Nuune, there is good book written in Arabic with the name of Futuuxaat Habasha. His history is well documented there. Good luck with the research-- I hope it would be a fruitful one. Respectively, Farah

to relive history is like having an eternal window of what is to come. Without history there is no future. The dark straits of certain leaders should not overwhelm the rest shining and almost all illuminating body of wealth- Sayid Mohamed though had commited mistakes but as whole he was a man of integrity, sheer bravery and almost a man with great vision unfortunately he came rather early. The half-truths of what our uncles tell us (uncles that are blinded nothing short of clannish bigotry) should not stray us from what it can reasonably be given the title of the first Somali state. The inception of the Darwish struggle was indeed the begging of Somalihood. Ahmed Gurey had achieved (relatively speaking, and quite debateble) victories that lasted quite sometime than that of Sayidka; Sayidka remains the pioneer of Somali State. Without no hesitation and with clear vision Sayid's name is written on the same page of that Ahmed Gure though his name is written with bold letters. Respectively, Farah

bollocks-- am I allowed to say such a thing? ooh well perhaps not next time.

With elation I appreciate you have enjoyed the log time written piece. Respectively, Farah

Salaams, uuh, so there is no Somali culture independent from external factors? if the answer is ye then that is something I can concede with. As many of the above gents elluded to, Somali "cultute" is part of Islamic heritage and without it there is no Somali culture--- unlike other Muslims who had social beliefs and norms before they embraced Islam; Somalis were not that unfortunate. Our culture and collective thought is indeed Islam, consequently we have Muslim culture rather that a Somali "culture". Respectively, Farah

I have YET to hear anything tentative definition on this out of the usual run of things; namely Somali Culture. The more one dives in the hallow waters of the argument the more, disappointingly one becomes dissilutioned with the idea of Somali culture. As I have asked before, what do we mean by culture? We often hear people employing these generic terms without conceptualising it. One wonders in halarity; how can people who are so much concerned (or atleast bubbaling) about a concept with seemingly great passion fail to elucidate (or even grasp) the notion in question. Like most of things Somali, this is an issue that has not been paid enough care to-perhaps being a young society has such an ailment? It could only be remedied if we aware of our shortcomings as a YOUNG nation wrought by un-certantities about almost everything. I pose the same question one again in the slightest hope that there will be a beacon of light! What is Culture and particularly how the Somali culture corrosponds with the definition you have given to culture. Respectively Farah

Salaams, Before we swim through this heated water, one is obliged to enquire what we are preparing ourselves for. Question that needs to be addressed first is what positive means to be CULTURE or Somali CULTURE to be precise. From thereon can we salvage this “culture” of ours? I hope I am not taking the discussion away from its intended road. Farah

This is an utter shame

Prafasoore, As an old vetran of Somalinet (though I seldom visit that site anymore) I do concur with you to the extent that the website cultivated seeds that were already sowed in these youngsters. Entrepreneur Nothing to do with that departed dictator’s regime. This is something that is deeply rooted in our “culture”.

Profasoore, I should hope so, though I doubt that the newtonian inertia that many of our brothers ans sisters found themselves would be a hard one to break-- but congrats for your flee from the forlorn to frerdom. Respectfully, Farah

Mujahid, My utmost (practicable one of course, not fanciful stuff hre) is to be paid to write.

Jamal11, are you up for a play brother? Respectfully, Farah

As narrated by Bukhari and Muslim, our sweet intelligent prophet SCW said "Al fadaadiinu Ahlu Wabar, Wa sakiinatu Ahlu Qanam" meaning patience and civility is with the people who herd goats and sheep and arrogance and harshness to those who herd Camels. I think this summs up it all. Generally people from Sanaag have lots of Iddo (ido meaning Ari qoor madooow nooh) and they are indeed more calmeer from those who are from neighbouring counties dare I mention Sool, Togdheer and even Bari. Jamal, farming is all good but for any day my fellow I will stick with Geel.

Harmony, Captured with the serenity of your verse, I am melting like the antic ice not because of the global warming but indeed the warmth that oozed your first poem. Uuh such a delight will make an oldie like I linger more for puerile pleasure. Respectfully, Farah

Salaams, Education and Humanness! It is really farce to assume that by having a degree one becomes a good stock. A degree is a paper that allows one to get a better job; nothing more nothing less. However, education is something more cavernous than the mere paper one gets from college or University. The definition of which my dear brother Mujahid asked was How can we define education, educated person. My personal classification of such a word would be :: Someone with a vast understanding of their being and contributes to the society positively. This is the actual meaning of an educated person. Ill-education is the actually ill that pervades into our so called educated boys and girls. One becomes proud because they have read a degree in something abstract as History of Art- what a tosh (to borrow Sophist’s word). Somali Girls and Education Walahi, in my search of such an elusive individual, I have come across my treacherous vallies……………………… Mujahid Said: How do you define an educated sista? such a loose terminology dee. For me the educated sista is not one that is shamelessly looking for the next cheap macangag faarah, on a nonsensical dating frenzy. Rather the educated one is ladylike in public and a freak in private quaters with her husband MUJAHID OVER AND OUT ! That is Funny

Dear Sophist, Verily moments are a "bizzare" phenomenon, which seems always to be, as opposed to not being. And with these moments life meanders and exhibts interesting things; the evening sunsets, everyday it happens to be differents yet nonetheless never losing an iota of its beauty. The monarch butterfly expanding it`s wings on the crisp morning air, the waterfalls from which the water keeps falling. And on a more sorrowful note; the wars, famines, earthquakes all in the spectrum of time display a sense of transcendent wisdom which becomes incapable of comprehension at the moment of occurence. But the event which makes even the Greek Tragdies seem like plays, would have to be a Somali romantic! life has become so polarised for the poor thing that he will cease to be without his beloved. the situation has become so dire that he has to adopt the sayings of a broken and confused man like Satre. perhaps there is a fine line between being and nothingness. But woe! ! unto the friends of such a fellow, that claim to be friends, yet unaware that the friend is sojurneing in solitude through profound existential issues. alas friend i have so much to say but this moment has passed me by. i will abruptly finish here perahps i will continue another time.

Salamu Alaikum, Latiif, waad kumahadsan tahay sida deganaansha ku dheehan ee aad udhiibatey fikradaada qaaliga ah. Inkastoo wax badan oo aad sheegtey kugu raacsanahay, hadana xoogaa yar ayaan dhaliilayaa ra'yigaaga ah Nidaamyadii kadhisannaa Soomaliya iney ku qasbeen dadka hal Soomali. Anigu hadalkaas waxaan isleeyahay waa ra'yi labuunbiiniyey, maxaa wacay lahjo iyo Luqad dhexdhexaad ah wax isku mid ah ma ey aha. Wadankaan Ingiriiska ee aan kunool nahay waxaa jira lahjado kala duwan laakin luqada lagu hadlaayi ma ey kukoobna gobol ama degaan hal meel ah- inkastoo dadku yiraahdaan Koonfur Bari wadankan ayaa luqadooda lagu hadlaa. Sida aan horeba uga dhaqaajiyey, soomaaligoo idil lahjo ayuu aha- qaasatan lahjooyinkaad uxstey qaar badan ayaan Soomali ereyo asal u ah adeegsan: dood waxaad gelin kartaa Waa maxay Soomali! asalkiisu xagee buu kayimi? Waxaan kugu racsanahay in lahjooyinka aad kor ku xustey aan lasiinin fursad ey lawadaagaan walaalohooda Soomaliyeed- tusaale ahaan in loo sameeyo Idaacad (Radio) ku baxa lahjooyinkaas. Laakin waxaa la oran karaa taasi waxay usuurto geli weydey labo arimood daraadeed: 1. Iyadoo dawladu eyna heynin dhaqaale kufilan in lasameeyo mashaariicdaas 2. In dawladu eyna ku baraarug saneyn "Political Correctness". Waxaa la iisheegey markii Afsoomaliga laqorayey in Soomaliya oo idil dadka u kuura gala Luqada Soomaliyeed loo yeerey; dadkaasoo ka kala yimi Raascaanbooni ilaa iyo Raas caseer ilaa Seylac. Hadii hadalkani sax yahay, waxaa cadaaneysa in Maamulkii kaligii taliyaha ahaa uuna keligii afduubin Mashruucaas (Weliba horaantii 70naadkii Dawladii Siyaad waxay aheyd dawlada ugu hormarin ogeyd Soomaliya ilaa iyo 60maadkii- arintaad dood ninkii kaqaba shaah hasoo qaato iyo gambarkiisa si aan geed hoostii uga xaajoono arinkan). Calaa kulixaal, Hada Somaaliigaan qorayo qofkasta oo Soomali akhrin kara waa uu fahmayaa (waxaa laga yaabaa in erayo ey kugu cusbaadaan tani macnaheeda ma ey aha inaan lahjad kuqorey balse ey dhacdo arintaan oo kale. Qofka ingiriis ah hadii loo dhiibo qoraalada Milton, Byron, Shakespeare, James Joyce Ms Woolf- in dumarka laxuso ayaa mudan- shaki waxaanu ku jirin in uu erayo badan fahmi waayo, tan macnaheedu ma ah in Qoraayaashani eyna kuqorin English Standard-ka ahaa balse waxay kutusinaysaa in qofkani uuna luqadiisa sifiican u aqoonin:::: Qalad hafahmin, anigu iskuma matalayo ragaas, tusaale ahaan ayaan usoo qaatey). Farah

Salamu Alaikum I am astoundedly surprised to see Somalis discussing the Somali language in a luqad qalaad.! Cajiib. Umad kasta oo kunool wadan ama goob waxa ey kuhadashaa luqad, luqadaasi waxa ey leedahay lahjo. Marka laqorayo luqad waxaa dhextaal looga dhigaa waxa looyaqaano Suugaanta. Suugaantu waxay uqybsantaa laamo fara badan. Arar, Gabay, Maahmaah, ama guud ahaan tix iyo tiraab. Hadaba, Luqada Soomaaliga waxaa dhextaal iyadana u ah Suugaanteena qiimaha badan. Soomaliga "dhexdehxaadka" ah ma uu aha mid kuqoran hal gobol keliya (18 gobol ahaaneed) laakiin waa mid kasoo jeeda goobo Soomaliya kamid ah. Gobahaasi waxaa la oran karaa waxa ey wadaagaan ama kadhexeeya waa suugaanta; Tix iyo tiraabba. Gobollada ey Abwaanada Soomaliyeed ee caanka ah (Waxaa dood la gelin karaa maxaa caan ka dhigey kuwan). Ragaas waxaa ka mid ah: 1.Raage Ugaas- Galbeedka Soomaaliya 2.Sayid Maxamed- Buuhoodle Area-Hawd 3.Cali Dhuux- Marqaanweyne- Hawd 4.Ismaaciil Mire- Marqaanweyne- Hawd 5.Salaan Carabey-Waqooyi Galbeed 6.Aw Jaamac- Waqooyi Bari Iyo Rag kale oo fara badan. Waxaa kaloo jira sheekooyin badan oo kusaleysan nimankaas aan kor kuxusey Aaga ey kayimaadeen. Sheekoyinkaas waxaa kamid ah Cigaal Shiidaad, Dhagdheer iyo kuwo fara badan oo aan kusoo barbaarney. Si kastastaba arintu ha ahaantee arinkaani waa arin muran badan lagelin karo, laakiin hade waxaa lagama maar maan ah in qofku uu aqoon u yeesho mawduucan inta aanu madaxa la gelin doodan qaaliga ah. Mahadsanidin. Farah

Salamu Alaikum Let me welcome you jovially to this temperate (almost un Somali) forum where some of us go out their way to be jolly to others- an admirable behaviour. Jaziira ayaa hadalkii dhameeyey! Farah

The idea that I posted these questions to get some sort of response to help an essay I need to write for MY academic purposes is far from my nature. Perhaps you guys are giving enormous of credit to where does not deserve. I take great pleasure in writing. By writing I touch and feel my place in this congested universe. Jamal, I thought you knew that I away from Social passive didacticism for a year! It shall remerge from its deep waters this October Inshaa Rahman. Farah

Jamal, My highly esteemed follow with the CRITICAL MIND! I have always thought Cambridge was in East Anglia; but Jamila said she attends a university of Cambridge in London so perhaps you are quite right by saying it is few blocks away from Guildhall. Farah

Welcome! University of Cambridge in London? Woow which part of london is this great sounding university located?

Salamu alaikum, Social and Economic inequality inevitable? The proposition of inevitability in the social sciences invites the analysis of a natural state or trend and a rigid defence, or attack upon the potential forces of change within a particular system. The proposition in this instance is whether the natural state of the society inevitably veers towards inequality in terms of wealth and status apportioned to its members. The analysis must therefore focus on the merits of arguments that seek to steer the circumstances away from this allegedly inevitable proposition. Social theorists that sought to affirm the inchoate and orchestrated vision of society often proclaimed society as their founding proposition, to be a primitive rag bag of angst and violent communal discord. Hobbes’s diagnosis of the life of man being nasty, brutish and short was the most explicit vent of this chaotic view of man and society in its primordial nudity. Hobbes1 and his fellow social contract theorists embarked on a task of dynamic social engineering, aiming to use the malleable pre-existing notions of social structures and institutions to structure the social fabric into an ordered and coherent communal whole. However equality was never on the agenda of these pre-enlightenment social theorists, theirs was a mandate of order and social and economic inequality was a pre-requisite of such order. This therefore qualifies our founding proposition into one that asks whether the social and economic inevitability can be avoided without doing violence to the cause of social order. Indeed, I would argue that all subsequent attempts at nation building are exercises in solving this conundrum. In the declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) issued by the National Assembly of France during the French Revolution, the following categorical statement is made: ‘Men are born, and always continue, free and equal in respect of their rights.’ A similar statement is found in the American declaration of Independence (1776): ‘we both hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal…..’ These documents make the argument that equality is natural state of man. They put emphasis on the notion that men are born equal. This means that we have a right to equal opportunities; however, all have not the same capacity. The Franco-American constitutions are attempts at trimming the elaborate process ridden analysis of enlightenment thinkers into a socially executable model. A look at Rousseau gives further insight into these ideals. Rousseau formulates three stages in the development of human society. In the first stage there was no human language and people lived in a state that was not that different from other animals. In the second stage, there was simple language, some family life, and "independent intercourse" among small groups of people. The development of the modern society emerged as the third stage. Of the three stages, says Rousseau, the second is the best, during which stage there were some families and some communities, and people lived a simple, independent, transparent and happy life. But it was impossible to stay in the second stage forever. People's envy and vanity to compete with each other brought about the ruin of the second stage and the rise of the third, corrupt, stage. Natural inequality in strength, talent, and appearance eventually led to moral inequality in wealth, social status and political power. In the third stage, writes Rousseau, people are not happy. They are alienated from their true selves. They are pretentious, envious, and controlled by their own lowly desires and also by other people's opinion. Rousseau presents two solutions to the problems of the third stage. The first is personal or therapeutic, which relies on family education and nurturing. The second solution proposed by Rousseau, therefore, is political, which relies on the social contract and focuses on eliminating alienation through collective forces. Recognising social equality in democratic state means that all citizens are treated alike in respect of the control that they may be legitimately exercised over them and of the measure of protection which may be entitled to demand at the hands of the government. The rights mentioned above provide the necessary armour to be fundamentally equal in democratic state. Nevertheless, some social theorists (Mostly Marxists) argue that without economic equality there can never be social equality. Economic equality has been a contentious subject for centuries. Some political thinkers interpreted Economic equality as literal sense. Bryce writes ‘the attempt to expunge all differences in wealth, allotting to every man and woman equal share in worldly goods’. A reasonable view of equality must dismiss such a conception as being beyond the bounds of practical politics, for, even, we start as some suggest from a clean slate men’s differences in need and capacity are too great to enable equality of wealth to be maintained for length of time. It is argued this gravely interferes with economic liberty of citizens. ‘Render possessions ever so equal,’ said Hume, ‘men’s different degrees of Art, care and industry will immediately break equality. Or if you check these virtues, you reduce society to the most extreme indulgence.’ But it is quite possible and desirable to reduce the excessive inequalities of existing fortunes. General absolute equality is unattainable, unless we live under a tyrannically enforced homogeneity there will

Cynical Somalis my God you are all seem to mirror my persona- and they say Somalis are not ethnically homogeneous. Dear, I respect Churchill because he stood up for his principles. You shouldn’t take this that I like Nalash dheerayaasha!. I hope that made sense.

1.What are the advantages and disadvantages of the separation of Powers for a representative democracy? 2. Is Social and Economic inequality inevitable? 3. To what extend are people just puppets whose strings are pulled by the environment? For those who take great pleasure in writing about political science, I challenge you to do 500 words minimum of the one of the above titles. You need not to have an extensive knowledge of the subject matter, but your piece will be judged upon three categories. 1.Whether the information you use to argue your case is generally accurate 2.Whether your argument is clear and well organised 3.Whether you have a good command of political science generally. Lunge in and let the game begin. Farah