Chapter Six - Reclaiming Shari‘a: Women’s Activism in Somaliland

Summary

For centuries men have dominated Somali families, states, and the law, serving as the aqils, the sultans, and the leaders of the colonial and state governments, militant groups, clans, elders’ councils, and religious orders described in the previous chapters. Taking up and using the same religious and legal tools as those men, women activists struggling for rights have sowed a different understanding of shari‘a that they hope, inshallah, Somalis will follow. Certainly some women have been involved in co-opting law and religion to reinforce patriarchy or militancy – as informants, foot soldiers, or security agents.