Religious groups wrap up conference in Nairobi... Somalia Sufi forces organize to fight Shabaab

Somalia's main Sufi movement, Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa, on Thursday wrapped up an unprecedented conference in Nairobi to strategize its response to the rise and radicalization of the Shabaab group.Dozens of the usually quiet religious movement's leaders have in recent days converged on Nairobi from Somalia and from Western exile to close ranks against what they see as an existential threat." The Shabaab are misguided people who have misunderstood the true values of Islam "Overall chairman Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Muhieddin "The Shabaab are misguided people who have misunderstood the true values of Islam," overall chairman Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Muhieddin told AFP before leaving Kenya Thursday.Sufism is dominant in clannish Somalia, where Muslim saints are often also clan founders, but its leading clerics have voiced concern that hardline Islamist groups such as the Al Qaeda-inspired Shabaab were slowly eradicating it.It emphasizes the mystical dimension of Islam and includes practices considered as idolatry by the followers of the Wahhabi sect adopted by the Shabaab.A year ago, Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa ('The Companions of the Prophet') took up arms after the Shabaab started hunting down Sufi faithful and desecrating their holy sites, notably in and around the southern Somali city of Kismayo."The Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa fighters are not a regular army who long for power, they are defending themselves and the lives of other Somalis whose way of life is threatened by the Shabaab's madness," Sheikh Sharif said...To read the rest of the piece..,http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/11/05/90325.html