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Discourses on
Somali conflcit
Samtalis Hussein Haille
Dear Friends I would like to share with
you some of my thoughts with regard to the following questions:
what can we do to contribute to the process aimed at ending the
conflict in the Somali inhabited territories of Horn of Africa,
this includes Somali west and former Republic of Somalia. Your
response to this thought is highly appreciated; however, for our
thought to be fruitful it is necessary that you put some thought
in to your response so that we may develop collectively.
Emotion based arguments are not progressive
that is they hinder our tendencies to grow and achieve perfection,
so, it is therefore a matter of necessity, that you suppress your
feelings, and think about the subject of interest in profound
way, in doing so, all of us will benefit, by consuming the product
of our thoughts.
To better answer this
question I must classify people to different classes and groups,
I would start with bourgeoisie, that is the educated masses,
education here is not limited to the academy but it includes acquired
knowledge through experience or accumulated wisdom. Bourgeoisie
here is not meant here in the classical Marxist sense, but it
symbolizes only the metropolitan character of this class compared
to other groups in the country such as Camel herders, (Geel jirayaal)
or peasants (Beeralay). Striking feature that captures the eye
of the casual observer with regard to bourgeoisie compared to
other classes is the opportunities that are available to them(
such as education, chance to make money, or the information that
they can potentially access for personal consumption) as well
as the environment they find themselves.
In the history of mankind bourgeoisie has always been the agent of change
and progress, however, the role taken by this class in different
countries and the realties that they have produced shows some
remarkable variation. What makes certain bourgeoisie class more
successful than others and what are the primary preconditions
that are necessary for this class to lead the society in to better
life in light of complex socioeconomic and political structure
of the world would be subject of our meditation.
To answer this question we need to study the specific features of the
country under the scrutiny, given the relative success or the
failure of this class (bourgeoisie) generally determines the socioeconomic
and political destiny of the entire state, it will be noble cause
for us to delve in to annals of history to better comprehend the
basic structures of the socioeconomic and political discourse
of Somali society. To achieve this end we will study the history
of the region.
History
There is historical evidence from reliable
sources to suggest that the Somali inhibited territory of horn
of Africa was land of civilization, which was populated since pre historic times.
Starting from the Puntite kingdom which
flourished before the Common Era to Muslim sultanates that dominated
the Somali peninsula and adjacent Muslim states for the last millennia.
These city-states had produced tremendous wealth due to their
commercial ties with the outside world particularly Arabian Peninsula, India and other Eastern societies.
We were informed by both writings left
by the ancient Egyptians particularly those in the temple of Dayr-el-Bahari
on the west bank of the Nile, and the Perpilus of the
Erythrean sea that Puntites during ancient times and Berbers
during the Time of Christ have used their own bouts to transport
commercial goods to Arabia, Egypt and possibly to the far East,to
suggest that no coastal cities flourished Pre-Islamic Horn of
Africa is essentially ethnocentric and biased reconstruction of
history to the least.
Eastern coast of Africa was center of commerce that has connection with eastern societies since
time immemorial. The oldest known material with regard to the
commerce was Palermo stone (the oldest written book in the Egyptian history) which informs
us that there was commercial relationship between ancient Egypt and Eastern coast of Africa known at that
time as Punt or land of the gods. Some time around the Christ
(May Lord grant him peace) we are informed the existence of large
Somali Cities by the Peripilus of the Erthraean sea, this book
is considered a major reference book with regard to the ancient
commerce of the eastern nations. The name of the author is not
known probably he was Egyptian of Greek origin. The Somali cities
mentioned in this book are the following Zaila( Avalites), Berbera(Malao),
Mosullon (Bandar Kasim, known also by the Somali as Bosaso, it
is 260 miles east of Berbra)Bandar Hais (Mundus) Ras Hafun(Opene,
it is worth while to notice that this is a corruption of Punt,
as many historians believe, and this place is about 90 miles below
the famous Cape Guardafui( known to the Somalis as Ras Asayr)
Mogadishu(Serapion) Brava(Nicon). It is interesting to note that
the author calls this area stretching from Zaila to the entire
Gulf of Berbera(Aden, it was only recently when people started
calling this Bay Gulf of Aden, in the last two Miliinia
people have been calling this bay, as gulf of Berbera, or gulf
of Zayla and therefore I chose to do so) as other Barber country,
it is not coincidence that we learn from the famous Muslim expoler
Ibnu Batuta who visited both Mogadishu and Zayla at early of 1300s,
mentions in his famous book Rehala or travel , that the
residents of the Mogadisho were Beber origin and spoke Beber
language. He farther informs us that the city housed large student
population and the Sultan had writer who recorded all secret information,
there are important implications to this simple assertion and
they are the following.
Somali coastal cities were not founded By Arabs or the Persians
Mogadisho and other coastal cities in the Somali peninsula were there
since time immemorial as we were informed by the Peripilus, even
if we were to grant that that the foreigners once dominated the
city, this was not the case certainly at 1300 AD. The claim by
some locals that the city of Mogadisho was a walled city
and that the local natives were not allowed to sleep at night
is fabricated fantasy that has no historical evidence. But one
might say that why some authors say that Somali coastal cities
were founded by middle Easterners, I would answer that some authors
have also propagated that the Somalis were not African indigenous
but immigrants from southern Arabia, to this day Some encyclopedia
(among them Colombia encyclopedia, search the word Hamites, they
have version on the web) claim that that the Somalis are Caucasian
decent that is they are the same racial stock that dominates
continental Europe. So it is fair to say that there is underlining
tendency in many authors to credit others than the native people
when it comes to the history and civilization, although, they
may have their own reasons which is different than ours, however,
we must grant to them the benefit of doubt, thus affording to
them, to present historical evidences not biased historical speculations.
.
Somalis
are not oral society
The first scholar to study the Somali language was Sheikh Yusuf al kownayn,
Known as Aw Barkhadle in northern Somalia (or modern republic of Somaliland), and his tomp is visited by many Somalis to this day of modern day
and he was relative to the ruling family of Adal
kingdom.
Starting from the
time Islam has arrived Horn of Africa, Somalis and other Muslims
in the region have contributed to the production and preservation
of Muslim and local literature, it is not surprising then to learn
that the major reference book (which has numerous volumes) of
the Hanafi school of law (Muslim school of law, dominant in the
Asian subcontinent), is written by Imam Zaili’e, his proper
name was Jamal Muhammad Yusuf Mohammed Ayub born and grew up in
Northern Somalia, particularly in the legendary city as well as
the imperial seat of the celebrated Adal kingdom, the magnitude
of the works produced by the Somalis is another subject, which
I will cover in subsequent paper, however, it might be enough
to note that there are entire sections in the modern Egyptian
house of books and medieval Mosque of Umayyad Dynasty in Damascus
dedicated to the works published by the local Muslim scholars
as well as students from this region (horn of Africa).
The subjects covered in this works extend from jurisprudence ( fiqi),
mystics, poetry, law and history to the prevailing social and
political conditions. Some of these works could also be found
in private libraries in Somalia as well as public libraries around the world, particularly in Europe
and Middle East. Large portion of these works were published
in Arabic although some of these works were also written in Somali
with Arabic alphabet. It is interesting to note that Europe which
is land of civilization with considerable intellectual history
was employing Latin as medium of expression for science and philosophical
discourses as late as two hundred years ago, in fact the great
German philosopher Emanuel kant wrote his dissertation paper in
Latin about two hundred years ago, therefore, the use of vernacular
languages, or put it differently, the linguistic nationalism or
the pride one takes in his own language and its use as medium
of literary works is recent phenomena, although there are exceptions
to this assertion.
Therefore, it is not surprising to contend that that the Somalis were
producing their works in Arabic prior 19th century,
however, this has changed due to the growth of the population
and the compelling desire of the scholars to communicate with
masses so as to diffuse knowledge and create greater sense of
community.
Sheik Uways Muhammad
Barawi who lived between 1847-1909, was born in Brava, he went
to Iraq and studied in Baghdad from (1870-188), and visited numerous
places in the Islamic world, upon his return to Somalia he visited
Mogadishu and met with prominent scholars and then he left to
the south particularly areas between the two rivers, where he
was recognized as leader of the Qadiriya order.
He founded the farming communities called
Jama’at literally means communities that have celebrated Muslim
cultural heritage through the production of poetry (mainly in
the form of Sufi poetry that are designed to celebrate the personalities
of Prophet Mohammed may Lord grant him peace and other prominent
Muslim saints both locally and internationally) thus creating
the sprit of brotherhood among Somali communities. It is worth
while to mention that he was among the first people to produce
major literary works in Somali based Arabic alphabet, a major
portion of his work are currently in my possession and can also
be found in both private Somali libraries and some libraries
around the world.
Significant figure related to the Somali writing history was Osman Keenidid,
being religious man with high degree of political consciousness,
he produced the first Somali alphabet known initially as Osmania
and later it was named far Soomaali, (or
called in Somali
 , taken form recently published article
in the Somalinet ) or Somali writing. This script had been
used to record literature and numerous books were written in this
script, it was also used in school as late as 1972, as matter
of fact Syl, the Somali nationalist political movement of 1940s
had used it as official language until it was dominated by Pro
Arab groups led by Haji Mohammed Hussein who was the president
of the S.y.l from 1948-1952 and 1957-58. He advocated Somalia not to participate in the European Economic Community,
he also campaigned the use of the Arabic alphabet in order to
narrow the gab between the Somalis and Muslim world. Cotemporary
to Osman kenideed was Abdurrahman Sheikh
Nur, Judge Qadi of Boreme, who also devised Boreme
script in 1933, which was later used by the merchants as well
as local people. He used the script to record his own works. Prior
the invention of Boreme script he used
Arabic alphabet to record Somali works, however, this script never
achieved national recognition in the same way as the Somali writing
did” The Somali alphabet was used until the military took over
the country and introduced the Latin alphabet, there are also
numerous people who devised scripts late 1940s, and 50s including
Dr Hussein sheik Ahmed Kadere, the great Philosopher and many
others. Therefore, it is baseless and biased judgment
of history to say that Somali was oral language before 1972,
it is also disrespect and lack of appreciation to the great works
of the Somali scholars who dedicated their life to the advancement
of Somali language. As matter of fact we can find to day( 2002)
many books written in the indigenous scripts both in private libraries
and public libraries around the world, by the way some of them
are currently in my possessions.
It is interesting to note that the pro Somali scripts are not entirely
dead, in fact, one of the great champions of the ‘Somali alphabet’
Dr Hirsi Magan, the former student of anthropology is currently
(2002) visiting Europe, to accelerate the production of software
that can be used to write the Somali alphabet, he views the use
of the Latin script in Somali language as form of prostitution!.
Nevertheless the pro Arab movements are also very powerful to
day, in fact there are two groups, the first group who was
represented by the Dr. Ibrahim Hashi,
who actively participated the glorious struggle to liberate the
western Somalia. He has produced books in Somali based on Arabic alphabet, he used to
say let us use the language of the Quran glorifying the
use of the Arabic alphabet; however, with high degree of confidence
we can say that this movements is dead. The second movements in
the pro Arab comp campaigned the use of Arabic language as the
official language and school language, this movement is currently
powerful and in fact they have benefited from the lawlessness
by creating schools that not only use Arabic as the medium of
instruction but also borrow entire curriculum from Arab states.
This is particularly true in southern and northeastern Somalia. Pro Somali
groups believed the use of the Somali language regardless the
alphabet used, this group was dominant until 1972-1991, however,
it seems their influence is decreasing due to their focus and
preoccupation of socioeconomic and political problems of the country,
so they are not bothered by the kind of education that their children
are getting, believing that these schools are better than none.
There is psychological dimension to this reality, from 1980s the
institutions of the state was deteriorating and education was
not an exception particularly the public schools, and note that
the schools both in primary and secondary schools used Somali
as medium of instruction, there were also some schools which used
Arabic as the medium of instruction, for both pragmatic and exaggerated
reasons the Somali public had perceived that the quality of the
Arabic schools were much better than the Somali schools, as matter
of fact the joke of the day was ( ma Alaahida ayaad dhigataa,
waad fiicantihiin idinku) you study in Arabic you are good than
others. This psychological climate have given the pro Arab groups
an advantage than the Somali groups. There is also an economic
advantage, most of the Arab/Muslim organizations have greater
tendency to support the schools that use the Arabic as medium
of instruction than the once that use Somali as medium of instruction.
These factors combined allow the rapid growth of schools that
use Arabic language as well as the rapid decline of the schools
that use the Somali as medium of instruction. Profound analysis
to this social phenomena and elaboration of my understanding to
this social development should be expressed in another treatise.
Let us now move to the question that we asked at the beginning,
which was what can we do to end the conflict.
Neutrality
In
order for you to deal with Somali problems or problems with Somali
character, you need to establish a character of neutrality so
as to start the process of ending the conflict. The first step
in my opinion is to be neutral.
I
am not telling you to be absolutely neutral, because you could
not expect perfect character from imperfect entity; perfection
is the hallmark of God not a characteristic of members of human
species. There are monumental implications to this simple logical
statement, and they are the following.
1-
Never
expect someone to behave non-clanstic way in all the time,
however, expect him/her to behave in non-Clanistic way most
of the time. Mistakes should be forgiven, although sometimes they
should be punished if proper institutions or conditions are in
place.
2-
Eliminate
if possible or otherwise make the accumulated prejudices inactive,
by considering the following steps.
a-
Subconsciously
tell your self that others are not necessarily wrong all the
time, you must convince yourself also that some times you could
be wrong, given this conviction you might proceed to the next
step.
b-
Appreciate
the power of the situations, that is imagine what is like to
be 15 year old gunmen who was not properly nourished nor have
sufficient means to feed himself, imagine also Uncle Bidaar(
modern Somali politician) who is preoccupied with local
politics and he is supported by internal and external forces,
in this realm he losses his rationality because he behaves in
manner not consistent to the behavior of ordinary human being.
c-
Consider
the supporters of all contending groups in Somali peninsula
as your brothers and sisters, when in contact with them, defy
their expectations, that is show them friendly attitude, and
sincere desire to recreate the sprit of the brotherhood, even
if the person’s behavior is motivated by prejudice or clanisitc
stereotypes, see them as a prey of prevailing political conditions,
refrain by using your utmost power to confirm their expectations.
If you were to behave as they expected, both of you will be
an instrument to historical end that will not favor your welfare.
d-
Try
to understand more objectively the various arguments employed
by all groups as well as the emotions that are supplemented
to make their case. Understand the limited scope as well as
the simplistic nature of their argument, given the complexity
of the time and the world that they are living in.
e-
By
assuming the role of neutrality the challenges are great, so
always moderate your emotions, and show great tolerance.
f-
Whenever
you make an unnecessary mistake correct it, it is very painful
to correct mistakes when in fact you are not the one who initiated
the mistake; however, this is the burden of the conscious man/women
during difficult times.
g-
Never
pursue power, fame, at the expanse of the other, and in simple
arguments never try always to win, be the listener in most cases,
unless the circumstance necessitates otherwise.
h-
Be
fair to all even if you do not like their position.
i-
Humans
are dignified species and they treasure to be dignified, so
dignify them too
j-
Be
creative, there are infinite ways to get to the same end, if
one way does not work try other ways, do not be fixated in one
way, humans have tendency to view things from one perspective,
defy this tendency other wise unnecessary consequence is eminent.
3-
Your
fundamental need to live as free man/women both in your region
as well as in your clan is pragmatic and therefore granted, and
under no circumstances could it be compromised. However, it is
necessary to find sophisticated means to meet this end, in other
words we need to explore ways that we can produce neutral experts
who can propose more realistic plan and create the necessary condition
for the plan to be implemented. For example, we need some experts
who solve the Kismayo/Mogadisho question, by figuring out ways
that Darod, hawiye Dir, Digil/Mirifle, jareer the Great, Banadiri,Barawe,
Midhiban, Bajuun and entire Somali speaking nations could coexist
together, and I am convinced that there are ways that we can pursue
collectively that can make this objective a reality. However,
I am afraid we no longer have the pleasure to remain indifferent
to the political evolution of horn of Africa. History is very harsh to the spectators, who do not take part the painful
process of making history. Our current course of history in Somali
peninsula is very familiar when you look to the bloody history
of mankind, the history is full of groups who fought against each
other to the point of exhaustion, when this point is reached the
painful chapter of the history starts to unfold, that is the time
when contending groups become defenseless prey in the face of
uncompromising predator who have infinite reasons to determine
their destiny. When this time arrives history cannot be reversed.
It is therefore necessary more than ever to take the Somali crisis
seriously, particularly those of us who are in the Diaspora, because
we are less burdened by the desire to survive compared to the
people who live in the Somali mainland.
Part 2 would be published
shortly
The
material would also be published in Somali shortly.
My email is hail0029@umn.edu
I am student at the university
of Minisota
Xasuusin:Qoraaladu
waxay ka turjumayaan aragtida Qoraaga mana loo fasiran karo tan
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