Sunday, January 24, 2010

AHLU-SUNNA – The New Kid In The Block

Historically, in Somalia men were categorized either as “wadaad” (religious) or “waranle” (a warrior).  Wadaads mostly stayed above the fray of Somalia’s prevalent tribal conflicts.  They transcended tribe and region, pursued religious learning and teaching, and performed various other religious and social functions such matrimonial services and quran schools.  For they sought neither riches nor power they built no discernable organizational structure or highierachy.  They often complemented tribal elders in keeping the peace among the clans and the lid on violence.  As a non-warrior, the Wadaad carried only the Quran, the ubo or buraashad (a water jar) and a small dagger, not for protection, but as utensil to be used for the next meal of mutton or lamb that maybe donated by a hosting family.  Among the Wadaads, there has always been a great diversity; there were the “Timo Wayne” with their bushy, middle-parted hair  trademark, ever drifting from one community to another; then there are the dedicated “Xer” or students who study under a prominent sheikh for years; the ubiquitous “Macalin Quran” or the Quran teacher under whose gaze nearly every Somali kid learns to recite the Quran  in his/her formative years;  and even the average “mohamed-Somali” who simply prays five times a day can be considered a Wadaad.  Diverse schools of thought also exist among the Wadaadis; the Qaadiriya, Salaxiya, Ahmedia and others, each with its own nuanced preferences, justifications and reasoning for some slightly different from the next school of thought.  Until recently, Sufis were a small subset of the overall Wadaads considered most liberal or outlandish in some of its religious activity.  Nowadays, Sufi is used to describe anyone who doesn’t fall under the spell of the newly imported Wahabism. Yet, with seemingly so many differences among the Sufis, albeit no significant theological differences, there has never been religion based violence in Somali history – that’s until recently.  At times of distress,Sufis typically retreated to their Kitabs for explanation and guidance.      

The emergence of an armed Sufi religious group in Somalia, Ahlu Sunna, is a sign of the times.  A sign of how desperate and distorted the situation has became in Somalia, and it is this desperation that transformed these traditional, moderate, non-violent sufis into a full-fledged armed militia. The old days of Sufis turning the other cheek when attacked or mistreated is behind us. The Buraashad has now been replaced or perhaps complemented by AK-47, thanks to the extremist groups like Al-Shabab and its elk.  For two decades, since the collapse of the central government, the Sufis kept a low profile, kept to themselves, had taken no part in Somali’s carnage and focused on their familiar territory of worshiping.  Despite persecution by successive fanatical religious groups, from Al-Itihad in the 1990’s to today’s Al-shabaab, the sufis maintained their composure, resisted the urge to retaliate and remained faithful to their non-violent ways.   For years, they saw the creeping fanaticism of Al-Shabaab and its foreign ideology underpinned by distorted interpretation of Islam that extol self-destructive extremism, hate, and total and absolute submission to them (not to God). Yet the Sufis, true to their tradition of non-violence, continued to turn the other cheek despite increasing attacks directed at them to the pointed where they were no longer safe, even inside their mosques.   

THE STRAW THA BROKE THE CAMEL’S BACK

Sufis has a tradition of honoring their religious figures.   Throughout Somalia, when a well known religious figure with a large following dies it is common for his disciples to build a shrine and an adjacent masjid in his honor (in fact, this is true for much of the Muslim world, save Saudi Arabia). It’s sort of memorial with the masjid as spiritual anchor.  In a sense, the shrine and the mosque institutionalize the sheikh’s work by providing a permanent site that ensures the work of religious learning will continue.  In the country side, one may often come across a “Dahar”, a structure without walls designed to provide shade for travelers, next to a grave.  The Dahar is a donation for public use in honor of a deceased parent (a beloved father or mother) by a family, in essence a foundation.  This practice can come in many forms.  For example, some families instead dig a water-well and donate it to the public.  For some unfathomable reason, the adherents of the newly imported ideology and imposed on us by Al-Shabaab find such a practice abhorrent and its practitioners deserving of beheading.  Even more shocking, this extends to the Mowliid, the yearly memorial in honor of Prophet Mohamed, in which, typically, the Prophet’s life and examples are talked and explored. The praising of Prophet Mohamed and honoring him has become the grounds for tossing a live grenade in mosques full of worshipers!  Faced with murderous attacks, in their own mosques and centers of learning, the destruction of toms of their revered teachers by Al-shabaab and their ideological brethren, the Sufis were compelled to face the stark reality of either abandoning their religious beliefs or standing up for themselves, and for the Somali people whose culture and history has also being systematically erased by the fanatics.  The Sufis has done what no organized group of significance has in a generation – stand up for their rights and that of others, and opposed evil...more..AHLU-SUNNA – The New Kid In The Block

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.

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