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Sufism In Somaliland: A Study In Tribal Islam

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

I. M. lewis
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Although Somaliland has attracted the attention of a distinguished body of Italian scholars it has not yet been subjected to a specifically social anthropological study such as the present writer hopes to make. Excellent studies notably by Puccioni (1919–1937), Cerulli (1918–1943), and Colucci (1924,1943) have elucidated the sociology of the Somali and created a sound corpus of knowledge for future investigations. Colucci's Principi di diritto consuetudinario delta Somalia Meridionale (1924) provides a penetrating analysis delineating with great clarity the general framework of Somali social organization and the political structure of the Sab tribes of Somalia in terms of lineage organization. Cerulli's studies of tribal custom and social organization are also of great value;his ‘Note sul movimento musulmano nella Somalia ’, published over 30 years ago, is at present the foundation of all studies of Islam amongst the Somali. The present paper attempts to set this and other material on Somali religion in the context of the sociological investigation of the literature of the Somali which I have made elsewhere (Lewis, 1955), and in which I have been guided by Somali informants in London. It is hoped that the procedure adopted here may be of value in suggesting the lines along which field studies of Islam amongst the Somali might profitably be conducted, and also that it may make some contribution to studies of Islam amongst tribal societies generally.

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Articles
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 17 , Issue 3 , October 1955 , pp. 581 - 602
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1955

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References

page 581 note 1 OrthoOrthography In the transcription of Somali words I have wherever possible used the orthography of B. W. Andrzejewski as adopted byBell, C. R. V. in his work The Somali Language (Longmans), 1953. In this orthography vowel length is represented by doubling vowel letters, i.e. long a is written aa, etc. In some cases, however, I have had to adhere to the spellings given by my Italian authorities. Somali place-names, such as Mogadishu, are ‘anglicized ’from the Italian. Arabic words are transliterated according to common usage, although certain words such as ' sheik ' which have well-known ‘anglicized ’forms have been left in these forms. Thus the Prophet is referred to as ‘Mohammed’, while in other proper names the transliteration ‘Muhammad ’is given. I wish to acknowledge the help in the preparation of this paper which I have received from many scholars and to express my gratitude in particular to Ali Garaad Jama and Musa Haaji Isma'il Galaal of the British Somaliland Protectorate, to Mr.Abu Zaid, A. M., Mr.Andrzejewski, B. W, Dr.Baxter, P. T. W., Professor Evans-Pritchard, R. E., SirGibb, H. A. R., Dr.Mathew, G., and Professor Serjeant, R. B..Google Scholar

page 581 note 2 The same conclusion is reached by Drague in his masterly Esquisse d'Histoire Seligieuse du Maroc, 1951, p. 8.Google Scholar

page 582 note 1 The authorities upon whose work this classification rests are cited in the Cushitic bibliography at the end of Part II of this paper.

page 582 note 2 By ‘Sufi genealogies ’are meant, as indicated above, the personal genealogies of the sheiks who are the founders and heads of the Somali Sufi Dervish Orders.

page 583 note 1 It is important to distinguish the ‘Sab ’from the ‘outcast’client peoples of Somaliland who have no independent tribal organization and do not own lands. These artisans and craftsmen have a clearly defined subject status and are written sab (see Lewis, op. cit., pp. 51–5). It is not yet known whether sab and Sab are linguistically identical or whether there are any ethnic connexions between the two peoples.

page 584 note * Somali tribal families.

page 584 note 1 The Tunni are a tribal confederacy rather than a tribal family.

page 584 note 2 The Gedabuursi are of uncertain affiliation, they may belong to the Dir tribal family.

page 584 note 3 This division is, as Professor R. B. Serjeant has suggested to me, reminiscent of that between the northern and southern Arabs who trace descent from 'Adnan and Qahtan respectively.

page 584 note 4 Correctly as above indicated ‘Soomaali’.

page 585 note 1 Clients are called magan in the northern dialects;in the south 'arifa, and among the Digil, sheegad.

page 585 note 2 The extent of exogamy appears to vary from tribe to tribe, partly no doubt dependent upon size, and it is at present impossible to generalize definitively.

page 585 note 3 Contrast the classical definition of Ibn Khaldun, Prolegomenes, trs. de Slane, I, p. 382.

page 586 note 1 The generic word for any form of offering to God and for sacrifice in its widest sense is amongst the northern Somali Rabbibari, which Andrzejewski translates ‘beseeching God ’;among the Hawiye of Somalia Waaq da 'il ‘offering to the Sky God ’is used according to Cerulli, op. cit.

page 590 note 1 Professor Serjeant's study of south Arabian MSS. has shown conclusively that the 'two great centres of diffusion of trade and the faith ’were Zeila and Mogadishu (personal communication).

page 592 note 1 Professor B. B. Serjeant, personal communication.

page 592 note 2 An account of his life is found in al-Shilli's al-Mashra'al-Rawl (A.H. 1319, printed in the 'Amiriyah Press), II, pp. 34–41.

1 Wadaad is the Somali equivalent of the ‘marabout’or ‘mullah ’, sometimes described as hedge priest, found in all Muslim countries. His functions are manifold since as well as expounding the Koran and hadith as a theologian, he assumes too all the functions of itinerant qadi. The origin of the word ‘wadaad ’is uncertain, it may equally be an Arabic borrowing or of Cushitic derivation.

2 See Lewis, 1955, p. 154;Anderson, 1954, pp. 44 ff

3 On the subject of a suitable script for Somali see: King, J. S., ‘Somali as a written language ’, Indian Antiquary, August and October, 1887Google Scholar;Maino, , M, ., ‘L ’alfabeto Osmania in Somalia, RSE, 10, 1951Google Scholar;Galaal, M. H. I., ‘Arabic script for Somali’, Islamic Quarterly, I, 2, 1954, pp. 114–8;Google ScholarMaino, M., La Lingua Somala Strumento d'Insegnamente Professionale, 1953;Google ScholarAndrzejewski, , B. W, ., ‘Some problems of Somali orthography’, Somaliland Journal (Hargeisa), I, 1, 1954, pp. 34–47.Google Scholar

page 594 note 1 See Cerulli, 1923, pp. 12,22, who describes the sheik as one of the most important proselytizers of the Qadiriya in the hinterland of Somalia, although, as indicated above, the Order had already at the beginning of the 19th century assumed some prominence in the interior with the foundation of the community of Bardera on the Juba river. ‘Awes ’is a Somalization of ‘Uwais ’and the sheik's full name is Uwais ibn Muhammed al-Barawi.

page 594 note 2 See above, and Cerulli, loc. cit., p. 22.

page 594 note 3 The kaaji's full name is Sh. 'Abd Allah ibn Yusif al-Qalanquli al-Qutbl al-Qadiri ash-Shafi ‘Il-Ash’ari. The work was published in Cairo in A.H. 1338 (1918–19) and printed by Mustafa al-Babl al-Halabi in two vols. It constitutes a most valuable collection of the lives of the Somali Qadiriya sheiks.

page 594 note 4 See below, p. 598.

page 596 note 1 cf. Gibb, 1947, p. 55.

page 597 note 1 See Lewis, 1955, p. 17.

page 598 note 1 The Saraman tribal cluster comprises the Lisan Horsi, Lisan Bari, the Rer Dumal, Garuale, Luwai, Hadama, Jiron, and the Maalim-wena (see Lewis, 1955, p. 35).

page 598 note 2 For this important Rahanwiin tribe see Lewis, op. cit., pp. 36–9, 40, 121, etc.

page 598 note 3 Cerulli, 1927, pp. 404‘II dialetto degli Asraf di Mogadiscio ’BSE, 12, 1953, pp. 107–39.

page 601 note 1 According to Cerulli (1923, p. 29) the policy of the Italian Administration was to admit the leaders of jama 'as as religious leaders but to allow them no political authority. The development of jama 'as in the fertile riverine area was actively discouraged and the foundation of new settlements constrained as far as possible. In the arable lands thus protected from the further encroachment of jama'as the government saw the possible realization of their aim to establish the economic independence of the colony in extensive agricultural development.

page 602 note 1 This includes a bibliography of principal sources.