor wadaad come out and denied the accusations. Lies and envy are only confined to the common people.

 

Let's be more close to time, 2 months ago, a more fire-brand, a rags to riches somali scholar, Shibili said in TV that he saw with his own eyes 700 girls somalis girls in the same roof in hospital getting treatment for Aids. When a reporter made some re-search and found these allegations to be false, Shibili was famously to be found no-where.

 

The BBC-Somali service is to blame for causing confusion of a simple book by making the author simmilior to our kind of Salman Rushdie, after doing this they went to the most radical fire brand preacher and presented him as the only represeantive of Somali scholars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Boondheere]

Umul iyo maxamed idiris labadooduba waa ku been abuurteen qoraa abdisaciid.. arrinta ah nabiguu ugu yeeray bililiqo ku nool, sida uu Nuunne ku andacooday iyo umul iyo maxamed idiris sida aad aragtaan waa been abuur.. qoraagu marnaba uguma yeerin nabiga SCW bililiqo ku nool ee sida aad aragteen.. suaal ayuu akhristaha weydiyey oo ah.. akhristoow nabigeena sc ma wuxuu ahaa bililiqo ku noool.. suaashana waxay ku timid xadiisyo been abuur ah oo kooxaha extremist ay isticmaalan oo ah in uu rasuulku yiri "Seef baa la ila soo diray, kheyrkuna seeftuu ku jiraa." xadiisyadan kooxaha extremistaha waxay u isticmaalaan inay wax Qaniimeystaan(bililiqeystaan) badanaana dadka ay bililiqeysanayaan waa dad muslimiin ah.. marka dadka qoraaga abdisaciid sida Umul iyo maxamed idiris doodooda waxaa ku filan kaliya been ka sheega ay been cad ka sheegeen qoraaga , wax uusan oran ayey yiraahdeen waa yiri..

[Boondheere]

Umul iyo maxamed idiris waa laba nin siyaasiyiin ka tirsanaa ururka ictisaam oo ah ururkii ka danbeeyey aasaasida ururka al shabaab.. waa laba nin oo xaqiiqdii aan la oran karin waa scholars ama sheekh.. Umul qaasatan waa nin ganacsade ah ,mar walibana u taagan inuu sii huriyo dhibaatada ka taagan somaliya.. halka markii uu kooxdii maskii uu isagu abuuray ee al shabaab ay Kenya ugu daba yimaadeen oo afka kala furtay.. sidoo kale maxamed idiris xitaaa degree SECONDRY SCHOOLS OF LUQADA AFKA CARABIGA MA HEEYSTO.. waligii jaamacad islaami culuunta islaamka ah degree kama heeysto. halka uu qoraaga cabdi saciid uu master degree culuunta islaamiga ka heeysto jaamacada umul quraa ee madiina Sacuudi arabia..

[galbeedi]

Boondheere, that is good point. They were looking cheap propaganda shots to denigrate and endanger a decent scholar who is simply trying to advance the Islamic thoughts of his era . Khadaafi you raised a good point about renewal and discussion. I wish I could brilliantly write and express in English as most of you.

 

Yesterday, I met one of our local sheiks who is a well respected in the city. He helps our community bury the dead through the local mosques and government agencies and he regularly visits prisons for Somali youth. After few chats , I began my usual Al-shabab condemnation and other issues in Somalia. I told him that while Al-shbaab is defeated militarily , the religious and political infrastructure that created the environment must be also eliminated in order not to allow them to come back. At the same time the ideological leaders of the movement who physically didn't take the gun but nurtured these people must be exposed and pushed out from the public sphere unless they repent the destruction their Wahabi ideologies caused the Somali people for the last eight or more years. He agreed with me about these thoughts, but when I mentions about this book written by Scholar A/saciid ismacill, he said " Adeer nin wanaagsan baad tahay oo wax badan fahmaya, laakiin waxaan ku odhan lahaa yaan lagaa maqlin ninki galbeedi ahaa ayaa bugaas amaanaya ama qoraagan ku raacsan waxa uu qoray'. basically he said do not mention that book if you want to be taken seriously by your community. besides his family who are in gaalkacayo will kill him as soon as they see him ". After few exchanges I told him ' sheikh read the book before you judge'. I would like to tell everyone of you to read the book before you judge. . I also would like to thank brother Nuune for uploading the book in sol.

 

Having almost read the whole book , I could say that I have gained a great deal of knowledge and insight about Islam and our culture. Through this book I realized how little I knew about the science and the vast Islamic literature collected by scholars throughout centuries. I realized how rich is the Islamic justprudience and literature as compared to others. When extremists talk about Islamic Sharia, all you hear is chopping hand from a poor who stole something or a woman stoned in the land controlled by them. You don't see reasoning, mercy or the conditions that created the problem. We don't have real Ullema who have the interest of their communities and their nation , what we have is robots who want to have power over others and want to punish people. It seems the most ruthless sociopaths carrying " qori iyo Kitaab". DR. C/saciid explained the taboo subjects that Arabs and others wouldn't like to discuss. it shows the brilliance and philosophical thoughts of early scholars like Immam Shafici, Sufian al-Towri, hanafi and others. Sifting through this fourteen century years old knowledge is needed specialized scholars of great knowledge. decently it is not something UMmal, or Sheikh Idris and others who are " Bayd gaab' warmongers could handle. By accepting his argument , they will be exposed to answer the blood they spilled in Somalia while backing war against Somali state.

 

The idea of the Amir using religion to punish or reward people were in my mind for a long time. I discussed with few people of knowledge. it is difficult to find a place to exchange ideas in our culture. Look at the latest example of al-shabaab. The Amir killed or put in prison everyone who had different reasoning than his.

 

In order to save these man from ruthless Sheikhs like Ummal , who already created a hostile environment for this scholar and his family we must speak out and urge people to read the book and make their mind. I wish we could invite him in North America so we can gain some knowledge from him and expose the liars who are spreading mischief.

[Alpha Blondy]

<cite>

@DoctorKenney

said:</cite>

^^Stop polluting this thread Alpha

 

i didn't mean to. apologies.

[Tallaabo]

Islam, Saudi and apostasy

 

Mohamed GhilanLast updated: 10 May 2014

 

Does Islamic law really proscribe the death penalty for apostasy? 

 

Just when we thought the term "terrorism" could not become more meaningless or manipulated, Saudi Arabia's government seems to have proved us wrong by recently adding atheism under the charge. Based on polls revealing that self-identified atheists constitute 5 percent of Saudi population, this makes for a staggering number of terrorists in the kingdom, most of whom maintain external religious observance in society while using online anonymity to express their true beliefs.However, this matter is not so straightforward. Nesrine Malik highlights in a recent article an often-ignored distinction between the private, and public, more political forms of atheism. Indeed, as Malik points out, in an ultraconservative country like Saudi Arabia where religion, tribe, family and politics, are interlinked and of utmost importance, to take an antagonistic stance against Islam necessarily entails an antagonistic stance against the fabric of society.It is a commonly held belief that Islamic law dictates the death penalty as an absolute punishment for apostasy. However, this reading of the Islamic Tradition relies on restricting the role of the Prophet Muhammad to that of a religious figure issuing timeless decrees. Such a restriction of the Prophet's role will undoubtedly give rise to numerous paradoxes, as it will decontextualise all his statements and actions in a way that not only makes Islam incoherent as a religion, but also incompatible with certain societal developments.Interpreting the scriptures Muhammad al-Shawkani (d. 1834), an authoritative Muslim scholar and jurisprudent, outlines in his critical appraisal of the principles of Islamic legal theory that Prophetic actions fall into seven different categories, not all of which can be used to issue absolute legal rulings binding upon all Muslims for all times. Lest one think that al-Shawkani being considered a reformer was concocting this categorisation anew, he cites a number of eminent earlier scholars who had preceded him in doing so by several hundred years.This is quite significant to take heed of in current discussions on Islamic reform. There is a tension between staying authentic to Islam while at the same time allowing for development of Islamic legal theory in a way that does not render claims of adherence to the religion meaningless.The death penalty for apostasy relies at the core of it on an authentically verified Hadith from Prophet Muhammad who said, "Whoever changes his religion kill him."  This statement, however, would seem to contradict numerous verses in the Quran that guarantee freedom of belief, few of which include "There is no compulsion in religion" [2:256], and "Whoever so wills may believe and whoever so wills may deny" [18:29].How could one reconcile the Quran with the Hadith in this issue without committing an inconsistency whereby the Hadith is rejected out of hand, even though the same transmission rules for accepting veracity of any other Hadith were applied to this one? Moreover, one could ask whether it is an Islamic objective to artificially inflate the numbers of Muslims by including those who would not be so if they had the option.Although the above-mentioned Hadith is authentic, it is also established that Prophet Muhammad never ordered the death penalty to be carried out on people known during his time to have apostatised. Of such people was a Bedouin man who came to Medina (during a time of political and military power for Muslims) to announce his Islam, but apostatised and left the city a short period later without receiving any penalty for his subsequent rejection.Given how the Prophet treated individuals who entered and left Islam, and the numerous verses in the Quran guaranteeing freedom of belief, the Hadith decreeing a death penalty for apostasy becomes more puzzling. This can be resolved by turning to another authentic Hadith where this penalty is mentioned, but with a qualifier: "…the one leaving his religion and abandoning the group". In addition, another verse in the Quran, which can further resolve this conundrum speaks to a strategy adopted by a rival sect in Medina in one of their attempts to create a schism within the nascent Muslim community by pretending to enter Islam in the morning, then leaving it in the evening [3:72].Religion or politics?It is interesting to note here that prior to entering Islam, the two biggest tribes in Medina were engaged in a lengthy civil war that only ended when their allegiances were redefined from the tribal to the religious. If these new allegiances were jeopardised, it was highly likely to lead to civil strife and loss of life again. Hence, the Hadith about the death penalty is not about apostasy in the strict sense of no longer believing in Islam per se. Rather, it is about what can be considered in modern terms political treason.In his book The Empathic Civilization, social critic Jeremy Rifkin notes the evolution of human social units over time and how that affected our affiliations and allegiances. In our early history we began with blood ties, progressed to tribal allegiances, then to religious associational ties and finally today to national ties. Significantly, although the tribal allegiances in Medina were initially redefined on religious terms when Prophet Muhammad moved to Medina, he quickly commissioned the drafting of the Constitution of Medina, which forged a formal communal tie between everyone in the city irrespective of religious or tribal differences.The role of Prophet Muhammad cannot be reduced to a strictly religious one that merely delivers decrees, which can be decontextualised as if they were issued in a vacuum. Islamic law includes religious and political domains of legislation, and one has to be cognizant of where a particular ruling would fit. Contemporary Muslim scholar Abdallah bin Bayyah previously commented on a problem in how modern Muslims approach scriptural sources where they "misunderstand the text, ignore the context, and thus misapply the ruling".Those who support the death penalty for apostasy cite the 1978 overthrowing of Afghanistan's centrist governmentby left-wing military officers led by Nur Muhammad Taraki, whose new government formed close ties with the vehemently anti-religion Soviet Union. This new communist government in Afghanistan at the time began extensive land and social reforms that were resented by the devout Muslim population.This led to a number of uprisings and internal fighting that eventually prompted the Soviets to invade the country in 1979 to try and set up their own satellite government in place. The country has ever since been in non-stop turmoil. Still, even with this concern in mind, it should be pointed out that the support for this penalty is not about a change in belief as much as it is about a change in political allegiances.Whether these concerns are in the minds of the Saudi ruling family is yet to be established. Interestingly, their latest efforts to suppress political dissent come at a critical time for power transfer between the Al Saud family members while being surrounded by a turbulent political climate in the region. In anticipation of possible upcoming internal problems as a new generation of Al Saud takes over succession to the throne, it seems that the family is not sparing any measures to circumvent all possible means to creating unrest in the kingdom as they secure their future as its continuing rulers.

 

Mohamed Ghilan is a neuroscience PhD candidate at the University of Victoria, Canada, and a student of Islamic jurisprudence. He blogs here and has an active self-titled podcast on iTunes.Follow him on Twitter: @mohamedghilan

Source: Aljazeera

 

[Khadafi]

<cite>

@galbeedi

said:</cite>

.

 

Yesterday, I met one of our local sheiks who is a well respected in the city. He helps our community bury the dead through the local mosques and government agencies and he regularly visits prisons for Somali youth. After few chats , I began my usual Al-shabab condemnation and other issues in Somalia. I told him that while Al-shbaab is defeated militarily , the religious and political infrastructure that created the environment must be also eliminated in order not to allow them to come back. At the same time the ideological leaders of the movement who physically didn't take the gun but nurtured these people must be exposed and pushed out from the public sphere unless they repent the destruction their Wahabi ideologies caused the Somali people for the last eight or more years. He agreed with me about these thoughts, but when I mentions about this book written by Scholar A/saciid ismacill, he said " Adeer nin wanaagsan baad tahay oo wax badan fahmaya, laakiin waxaan ku odhan lahaa yaan lagaa maqlin ninki galbeedi ahaa ayaa bugaas amaanaya ama qoraagan ku raacsan waxa uu qoray'. basically he said do not mention that book if you want to be taken seriously by your community. besides his family who are in gaalkacayo will kill him as soon as they see him ". After few exchanges I told him ' sheikh read the book before you judge'. I would like to tell everyone of you to read the book before you judge. . I also would like to thank brother Nuune for uploading the book in sol.

 

Having almost read the whole book , I could say that I have gained a great deal of knowledge and insight about Islam and our culture. Through this book I realized how little I knew about the science and the vast Islamic literature collected by scholars throughout centuries. I realized how rich is the Islamic justprudience and literature as compared to others. When extremists talk about Islamic Sharia, all you hear is chopping hand from a poor who stole something or a woman stoned in the land controlled by them. You don't see reasoning, mercy or the conditions that created the problem. We don't have real Ullema who have the interest of their communities and their nation , what we have is robots who want to have power over others and want to punish people. It seems the most ruthless sociopaths carrying " qori iyo Kitaab". DR. C/saciid explained the taboo subjects that Arabs and others wouldn't like to discuss. it shows the brilliance and philosophical thoughts of early scholars like Immam Shafici, Sufian al-Towri, hanafi and others. Sifting through this fourteen century years old knowledge is needed specialized scholars of great knowledge. decently it is not something UMmal, or Sheikh Idris and others who are " Bayd gaab' warmongers could handle. By accepting his argument , they will be exposed to answer the blood they spilled in Somalia while backing war against Somali state.

 

The idea of the Amir using religion to punish or reward people were in my mind for a long time. I discussed with few people of knowledge. it is difficult to find a place to exchange ideas in our culture. Look at the latest example of al-shabaab. The Amir killed or put in prison everyone who had different reasoning than his.

 

In order to save these man from ruthless Sheikhs like Ummal , who already created a hostile environment for this scholar and his family we must speak out and urge people to read the book and make their mind. I wish we could invite him in North America so we can gain some knowledge from him and expose the liars who are spreading mischief.

 

Galbeedi well said. Your discussion with the respected Somali scholar showes how our society is vulnerable or not equipped with the right tools to engage in a intellectual debate. The respected scholar that you met and took the firm stance to distance you for saying read the book before making a judgement is a clear example that radical wahabi clerics, with no tradition in Somali culture has completely hijacked our society. During the mid 70-ties when "communism" was on the rise in Somalia, we somalis were the only nation where you could find the most hardline leftist in the streets of mogadishu engaging in debates but who hurried to the mosque when the prayers of "maqrib" were called. Our spritual connection to the deen can not be broken Alhamdulilah.

 

A relative of mine who was sent to Sovietunion for further education ended up in Baku Azerbajan. He told us as soon he landed with fellow three other fellow somalis they went to the town square and engaged in partying. Who can blame them? Seeing blue eyed girls with a bottle of vodka? After sobering up they saw the most beutifull mosques in the city but they were mystiorusly empty of folks. They simply went in and prayed salat in the mosque to the astonishment of the Azerbajanis. Police arrived on the spot and my poor relative and his two friends got the punishment by having additional boring courses on how degenanartive religion is. He later found that people indeed prayed but the rituals were done in the homes.

 

The point here is that spirituality and Islam is deeply attached to our cultural identity but what needs to be understood and discussed is how did we peacefull muslim Somalis end up with a supposedly "islamic organisation" that carries out suicide attacks against medical students on their graduation day. How did these supposedly "muslims" justify the gruesome acts of murder on fellow muslims?. No one dares to speak about this becouse of the risk of alienation. I will come back to this question but before I do so: See what happend to the poor Shaykh that wrote this book. He was brutally attacked with false allegations and a well known cleric openly tried to stigmatise him as "atheist, or munharif". Our un-literate society values oral statements and that oral buzz have a huge impact. If no Somali shaykh comes out and clearly defines in a truthfull manner what the book is all about I am very sure that his life is at risk. It's disgracefull that the BBC's Somali service team has declined in the terms of quality. Open questions that are still in the air is why they chose to interview that specefic man that is known to have flip-flop positions, sometimes his a extremist and sometimes he is not.

 

Why did they not ask Umul that he himself declared a fatwa of Jihad against the late Abdullahi Yusuf (aun) while he himself lived in a non-muslim organisation and openly signed a peace-agreement (al-itihaad or UWSLF) with the Ethiopian government. If I do recall it correctly he even made a offical visit to Jigjiga after signing the peace agreement. When his students objected to the flip-flop he simply qouted some verses and "voila" he sucsessfully escaped the mouse-trap that he had sat up for his fellow mice. Galbeedi correct if I am wrong on this. But I do remember this incident.

 

<blockquote>At the same time the ideological leaders of the movement who physically didn't take the gun but nurtured these people must be exposed and pushed out from the public sphere unless they repent the destruction their Wahabi ideologies caused the Somali people for the last eight or more years

 

 

That's one of the most wisest and clearly naked truth that no one can deny. If I go back to the earlier question how we ended up with suicide-bombers and murders all in the name of Islam. We need to go back to the enermous change that the islamic ummah has gone through. I've often said on SOL that Sufism is on the decline in Somalia, specially in the north despite that it played a vital role in the history of the spread of Islam as an instution in the horn of Africa. It connected the existing culture with sprituality and belifs of Islam. The only viable documented multi-clan settlements that were known in Somalia were Baardheere and in other southern regions. Same settlements could be seen in the north and in the Somali regional state of Ethiopia. Desperate nomads that became poor becouse of starvation would settle down in these communities and attach themselves to sufi orders. Even the social fabric our society were divided.

 

The Wadaad was the spiritual non-materialistic often poor economically. He was a knowledge seeking individual that had a free-pass ticket to all regions of the Somali peninsuala. His clan orientation was never a issue. The city of Merka has today the grave of a very well known Shaykh that originates from Puntland and Baardheere likewise. The wadaad read the holy book and prayed to god and teached the kids the Quran. The only "social welfare instution" that existed during those days were those of the community of sufi-order or "xerta" If someone was hungry he simply went to the community and had a free meal. If he chose to stay their forever he bound to swear an oath of bay'a (allegiance) and become a wandering dervish and if not he was a free man to go.

 

The wadaad sometimes settled disputes between feuding clans. Some clans were only known to be wadaads and their "job" was to settle disputes. The Waranle were the ones engaged in what we would today label as "al-shabaab" activities, meaning that he killed and engaged in blood-shed all in the name of power. A wadaad with spear was a big taboo. During the colonialism most missionaries in Somalia failed to convert masses of Somali clans as it had done in other african nations. Sufism's big attachement to the social fabric of Somalia was a clear obstacle to their missionary activities. Some individuals indeed became christians but religon was a private matter. They were never repulsed or stigmatised (compared to these times) and becouse of this and the economical boom and self-confidence that Somalia felt during the 70-ties most of them converted back to Islam. The families of the nationalist that fought against the colonialists, Maykal Marymana was a christian but most of his family are today muslims.

 

 

So what happend? Wahabism and it's holy trinity of Abdul-Wahabs invented "uluhiya rububiya" etc that Khayr mentioned and the oil boom of Saudia Arabia would be a game-changer. If the saudis would not have found oil the sect that allowed the house of Al-Saud to power would probably be today a small and obscure sect found only in the deserts of najd. He, Aali-Sacuud was drawn to Ibn-Abdul-Wahab ideas: Mainly that only those who heard his call were muslims and those who rejected it were pagans. In order to gain power you first need to have valid arguements for shedding his blood. What's more attractive idea while fighting fellow muslims is that your party are warriors on jihad, fighting pagans just as the prophet did during his defence of the small poor community of the devoted saxaba (ra). Takfirism opended the doors chaos. The poor Turks who were busy defending their empire from the hands of the colonialists suddenly found themselves all alone and on top of that being called pagans!

 

During the 60-80 ties when the kingdom, or the house of Saud were terrefied of the spread of Socialism & Ba'thism and even politicised Islam (the muslim brother hood) poured billions of dollars on spreading their version of Islam. These three ideologies have one thing in common: Kingdom or monarchy belongs to the scrap-yard of history. They (the saudis) saw the fall of King Faisal in Iraq and the near collapse of Jordan in the hands of the leftist organisations of PFLP and Fatah, the saudi masses tuned in to the attractive ideas of nasserism and arab nationalism.

 

While socialism & ba'thism has become a minor threat in our days the enermous growth of the muslim brotherhood has made Saudi Arabia the biggest donor to Egypt's sisi. The man who toppled a democratic elected government. The radio-waves of Saudi-Arabia reached Somalia and it did so when our society were very vulnerable. The collapse of every instution and even our government, massive starvation and a brutal civil war with bloody warlords made wahabism an option. The slogan "quran & sunnah is enough for us" became popular as if the Quran and the Sunna did not exist in Somalia and indeed how can you argue with a man who says those words?. Redlines will be crossed, if you do not raise your questions in a proper manner. The point is Galbeedi, wahabism is a pandoras box. With Takfirism and politicised Islam, using islam to gain power (in the form of wahabism, not turkish-erbkanism) comes brutality. An organisation that claims only legitimacy from God and who labels those outside the organisation as non-muslims makes you vulnerable and that is what exactly happend in Somalia.

 

I remember an old maqaal-article written by Prof Said S Samatar. He said that the fragmental clan society of pastoral nomadism makes it impossible for Somalia to become a stronghold for al-qaeda like organisations. While I read the maqaal, with all due to respect to him. I noticed that he was somehow not updated in how much sufism had declined in Somalia. If it had not declined his hypothesis would probably been correct. The years went on and the young lads, al-shabaab grew stronger and so did the pandoras box. The old leaders of politicised Islam were themselves ex-communicated by the young lads. A bizarre situation arose when Xassan Daahir Aweys and Cali Warsame, The oldest ideologues of the new wahabi-elite were made gaalo by their own students. Such is the face of takfirism and xagjirnimo. Ironically Sheekh Xassan Daahir Aweys had to flee by a boat from his own students and Sheekh Cali warsame was publically humiliated in Hargeysa when he tried to reconcile his mistakes.

 

We today have brothers like ditoore Kennedy who proudly echoes the words of "everything will be fine if we are ruled by the shariica" but when you explain that 99% of all somalis use the Shariica in civil matters the spectrum becomes dizzy. I spoke to a friend of mine who has a masters degree political science. He lived in Germany and came to visit me. To my astonishment at the airport, my friend had become a salafi, with a full grown beard and a arabic khamis. He resembled those old somalis that you usally see in Xawaala. I wonder why all the Xawaala guys grow a beard?

 

We engaged in the most broad ranging discussions and I loved him for his humility. He had the best aqlaaq. I asked him, "hayeee, XXXX maxaad noo haysaa, what kind of government is suitable for us, federalism iyo iska daba wareegiisa waaba ku waashay". He answerd in a way that implied that he wanted an islamic government. I said to him that the somali constitution says that all the laws must be derived from the islamic shariica. He spoke of the ideal societies during times of our beloved prophet scw and the ever blessed four caliphs.

 

I then asked him, XXX, It's very easy to claim an islamic government but a few countries have openly declared themselves to be so, choose from these alternatives!. I gave him these following options, and when ever you see someone lurking for power by using our beutifull religion healthy realistic questions showes his true intentions. Anyway the options I gave him was following:

 

a) Wilayah Faqih system, Aka Khomenei shi'i style of government where a single cleric has the final say on every issue, and if your not with him your in a hidden prison somewhere in the dungeons of Teheran (Advanced Persian culture has overcome clanism, this system is not suitable in Somalia, qabiilkee ayuu noqon doona "ayatollaahiga" Soomaliya)

 

b) Saudi style of system: A king with a bunch of clerics that supports him (of all the systems that exists in the would. Nomads will never accept a king or a monarchy.K ingship is impossible in Somalia. We had a dictator during 21 years and we all know what happend, and by the way islam does not promote monarchies.

 

c) Pakistan- They call themselves the Islamic republic of Pakistan but I really do not know the politics of pakistan. It somehow resembles a british style of government but with the ideals of islam. (NO COMMENT)

 

d) Taliban way of system- (Ban TV and everything modern, mix islamic values with hard core afghan pashtunwali culture. This system is simply to extreme for Somalia. Women in a pastoral society have allways had a strong character in our society and we are not pashtuns.

 

e) Sudan ( A simple Siyaad Barre military dictatorship that uses islam to unify it's diffirent ethnic group but their is some great diffirences. Sudan have had a great cultural ex-change with arabic countries. Despite clanism being strong, the strong intellectual class with close ties to Egypt have completly transformed Sudan. It's unique becouse of it's the only arab/african nation where sufism has not declined, on the contray it has become stronger. If only democracy or some kind power-sharing system existed I belive that Sudan is a prime example. They are near us and close to our way of thinking.

 

f) Turkey- A pro islamic party with a pro buisness and modern outlook with a functioning democracy (I wish we could reach this state, but lets face it, we are busy with fencing a few patches of clan-hebellands instead of intergrating and sharing our great wealth.

 

g) Med-evil style ISIS style- A bunch of arab tribes men met in a hut in the desert and chose the caliph of 1,6 billion muslims. Obey him, if not your head is literally served in the table, by the way, the arab caliph must be from a qurashi clan. (Absolutely no comment)

 

 

So what did my friend answer? He was to clever to be cornerd into a trap and said neither. He humbly said that he wanted true islamic ideas of mercy, justice and equality. I happily agreed with him and asked him to pray to Allah for our nation. We had a great dinner and went to our local mosque.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Khayr]

يُرِيدُونَ لِيُطْفِئُوا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ

وَاللَّهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِ ....

 

Their intention is to extinguish Allah's Light (by blowing) with their mouths: But Allah will complete (the revelation of) His Light....