Somalis ( , ) are an ethnic group located in the
Horn of Africa, also known as the
Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis
speak the
Somali language, which is
part of the
Cushitic subgroup of
the
Afro-Asiatic language
family.
Ethnic Somalis number around 15-17 million
and are principally concentrated in Somalia
(more than 9
million), Ethiopia
(4.6
million), Yemen
(a little
under 1 million), northeastern Kenya
(about half
a million), Djibouti
(350,000),
and an unknown but large number live in parts of the Middle East, North
America and Europe.
History
In
antiquity, the ancestors of the
Somali people were an important link in the
Horn of Africa connecting the region's
commerce with the rest of the
ancient world.
Somali sailors and
merchants were the main suppliers of
frankincense, myrrh and spices, items which
were considered valuable luxuries by the Ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians
, Mycenaeans and
Babylonians
. According to most scholars, the ancient
Kingdom of Punt and its inhabitants
formed part of the
ethnogenesis of the
Somali people. The ancient Puntites were a nation of people that
had close relations with
Pharaonic Egypt
during the times of
Pharaoh Sahure and
Queen
Hatshepsut. The
pyramidal structures,
temples and ancient houses of
dressed stone littered around Somalia are said to
date from this period. In the
classical era, several ancient
city-states such as
Opone,
Mosyllon and
Malao that
competed with the
Sabaeans,
Parthians and
Axumites for the wealthy
Indo-
Greco-Roman
trade also flourished in Somalia.
The
birth of Islam on the opposite side
of Somalia's Red
Sea
coast meant that Somali merchants, sailors and
expatriates living in the Arabian Peninsula gradually came under the
influence of the new religion through their converted Arab Muslim trading
partners. With the migration of fleeing Muslim families
from the Islamic world to Somalia in
the early centuries of Islam and the peaceful
conversion of the Somali population by Somali Muslim scholars in the following
centuries, the ancient city-states eventually transformed into
Islamic Mogadishu
, Berbera
, Zeila
, Barawa
and Merka
, which were
part of the Berberi civilization. The city of Mogadishu came
to be known as the
City of Islam, and controlled the East
African
gold trade for
several centuries.
In the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali
empires dominated the regional trade
including the Ajuuraan State, which
excelled in hydraulic
engineering and fortress building, the
Sultanate of Adal, whose general Ahmed Gurey was
the first African commander in history to
use cannon warfare on
the continent during Adal's conquest of the Ethiopian Empire, and the Gobroon Dynasty, whose military dominance
forced governors of the Omani
empire
north of the city of Lamu
to pay
tribute to the Somali Sultan Ahmed
Yusuf. In the late
19th
century, after the
Berlin
conference had ended,
European
empires sailed with their armies to the
Horn of Africa. The
imperial clouds wavering over Somalia alarmed the
Dervish leader
Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, who
gathered Somali soldiers from across the Horn of Africa and began
one of the longest
colonial resistance wars ever.
The
Dervish State successfully
repulsed the
British empire four
times and forced it to retreat to the coastal region.
As a result of its
fame in the Middle East and Europe, the Dervish State was recognized as an ally
by the Ottoman Empire and the
German
empire
, and remained throughout World War I the only independent Muslim power on
the continent. After a quarter of a century holding the
British at bay, the Dervishes were finally defeated in 1920 when Britain for the first time in Africa used
aeroplanes when it bombed the Dervish
capital of Taleex
. As a
result of this bombardment, former Dervish territories were turned
into a
protectorate of Britain.
Italy
similarly
faced the same opposition from Somali Sultans and armies and did not acquire full control
of parts of modern Somalia until the Fascist
era in late 1927. This occupation lasted
till 1941 and was replaced by a British
military
administration. The Union of the two regions in 1960 formed the Somali Democratic Republic
that would actively pursue a Greater Somalia policy of uniting all of the
Somali inhabited regions of the Horn of
Africa.
Pan-Somalism
Somali people in the Horn of Africa are divided among different
countries (Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and northeastern Kenya)
that were artificially and some might say arbitrarily partitioned
by the former
Imperial powers.
Pan-Somalism is an ideology that advocates the unification
of all ethnic Somalis once part of Somali empires such as the
Ajuuraan Empire, the
Adal Sultanate, the
Gobroon Dynasty and the
Dervish State under one flag and one nation.
The Siad
Barre regime actively promoted Pan-Somalism, which eventually led
to the Ogaden War between Somalia
on one side,
and Ethiopia
, Cuba
and the
Soviet
Union
on the other.
Notable Pan-Somalists
Genetics
Genetic genealogy, although a new
tool that uses the genes of modern populations to trace their
ethnic and geographic origins, has also helped pinpoint the
possible background of the modern Somalis.
Y DNA
According
to one prominent study on Y chromosomes
published in the European Journal of Human
Genetics, the Somalis are closely related to certain
Ethiopian
and Eritrean
groups:
"The data suggest that the male Somali population is a
branch of the East African population − closely related to the
Oromos in Ethiopia and North Kenya −
with predominant E3b1
cluster lineages that were introduced into the Somali population
4000−5000 years ago, and that the Somali male population has
approximately 15% Y chromosomes from
Eurasia and approximately 5% from sub-Saharan Africa."
Besides
comprising the majority of the Y DNA in Somalis, the E1b1b (formerly E3b) genetic
haplogroup also makes up the bulk of the
paternal DNA of Ethiopians, Eritreans, Berber, North African Arabs, as well as many Mediterranean
and Balkan Europeans.
The M78
subclade of E1b1b is found in about 77% of Somali males, which may
represent the traces of an ancient migration into the Horn of
Africa from the upper Egypt
area.
After haplogroup E1b1b, the second most frequently occurring
Y DNA haplogroup
among Somalis is the Eurasian
haplogroup T (M70), which is found in
slightly more than 10% of Somali males. Haplogroup T, like
haplogroup E1b1b, is also typically found among populations of
Northeast Africa,
North Africa,
Southwest Asia, and the Mediterranean.
mtDNA
According
to a recent mtDNA study, a large proportion of
the maternal ancestry of Somalis consists of the M1 haplogroup, which is common among
Ethiopians, Egyptians, Libyans
and Berbers.
M1 is
believed to have originated in Asia, where its
parent M clade represents the majority of mtDNA lineages
(particularly in India
).
This haplogroup is also thought to possibly correlate with the
Afro-Asiatic language
family:
"We analysed mtDNA variation in ~250 persons from
Libya, Somalia, and Congo/Zambia, as representatives of the three
regions of interest.
Our initial results indicate a sharp cline in M1
frequencies that generally does not extend into sub-Saharan
Africa.
While our North and especially East African samples
contained frequencies of M1 over 20%, our sub-Saharan samples
consisted almost entirely of the L1 or L2 haplogroups
only.
In addition, there existed a significant amount of
homogeneity within the M1 haplogroup.
This sharp cline indicates a history of little
admixture between these regions.
This could imply a more recent ancestry for M1 in
Africa, as older lineages are more diverse and widespread by
nature, and may be an indication of a back-migration into Africa
from the Middle East."
Another mtDNA study indicates that:
"Somali, as a representative East African population,
seem to have experienced a detectable amount of Caucasoid maternal
influence... the proportion m of Caucasoid lineages in the
Somali is m = 0.46 [46%]...
Our results agree with the hypothesis of a maternal
influence of Caucasoid lineages in East Africa, although its
contribution seems to be higher than previously reported in mtDNA
studies."
Overall, the genetic studies conclude that Somalis and their fellow
Ethiopian and Eritrean
Northeast
African groups represent a unique and distinct racial bloc on
the continent:
"The most distinct separation is between African and
non-African populations.
The northeastern-African -- that is, the Ethiopian and
Somali -- populations are located centrally between sub-Saharan
African and non-African populations...
The fact that the Ethiopians and Somalis have a subset
of the sub-Saharan African haplotype diversity -- and that the
non-African populations have a subset of the diversity present in
Ethiopians and Somalis -- makes simple-admixture models less
likely; rather, these observations support the hypothesis proposed
by other nuclear-genetic studies (Tishkoff et al. 1996a, 1998a,
1998b; Kidd et al. 1998) -- that populations in northeastern Africa
may have diverged from those in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa
early in the history of modern African populations and that a
subset of this northeastern-African population migrated out of
Africa and populated the rest of the globe.
These conclusions are supported by recent mtDNA
analysis (Quintana-Murci et al. 1999)."
Islam
Somalis are entirely
Muslims, the majority
belonging to the
Sunni branch of
Islam and the
Shafi`i
school of
Islamic
jurisprudence, although a few are also adherents of the
Shia Muslim denomination.
Qu'ranic schools (also known as
duqsi) remain the basic system of traditional religious
instruction in Somalia. They provide Islamic education for
children, thereby filling a clear religious and social role in the
country. Known as the most stable local, non-formal system of
education providing basic religious and moral instruction, their
strength rests on community support and their use of locally-made
and widely available teaching materials. The Qu'ranic system, which
teaches the greatest number of students relative to other
educational sub-sectors, is oftentimes the only system accessible
to Somalis in nomadic as compared to urban areas. A study from 1993
found, among other things, that "unlike in primary schools where
gender disparity is enormous, around 40 per cent of Koranic school
pupils are girls; but the teaching staff have minimum or no
qualification necessary to ensure intellectual development of
children." To address these concerns, the Somali government on its
own part subsequently established the Ministry of Endowment and
Islamic Affairs, under which Qur'anic education is now
regulated.
In the
Somali diaspora, multiple Islamic fundraising events are held every
year in cities like Toronto
and Minneapolis
, where Somali scholars and
professionals give lectures and answer
questions from the audience. The purpose of these events is usually to
raise money for new schools or universities in Somalia, to help
Somalis that have suffered as a consequence of floods and/or
droughts, or to gather funds for the creation of new mosques like the Abuubakar-As-Saddique Mosque, which
is currently undergoing construction in the Twin cities
.
In addition, the Somali community has produced numerous important
Islamic figures over the centuries, many of whom have significantly
shaped the course of Islamic learning and practice in the
Horn of Africa, the
Arabian Peninsula and well beyond.
Important Islamic Figures
- Sheikh
Uways Al-Barawi (1847-1909) – Somali scholar credited with
reviving Islam in 19th
century East Africa and with
followers in Yemen
and Indonesia
.
- Sa'id of Mogadishu – 14th century Somali scholar and traveler.
His
reputation as a scholar earned him audiences with the Amirs of Mecca
and Medina
.
He
travelled across the Muslim world and
visited Bengal
and China
.
- Nur ibn
Mujahid – 16th century Somali
conqueror and Patron saint of Harar
.
- Abd
al-Rahman al-Jabarti (1753-1825) – Somali scholar living in
Cairo
that recorded the Napoleonic invasion of
Egypt.
- Shaykh Abd Al-Rahman
bin Ahmad al-Zayla'i (1820-1882) – Somali scholar who played a
crucial role in the spread of the Qadiriyyah movement in Somalia
and East Africa.
- Ahmed Gurey (c. 1507 - February 21,
1543) – 16th century Imam and military leader that led the Conquest of Ethiopia.
- Ali al-Jabarti (d.1492) –
16th century Somali scholar and politician in
the Mamluk Empire.
- Shaykh Muhammad
Al-Sumaalee (b. 1910-2005) – Somali scholar and teacher in
the Masjid
Al-Haram
in Mecca
. He
influenced many of the prominent Islamic scholars of today.
- Uthman bin Ali Zayla'i –
14th century Somali theologian and jurist who
wrote the single most authoritative text on the Hanafi school of Islam,
consisting of four volumes known as the Tabayin al-Haqa’iq li
Sharh Kanz al-Daqa’iq.
- Abdallah al-Qutbi (1879 -
1952) – Somali polemicist theologian and philosopher.
- Hassan al-Jabarti (d.1774) –
Somali mathematician, theologian, astronomer
and philosopher, considered one of the
great scholars of the 18th
century.
- Shaykh Sufi (1829 - 1904) – 19th century Somali scholar, poet, reformist and astrologist.
- Abd al Aziz
al-Amawi (1832 - 1896) – 19th
century influential Somali diplomat,
historian, poet,
jurist and scholar
living in the Sultanate of Zanzibar
.
Clan and family structure
The
clan groupings of the Somali people are
important
social units, and clan
membership plays a central part in Somali
culture and
politics. Clans are
patrilineal and are often divided into
sub-clans, sometimes with many sub-divisions.
Somali society is traditionally ethnically
endogamous, so to extend ties of alliance, marriage
is often to another ethnic Somali from a different clan. Thus, for
example, a recent study observed that in 89 marriages contracted by
men of the
Dhulbahante clan, 55 (62%)
were with women of Dhulbahante sub-clans other than those of their
husbands; 30 (33.7%) were with women of surrounding clans of other
clan families (
Isaaq, 28;
Hawiye, 3); and 3 (4.3%) were with women of other
clans of the
Darod clan family (
Majerteen 2,
Ogaden
1).
Major Somali clans include:
Somali world
Somalis comprise the majority of Somalia's population at
approximately 94% of the total Somalia population. They are
traditionally a
nomadic ethnic group, but
since the late 20th century, many have moved to the cities. While
most Somalis can be found in Somalia proper, large numbers also
live in Ethiopia, Yemen, Djibouti, the Middle East,
South Asia and Europe due to the
seafaring tradition of the Somali
people.
Civil strife in the early 1990s
greatly increased the size of the
Somali
diaspora, as many of the best educated Somalis left for the
Middle East,
Europe and
North
America.
In Canada
, the cities
of Toronto
, Ottawa
, Calgary
, Edmonton
, Montreal
, Vancouver
, Winnipeg
and Hamilton
all harbor Somali populations. Statistics
Canada's 2006 Census ranks people of Somali descent as the 69th
largest ethnic group in Canada.
While the
distribution of Somalis per country in Europe
is hard to measure because the Somali community on the continent
has grown so quickly in recent years, the official 2001 UK census
reported 43,515 Somalis living in the United Kingdom
. Somalis in Britain are largely concentrated
in the cities of London
, Sheffield
, Birmingham
, Cardiff
, Liverpool
, Manchester
, Leeds
, and
Leicester
, with London alone accounting for roughly 78% of
Britain's Somali population. There are also significant Somali
communities in Norway
: 19,656
(2007); the Netherlands
: 19,549 (2008); and Denmark
: 16,550 (2008).
In the
United
States
, Minneapolis
, Saint Paul
, Columbus
, San Diego
, Seattle
, Washington, D.C.
, Atlanta
, Los Angeles
, Portland
, Denver
, Nashville
, Lewiston
, Portland,
Maine
and Cedar Rapids
have the largest Somali populations.
An
estimated 20,000 Somalis emigrated to the US State of Minnesota
some ten years ago. The Twin Cities
now have the highest population of Somalis in North
America. The city of Minneapolis hosts hundreds of
Somali-owned and operated businesses. Colorful stalls inside
several malls offer everything from
halal
meat, to stylish leather shoes, to the latest fashion for men and
women, as well as gold jewelry, money transfer or
hawala offices, banners advertising the latest Somali
films, and video stores fully stocked with nostalgic love songs not
found in the mainstream supermarkets, groceries, and boutiques.
The
number of Somalis has especially surged in the Cedar-Riverside area (in
particular, Riverside
Plaza
) of Minneapolis.
Somalis
now comprise one of the largest immigrant communities in the
United Arab
Emirates
. Somali-owned businesses line the streets of
Deira
, the
Dubai
city centre. Internet cafes, hotels, coffee
shops, restaurants and import-export businesses are all testimony
to the Somalis' entrepreneurial spirit. Star African Air is also
one of three Somali-owned airlines which are based in Dubai.
Notable individuals of the diaspora
- Abdirashid Duale –
award-winning Somali entrepreneur,
philantropist, and the CEO of the multinational enterprise Dahabshiil.
- Warsame Ali –
Somali scientist and assistant professor at Prairie View
A&M University
, specialized in aerospace
technology. He has previously
worked for NASA
.
- Yasmin Warsame – Somali-Canadian model. In 2004, she was
named "The Most Alluring Canadian" in a poll by Fashion magazine.
- Ali Said Faqi –
Somali scientist and the leading researcher on the design and interpretation of
toxicology studies at the MPI research
center in Mattawan,
Michigan
.
- Omar Abdi Ali – Somali entrepreneur,
accountant, financial consultant, philanthropist, and leading specialist on
Islamic finance. Was formerly
CEO of Dar al-Maal
al-Islami (DMI Trust), which under his management increased its
assets from $1.6 billion USD to $4.0 billion USD. He is currently
the chairman and founder of the multinational real
estate corporation Integrated
Property Investments Limited and its sister company
Quadron investments.
- Hawa Ahmed –
Somali-Swedish
fashion model and winner of Cycle 4 of Sweden's Next Top Model.
- Amina Moghe
Hersi – Award-winning Somali entrepreneur that has launched several
multi-million dollar projects in Kampala
, Uganda, such as the Oasis
Centre luxury mall and the Laburnam Courts. She also runs
Kingstone Enterprises Limited, one of the largest distributors of
cement and other hardware materials in Kampala.
- Ayub Daud – Somali international
footballer who plays as a
forward/attacking midfielder for FC
Crotone on loan from Juventus.
- Liban Abdi – Somali international
footballer. Currently plays for Ferencvárosi Torna Club in the
Hungarian
Second Division, on
loan from Sheffield United of
England
.
- Abdulqawi
Yusuf – Prominent Somali international lawyer and
judge with the International Court of
Justice
.
- Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid
– international fashion icon, supermodel, actress and
entrepreneur, professionally known as
Iman.
- Mustafa
Mohamed – Somali-Swedish
long-distance runner who mainly competes in the
3000 meter
steeplechase. Won gold in the
2006 Nordic Cross
Country Championships and at the 1st SPAR European Team
Championships in Leiria, Portugal
in 2009. Beat the 31 year old Swedish record
in 2007.
- Zahra Abdulla –
Somali politician in Finland
. She is a member of the Helsinki City Council, representing
the Green League.
- Mo Farah – Somali-British gold medalist in international track and field. He currently holds
the British indoor record in the 3000 metre and won the 3000m at
the 2009 European Indoor
Championships in Turin
.
- Rageh Omaar – Somali-British television news
presenter and writer. Formerly a BBC news
correspondent in 2009, he moved to a new post at Al Jazeera English, where he currently
presents the nightly weekday documentary series
Witness.
Language
The
Somali language is a member of
the
Cushitic branch of the
Afro-Asiatic language family.
Its nearest relatives are the
Afar and
Oromo languages. Somali is the best
documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies of it
dating from before 1900.
The exact number of speakers of Somali is unknown. One source
estimates that there are 7.78 million speakers of Somali in Somalia
itself and 12.65 million speakers globally.
Ethnologue: Somalia Ethnologue.com
The
Somali language is spoken by ethnic Somalis in Somalia
, Djibouti
, Ethiopia
, Yemen
and Kenya
, and by the
Somali diaspora.
Somali dialects are divided into three main groups: Northern,
Benaadir and
Maay. Northern Somali (or
Northern-Central Somali) forms the basis for Standard Somali.
Benaadir
(also known as Coastal Somali) is spoken on the Benadir coast from Cadale to
south of Merca
,
including Mogadishu
, as well as in the immediate hinterland. The
coastal dialects have additional
phonemes
which do not exist in Standard Somali. Maay is principally spoken
by the Digil and Mirifle (
Rahanweyn) clans
in the southern areas of Somalia.
Since Somali had long lost its ancient script, a number of
writing systems have been used over the years
for transcribing the language. Of these, the
Somali alphabet is the most widely-used, and
has been the official writing script in Somalia since the
government of former President of Somalia
Mohamed Siad Barre formally introduced it
in October 1972. The script was developed by the Somali linguist
Shire Jama Ahmed specifically for
the Somali language, and uses all letters of the English Latin
alphabet except
p,
v and
z. Besides
Ahmed's Latin script, other orthographies that have been used for
centuries for writing Somali include the long-established
Arabic script and
Wadaad's writing. Indigenous writing
systems developed in the twentieth century include the
Osmanya,
Borama
and
Kaddare scripts, which were
invented by
Osman Yusuf Kenadid,
Sheikh Abdurahman Sheikh
Nuur and
Hussein Sheikh
Ahmed Kaddare, respectively.
Culture
The
culture of Somalia
is an
amalgamation of traditions indigenously developed or accumulated
over a timeline spanning several millenia of Somali civilization's interaction through
cultural diffusion with
neighbouring and far away civilizations such as Ethiopia
, Yemen
, India
and Persia
.
The
textile-making communities in Somalia
are a continuation of an ancient textile industry, as is the
culture of
wood carving,
pottery and
monumental
architecture that dominates Somali interiors and landscapes.
The cultural diffusion of
Somali
commercial enterprise can be detected in its exotic
cuisine, which contains
Southeast Asian influences.
Due to the Somali
people's passionate love for and facility with poetry, Somalia has also been called, by among
others, the Canadian
novelist and scholar Margaret Laurence, a "Nation of Poets" and a "Nation of Bards".
All of these traditions, including
festivals,
martial arts,
dress,
literature,
sport and
games such as
Shax, have immensely contributed
to the enrichment of Somali heritage.
Music
Somalis have a rich musical heritage centered on traditional Somali
folklore. Most Somali songs are
pentatonic; that is, they only use five
pitches per
octave in
contrast to a
heptatonic (seven
note) scale such as the
major scale.
At first
listen, Somali music might be mistaken for the sounds of nearby
regions such as Ethiopia
, Sudan
or
Arabia, but it is ultimately recognizable by
its own unique tunes and styles. Somali songs are usually
the product of collaboration between
lyricists (
midho),
songwriters (
lahan), and
singers (
odka or
"voice").
Musicians and bands
Art
Somali
art is the artistic culture of the Somali
people, both historic and contemporary. These include artistic
traditions in
pottery,
music,
architecture,
woodcarving and other genres. Somali art
is characterized by its
aniconism, partly
as a result of the vestigial influence of the pre-Islamic
mythology of the Somalis coupled with their
ubiquitous
Muslim beliefs.
However, there have
been cases in the past of artistic depictions representing living
creatures such as the golden birds on the Mogadishan
canopies, the ancient
rock paintings in northern Somalia
, and the
plant decoration on religious tombs
in
southern Somalia, but these are considered rare. Instead,
intricate patterns and geometric designs, bold colors and
monumental architecture was the norm.
Cinema and theatre
Watching
Somali or foreign language
musical and
films at the
cinema or
theatre is considered a popular form of
leisure in Somalia.
Mogadishu
used to host several prestigious film festivals honoring African and Middle
Eastern films. In 1988, Somali film director Abdulkadir Ahmed Said released a short
film entitled Geedka nolosha
("Tree of Life"), which earned him an award that year for Best
Short Film at the Torino
International Festival of Young Cinema
. More recently, the diasporic Somali film
industry, also known as Somalywood, has begun to take
shape (particularly in Columbus, Ohio
) and is becoming quite popular in the overseas
Somali communities as well as back in Somalia. The Somali
directors Mohameddeq Ali, AbdiMalik Isak and Abdisalan Aato are at
the forefront of this revolution.
Somalis are also great fans of Bollywood movies and Somali films are usually a
mixture of love stories and Hollywood
-oriented action.
Attire
Men
When not dressed in Westernized clothing such as
jeans and
t-shirts, Somali men
typically wear the
macawis, which is a
sarong-like garment worn around the waist. On their
heads, they often wrap a colorful
turban or
wear the
koofiyad, an embroidered
fez.
Due to Somalia's proximity to and close ties with the
Arabian Peninsula, many Somali men also
wear the
jellabiya (
jellabiyad in
Somali), a long white garment common
in the
Arab world.
Women
During regular, day-to-day activities, women usually wear the
guntiino, a long stretch of cloth tied over the shoulder
and draped around the waist. In more formal settings such as
weddings or religious celebrations like
Eid, women wear the
dirac, which is a
long, light, diaphanous
voile dress made of
cotton or
polyester that is worn over a
full-length
half-slip and a
brassiere.
Married women tend to sport head-scarves referred to as
shash, and also often cover their upper body with a
shawl known as
garbasaar. Unmarried
or young women, however, do not always cover their heads.
Traditional Arabian garb such as the
jilbab is also commonly worn.
Cuisine
The cuisine of Somalia varies from region to region and consists of
an exotic
mixture of diverse culinary
influences. It is the product of Somalia's rich
tradition of trade and commerce.
Despite the variety, there remains one thing that unites the
various regional cuisines: all food is served
halal. There are therefore no
pork
dishes,
alcohol is not served, nothing that
died on its own is eaten, and no blood is incorporated.
Qado or lunch is often elaborate. Varieties of
bariis (
rice), the most popular
probably being
basmati, usually serve as the
main dish. Spices like
cumin,
cardamom,
cloves,
cinnamon and
sage are
used to aromatize these different rice dishes. Somalis eat dinner
as late as 9 pm. During
Ramadan, dinner is often served
after
Tarawih prayers – sometimes as late as
11 pm.
Xalwo or
halva is a popular
confection eaten during special occasions such as
Eid celebrations or wedding receptions. It is
made from sugar,
cornstarch,
cardamom powder,
nutmeg
powder and
ghee. Peanuts are also sometimes
added to enhance texture and flavor. After meals, homes are
traditionally perfumed using
frankincense (
lubaan) or
incense (
cuunsi), which is prepared inside
an incense burner referred to as a
dabqaad.
Literature
Somali scholars have for centuries produced many notable examples
of
Islamic literature ranging
from
poetry to
Hadith.
With the adoption of the
Latin
alphabet in 1972 to transcribe the Somali language, numerous
contemporary Somali authors have also released novels, some of
which have gone on to receive worldwide acclaim. Of these modern
writers,
Nuruddin Farah is probably
the most celebrated. Books such as
From a Crooked Rib and
Links are considered important literary achievements,
works which have earned Farah, among other accolades, the 1998
Neustadt
International Prize for Literature.
Farah Mohamed Jama Awl is another
prominent Somali writer who is perhaps best known for his
Dervish era novel,
Ignorance is the enemy
of love.
Authors and poets
Law
Somalis for centuries have practiced a form of
customary law, which they call
Xeer. Xeer is a
polycentric legal system where there is no
monopolistic agent that determines what the law should be or how it
should be interpreted.
The Xeer legal system is assumed to have developed exclusively in
the
Horn of Africa since
approximately the
7th century. There is
no evidence that it developed elsewhere or was greatly influenced
by any foreign legal system. The fact that Somali legal terminology
is practically devoid of
loan words from
foreign languages suggests that Xeer is truly indigenous.
The Xeer legal system also requires a certain amount of
specialization of different functions
within the legal framework. Thus, one can find
odayal
(
judges),
xeer boggeyaal (
jurists),
guurtiyaal (
detectives),
garxajiyaal (
attorney),
murkhaatiyal (
witnesses) and
waranle (
police officers) to enforce the law.
Xeer is defined by a few fundamental tenets that are immutable and
which closely approximate the principle of
jus cogens in
international law:
- Assuring good inter-clan relations by
treating women justly, negotiating with "peace emissaries" in good
faith, and sparing the lives of socially-protected groups (e.g.
children, women, the pious, poets and guests).
- Family obligations such as the payment of dowry, and sanctions for eloping.
- Rules pertaining to the management of resources such as the use
of pasture land, water, and other natural resources.
- Providing financial support to married female relatives and
newly-weds.
- Donating livestock and other assets to the poor.
Architecture
Somali architecture is a rich and
diverse tradition of engineering and
designing multiple different construction types such as stone cities, castles,
citadels, fortresses, mosques,
temples, aqueducts,
lighthouses, towers and tombs
during
the ancient, medieval and early modern periods in Somalia
, as well as the fusion of Somalo-Islamic
architecture with Western designs in contemporary times.
In ancient Somalia, pyramidical structures known in
Somali as
taalo were a popular
burial style with hundreds of these
drystone monuments scattered around the country
today. Houses were built of
dressed
stone similar to the ones in
Ancient
Egypt and there are examples of courtyards and large stone
walls such as the
Wargaade Wall
enclosing settlements.
The
peaceful introduction of Islam in the early
medieval era of Somalia's history brought Islamic architectural influences from
Arabia and Persia
, which
stimulated a shift in construction from drystone and other related materials to coral stone, sundried
bricks, and the widespread use of limestone in Somali architecture. Many of
the new architectural designs such as
mosques were built on the ruins of older structures,
a practice that would continue over and over again throughout the
following centuries.
Somali Studies
The
scholarly term for research concerning Somalis and Somalia
and related ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa is known as Somali
Studies. It consists of several disciplines such as
anthropology,
sociology,
linguistics,
historiography and
archaeology. The field draws from old
Somali chronicles and
oral literature, in addition to written
accounts and traditions about Somalis and Somalia from
European explorers and neighbouring regions in
the Horn of Africa and the
Middle East.
Since 1980, prominent Somalist scholars from around the world have
gathered annually, either in Somalia or a different country, to
hold the
International Congress of Somali Studies.
Somalist scholars
See also
References
- CIA World Factbook: Somalia, people and
Map of the Somalia Ethnic groups (CIA according
de Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection). The first
gives 15% non-Somalis and the second 6%. Used 90% of current
population of Somalia.
- Saheed A. Adejumobi, The History of Ethiopia,
(Greenwood Press: 2006), p.178
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, inc, Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume
1, (Encyclopaedia Britannica: 2005), p.163
- Phoenicia pg 199
- The Aromatherapy Book by Jeanne Rose and John Hulburd pg
94
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El Mahdy
- Ancient perspectives on Egypt By Roger Matthews, Cornelia
Roemer, University College, London.
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continent By Stefan Goodwin
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Nature By Felipe Armesto Fernandez
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116
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- Futuh Al Habash Shibab ad Din
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78
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characterized by E3b1, DYS19-11, DYS392-12 in Somali males, Eu
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populations gives clues to a possible back-migration from the
Middle East, Program of the Seventy-Fourth Annual Meeting of
the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (2005)
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an immobilised SSO probe hybridisation assay, Eur J Hum Genet.
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Human Origins". Am J Hum Genet; 67:901-925
- Middle East Policy Council - Muslim Populations
Worldwide
- Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, Culture and Customs of
Somalia, (Greenwood Press: 2001), p.1
- Koranic School Project
- Ioan M. Lewis, Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in
Somali Society, (Red Sea Press: 1994), p.51
- Population 1st January 2006 and 2007 and changes in
2006, by immigrant category and country background
- Mosedale, Mike (February 18, 2004), "The Mall of Somalia", City Pages
- Talking Point by M.M. Afrah Minneapolis, Minnesota
(USA) Aug., 12. 2004
- Somalis cash in on Dubai boom from the BBC
- A software tool for research in linguistics and
lexicography: Application to Somali
- Ministry of Information and National Guidance, Somalia, The
writing of the Somali language, (Ministry of Information and
National Guidance: 1974), p.5
- Economist Intelligence Unit (Great Britain), Middle East
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- David D. Laitin, Politics, Language, and Thought: The
Somali Experience, (University Of Chicago Press: 1977),
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- Diriye, p.75
- Diriye, pp.170-171
- Barlin Ali, Somali Cuisine, (AuthorHouse: 2007),
p.79
- http://www.mises.org/story/2701
-
http://www.hiiraan.com/op2/2008/oct/back_to_somali_roots.aspx
- Man, God and Civilization pg 216
- Diriye, p.102
External links