My freind is planning to go over to South Africa for work placement. I better make her read this thread! Oh Yes you better do that.

The latest victims: - Daily Telepraph (dispatch.co.za) said today: A SOMALI spaza shopkeeper was attacked and killed in his Sterkstroom shop, police said yesterday. Inspector Namhla Mdleleni said a six-year-old boy found Kasi Adid, 26, lying in a pool of blood on the floor of his shop at about 1pm on Wednesday. The boy alerted the neighbours, who called an ambulance that took Adid to Frontier Hospital in Queenstown. Adid died in an ambulance while being transferred from Frontier to Frere Hospital in East London. Mdleleni said the wound on his upper body could be from either a sharp instrument or a gun. News24.com: Somali man stoned to death (16/08/2005) Johannesburg - Mpumalanga police were searching for an unknown number of suspects on Tuesday after a Somali man, identified only as Abdekwati, was stoned to death in Piet Retief. Captain Leonard Hlathi of Piet Retief said the 22-year-old man's body was found outside the municipal vehicle-testing grounds in the town early on Monday morning. Bricks covered in blood and a knife were found near the body. Police have appealed to anyone with information about the incident to contact their nearest police station.

Thursday, July 7, 2005 South Africa: Somalis say they live in fear SOMALI shop owners, shocked by the brutal killing of two spaza owners by a trio of gunmen who went on a bloody rampage through three East London townships on Tuesday, buried their dead yesterday. The gunmen shot up six spaza shops - five owned by Somalis and one by a Nigerian - in Duncan Village, CC Lloyd township and Buffalo Flats. "We are investigating the fact that the suspects just went for foreigners," said police spokesperson Inspector Stephen Marais yesterday. By last night, no one had been charged but two men, one in his 20s and the other in his 40s, had been brought in for questioning. Marais said arrests were imminent. Mahamud Abdi Mahamed, 23, and Mahamed Nasier Omar, 20, died in the attacks. Four other spaza shop owners and a bystander were wounded. Nigerian Daniel Dala, 27, Muhammed Ismail, 25, and Muhammed Mashafa, 35, are still in hospital, while Mohammed Ali and Vuyani Bodwana were discharged after treatment. A vehicle believed to have been used by the gunmen was found on the side of the Douglas Smit Highway. A handgun stolen from the scene of the last robbery was found in the car. Somalis at the funeral of the two men at the East Bank Cemetery yesterday told the Daily Dispatch that they lived in constant fear, after previous incidents at their shops - although nothing as bad as this week's attacks. "We came to South Africa to look for a better life and we are killed," said one, who asked not to be named for fear of becoming a "soft target". "We've come all the way from Somalia to find peace, love and unity but there is no peace here," he said. "In our own country, to be killed is expected because of the civil war. But here? We are not protected, we are not safe and we are not secure." The Somalis said they left their country - an estimated 150 now live in East London - to escape the civil war but no longer think of South Africa as a safe haven. They enter South Africa on three-month renewable permits which do not allow them to seek jobs. One option for them is to open spaza shops in the townships. Some believe jealousy of their thriving businesses might have been a motive for the attacks. "If this is no safe haven, it may be better to go back home," said one. Duncan Village residents yesterday came out in support of the Somalis. Nimrod Ruiters echoed the views of many when he said their shops are good for the community: "They are friendly and their prices were good and cheap. I feel very bad about it and hope they catch the culprits." Another local youngster, Zukile Gobeni, 19, believed the motive for the attacks was envy at the Somalis' success. Xola Nodikana, ANC chairperson in Ward 25, said: "We don't have space in this world for violent criminals like these." Somali Mohammed Ibrahim, who fled to SA to get away from the civil war eight months ago, said there is no support for refugees in SA. Source: Daily Dispatch Online, July 07, 2005

Somalis: Masters of survival Wouldn't it better if it was Somalis: Masters of Progress and Wealth ?

What Mr. Rushdie does not understand is the fact that Islam cannot be 'reformed'. If you reform it, it ceases to be a divine faith and becomes an ideology tinkered with and tampered by humans. Weak, silly, little humans, at that. I have always thought that it is the logic of salman and his kind that is in desperate need of reformation .

------------------------------------------------- These days in sol,the Content of a topic is no longer THE reason ppl to respond to great topics. All you need ARE freinds & Peers. Matter of fact,Gone are the days when ppl debated, these days you HAVE to agree with ppl so as to get a responce. You disagree with someone(or Anyone in the Grp),ppl turn personal and or basically call you names. Its as if they make a Triba call to one another: *Ululuaaalluaaleeyyy*!You attack one and the entire Battery follows suit! ------------------------------------------------ You know what this explains a lot. It is a pity when real issues are ignored and trivial matters debated and analysed from every angle. *sighs*

Many innocent people are suffering injustice and muslims are no exception. So the below poem is a tribute to those people struggling and toiling to improve their lives and the lives of others. No Struggle No Progress By: Fredrick Douglas The whole history of progress of human liberty Shows that all concessions Yet made to her august claims Have been born of earnest struggle. If there is no struggle There is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, And yet depreciate agitation, Are men [and women] who want crops Without plowing up the ground, They want rain Without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean Without the awful roar of its waters. This struggle may be a moral one; Or it may be a physical one; Or it may be both moral and physical; But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will. Find out just what any people Will quietly submit to And you have found the exact measure Of injustice and wrong Which will be imposed upon them, And these will continue till they are resisted. . . The limits. . . are prescribed By the endurance Of those whom. . [are] oppressed]. Men [and Women] may not get all they pay for in this world, but they pay for all they get. If we ever get free from the oppressions and wrong heaped on us, we must pay for their removal. We must do this by labor, by suffering, by sacrifice, and if needs be by our lives and the lives of others

This is poem is dedicated to my fellow Somalis struggling in this life and who have to deal with harshness of envious people. Still I Rise - Maya Angelou You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries. Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise

What an excellent poem! Well it has been said that what comes from the heart touches the heart. I don't even know if they words to describe how I feel about Hooyo. * in tears*

------------------------------------------------ Inaa Lilahi Wa inaa Ileyhi Raajicuun She was amazing women, Alahuma adkhilhaa janataka al Waasi'a warzuqnaa al imaan, wal qurbu ileyka, Anta rabii wa Qaaliqii as'aluka al imaan, Alahuma min adaabil Alqabri wa min Adaabi Al naar waj'alnaa ka mithli Zeynab Algazaali wa Al saalihiin.. Aamiiin.. ------------------------------------------------- Aamiiiiin

------------------------------------------------Ngonge writes: Thus it’s clear that good habits were not an Islamic invention. ------------------------------------------------- Ngonge Wasn't the first human being a prophet of GOD? Did Adam not recieve guidance concerning what good and bad habits actually are? Have you forgotten his sons habiil and qaabil? One well mannered and and the other ill mannered? ------------------------------------------------- He/she is drunk, how could he/she know right from wrong? ------------------------------------------------- The fitrah also assists mankind to do good but can weaken under social pressure. That is why some non believers can be well mannered. But it is a very fragile force which when ignorant can be easily manipulated and abandoned. Before the fitrah is corrupted you feel it in your heart that this toxicant is bad for you. People drink alcohol for different reasons and it is usually to escape the painful reality. ------------------------------------------------- Dishonesty, impertinence, anger, haste, fraudulence, tediousness and a dozen other vile habits are mocked and ridiculed. The old non-believers despised them; the sporadically learned Muslims embrace them ----------------------------------------------- What old non believers? I am curious.

------------------------------------------------- Ya'll heard of the infamous saying 'Mugdi & Doqon baa Madoow.' mostly used by reer Jabuuti folks ------------------------------------------------- While other Somalis come up with proverbs as aqoon la’aan waa iftiin la’aan northern Somalis have mugdi iyo doqon baa madow!!! Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. It seems as if their colonial masters had a deeper influence in their perception of their skin colour than thought. And who knows what else. So it is not surprising that this lady is so overwhelmingly disturbed by other people being a shade lighter! Most Somalis (except some rotten eggs) are very proud of their skin colour, religion and language.

------------------------------------------------ Ilaahay Raxmadiisa iyo Jannadiisa ha ka waraabiyo. ALLAH may REWARD HIM for his JIHAD and EFFORTS to defend ISLAM. His books, lectures and debates with non-muslims will never be forgetten. AAMMIIN ------------------------------------------------ Aamiin Aamin Aamiin

Indeed the future is for Islaam which the right of mankind.

However, these words of Sheikh Salman struck a cord with me. I hope they do the same to you Ngonge Excellent article and how relevant it is too! Thank you

Ayeeyo had more guts than could said of many in that situation GOD Bless her

------------------------------------------------ very few individuals' suffer harrasment, defamation or verbal abuse but no one's life is in critical danger for an Imaam to be issuing a fatwa and negating some of the teachings of islam or that which has been preordained by Allah. ------------------------------------------------- Imagine the hardships the black people in uk had/have to go through for over centuries! Yet they couldn't take off their skin colours for all they wished. So they had to struggle to set their conditions right against such brutalities no one can imagine How brave and resilient black people are

It is not the hijaabs, the beards or the Muslim women they are against. Rather it is your obedience to GOD over them they want to abolish. So as long as you believe in GOD As Your Lord and Sole Master you will find yourself prosecuted. The ultimate given to mankind was either you are with us or against us. It is the Lordship of ALLAAH they fighting against and as a result His worshippers are punished. It is ALLAAH’S Laws they are waging the war against as a result His followers are ridiculed and labelled backward Please fellow Muslims let us not us not loose focus of the real issues. Even if you loose your hijaab, beard or khamiis won’t you still believe in GOD As Your Lord and Sole Master? And that was what they wanted to get rid of not the hijaabs etc They want to be a rival to GOD!!!!!

Background: Betrayal 1904 the Dervishes suffered a terrible defeat at Jidbale at the hands of the british, which threatened the embryonic movement with annihilation. Prof. Samatar narrates; ‘ Early in December, 1903 the Sayid [Mullah] established a strong force in the plain of Jidbale at Nugaal Valley at the north-eastern juncture of the British and Italian Somalilands. The dervishes [had] retreated to this no-man’s land after they were cut off from the access to the Dulbahante-Warsangeli corridor, their traditional recruiting area, by the British and were menaced to the west by a combination of Anglo-Ethopian forces and to the south by a british naval expedition in cooperation with the Italians. The only way out of the blockade was towards the ********* country to the north. But since the Sayyid had earlier incurred the displeasure of Sultan ‘Ismaan Mahmuud of the ******teens, he was not welcome in the latter’s territory.’ Betrayal It was at this desperate juncture in the Dervish cause fortunes that ‘a gracious offer came from the Sultan ‘Ismaan Mahmuud, inviting the Sayyid to retreat the eastern ********** country under nominal Italian protection. The British continued to cause the Mullah further headache by pressing their fellow imperialists , via diplomatic channels, to lean on their protected ********** chieftains. Giulio Pestalozza, Italy’s consul-general at Aden and chief envoy to the Somalias, in turned threatened the ********** with something he could only ignore at his peril – naval bombardment. At the aghastly prospect of seeing his thriving coastal towns being reduced to smoldering ashes [as had happened many times before] by the long range heavy guns of the Italian warships plying waters of the Indian ocean, Osman Mahmud hurried to make war on the fleeing Dervishes as soon as they entered his territory. The Dervishes fought back with their last reserves of strength To top the Mullah’s mounting troubles, ‘400 of his own ******** clan deserted [him]. Faced with hostility on all sides, deprived of livestock [and livelihood], his few survivors diminishing by the day, the Sayyid became a fugitive, and it seemed that the Dervish cause was on the verge of collapse. At this point the Sayyid turned to his last resource, to the power of his mouth. The enemy defeated him in the battle-field but the Sayyid [latter] defeated them by his mouth! According to Prof. Sa’d Samatar, ‘The clans are said to have become ‘disgusted’ and ‘horrified’ by turns at the dishonourable treatment of the Sheikh, a fellow Muslim and kinsman, was accorded… [And] a cry of shame was heard in the country. For although many a great many Somalis had learned by bitter experience to hate and fear the Sayyid, the Sheikh’s charisma, his claim to supernatural powers, and the tacit conviction among most Somalis that he was in fact fighting the cause of Allah against an infidel power, instilled reverence in the minds of people. Traditional scholars relate how clans were so shamed on hearing the heart-rending ‘Jiinley’ [which one scholar aptly calls ‘The lament of a kinsman’] and the Mullah’s frightful plight recounted, that they hurried to make amends. ‘Many of the ******** who who had earlier deserted him’, according to Sa’d Samatar returned to him. It is also said that ‘Ismaan Mahmuud faced rebellion by his morally affronted subjects. Reportedly, he sought to propitiate the Sayyid by proposing to marry his daughter his own daughter to him. A year later when the Italian envoy G. Pestalozza visited the Mullah at his base at Illig, the Dervish leader seemed to his Italian visitor to be the best of health and prosperity and did not seem to be lacking in either manpower or material wealth. So the Mullah’s self-serving arguments must have been ‘truly persuasive’, in Sa’is Samatar’s words Jiinley O Hussein there is no need to speak in riddles As you are my playmate and confidant. Only you remained by my side, while the ignorant fled. Only you did not forsake me for the Janhoy. Who cleverly stole my kinsmen from me. He who does not harry the infidel Belongs to the bowels of Hell, That he [they] are destined for Jahanama Is a certain as the word of God, by which I swear. It was you, my comrade, who saddled by camel for me in the hour of despair; while the rest deserted me for the English general. As I spread the mat of prayer in worshipful meditation, As I joined the other worshippers in the hour of the Juma prayer in my Harun As anything I desired was instantly brought to me- A trickster has deprived me of my Johorad. [For] I am a careless, and even a reckless man who would not hesitate to scale a dangerous mountain I am like a wild and stubborn he-camel that knows no harness or bridle. The chatter of the [deceitful] ********* Sounded like a welcoming jingle to my [trusting] ears I was made curious to find out the meaning of that deceptive message. [For] it must have been my to travel that weary way, to traverse the forbidding jungle, with its thorn-bushes, home for poisonous snakes. How many times have I resumed my weary trek in the dead of night [for fear of falling behind] to brave perilous pitfalls [for lack of better sight] and precipitous mountain paths; how often have my wary senses detected the stealthy motion of a man-eating lion, stalking from close behind [as I groped my way trough the engulfing darkness]… How many times have I jumped in the nick of time to avoid fatal fangs of a venomous snake And how often a time have I actually stepped, though miraculously escaping, on a coiled adder And how many times have I heard the deadly ‘swish’ of a deadly snake as it slithered by me; How many a night have I tossed and turned, Sleeplessly, for the aches and pains of my journey How often have I moaned in pain as my stiff limbs refused to bend How often have I swallowed hard [on my saliva] to ease my pain in my parched throat This much I would have not suffered, had not a tantalizing message come to me from a sultan Nor would I have sought the [alien] sea; I would have happily remained where I was, had he [the sultan] not implored me to come. It was the boundless I bore for him that compelled me to seek this sordid sea… Now, I can only look to God for my just recompense. Xuseenow jigraar lama hadlee jaalkay baa tahaye, Adaan iga jadeer wicin markuu Jaahilkii didaye, Jaanhooy adaan qaban markuu jiitay gacalkaaye. Ragga gaalo jeefaafi waa ehel jaxiimaade, Jahannama inay gelahayaan waygu jaamaca e, Adaa jamalka soo raray markay janan u guureene. Sagal jiidan caad jilicsaniyo jarar hillaacaaya. Onkod jow leh daad soo jirmaday jahada oo xiintay, Jowjowlihii xalay sidii jibin u guuxaayey, Sidii jaawo dhane loo shubaan jeelka ka bi'ine, Waxaan kugu jalbeebinahayaa jow*****i gabaye, Jawiskayga maqal caawa waan jalalabaayaaye. Anigoo jalaalada dhigtoo diinta jibanaaya, Anigoo jameecada galoo jaarrun xaruntayda, Anigoo wixii aan jantaba jimic la siiyo. Jaanjaani baa iga khatalay johoraddaydiiye, Hawo nimaan ka jigan baan ahoo jiiro dheer koriye, Waxaan ahay nimaan jare aqoon sida jaguug awre. Jawaabtii ********** kolkay jalawdii ii yeedhay, Inaan joro ku sii dhaho hadday igaga jeebnaatay, Jiidaha Ilaahay haddii la igu jeeraarshey. Xaga jiqa jaleefaniyo qurac, jinow wax heeraaya, Jiqtoolaha galooliyo sarmaan jarafku xiimaayo, Jimbac surad leh, jiiqo isku baxay, jiica iyo siiqda, Jillab xanafle jowdheer qallalan, jabi xanuun weyn leh, Jirma qodax leh, jiiqjiiq wax mudi jeerin iyo yooco, Jirda badan jiroon iyo qaroon, jaaluf iyo seeri. Jafka hawka guuraha waxaan jar iska xooraayey, Wuxuu jeeni calafow libaax igu jibaadaayey, Raadkaan ku jiillaa wuxuu daba jadeemaayey, Jilbis halaqa iyo good waxaan jaanta kala booday, Wixii aan ku joogsaday abees jilifle oo duuban, Maska jirirqleeyaa wuxuu jiiris igu dhaafay, Jambareera dhicidii waxaan jiifka qaban waayey, Hadba jimicsi iyo taah waxaan jilibka soo laabay, Jidiindhowga qabatoon waxaan jiilka rogi waayey, Waxaan jiidha waaberi kacoo jalafsadoo luuday, Jarmaadada aroortii waxaan juhul madoobaaday, Waxaan dhegaha jawgii ka baxay jibindhow moodaayey, Wixii aan jajuub galay, waxaan jawray badankeyga, Rabbi baygu jeefaye wxaan jululay ruuxayga, Jaldhanka iyo baahida waxaan jalaqa heemaarshey, Haddaan boqor jawaab iiga iman bad uma jeeleene, Jeclaantaan u qabay baan jaankii badihiiye, Jirku ima xanuuneen hadduu joog i leeyahaye,. Jeer baa Ilaah ii qadaray jiirahaan maraye, Jiidaha in meel loogu wado jaahil baan garane, Waxse igu jirrabay waa ninkii jookha ii lulaye. Jasadayda Eebbaan ka helin taloba waa jeere.

----------------------------------------------- I just got an email from a freind that one of my college freind died in a car crash yesterday!.It was only the other day me and him were planing on how to sneak out of our human physiology class on fridays to attend Jumuah prayers.I guess you make plans and Allah has his on for you! ------------------------------------------------- INAA LI LAAHI WA INAA ILAHI LII RAAJUCUUN. STOIC My deepest condolences to you and your friend also our fellow muslim brother. Death is hard as it is but sudden death is much worse still!

Sky Can you translate the poem for those of us who have not mastered the Somali language yet? Many thanks

^ Thank you for the translation. Well, below is what the mullah had to say about his cause: The Mullah never wanting words in defence of his cause provided his own epitaph: Even I have failed to get a flag that would be flown for me between here and Nairobi. Have I failed to get honour in Paradise, and victories as well as defeats [in war]? Even I have failed to get the Iido [region], luxuriant with grass, and the Nogal [for my camels] to graze, Have I failed to get a riding beast to mount and raid to war with success? Even I have failed to get to get people who would show me sympathy and acknowledge their kinship with me, Have I failed to get God’s mercy and [the gift] to see the prophets face? It is important that the to take lines 1 and 6 together, as they so eloquently reveal the Mullah’s twin concerns thought the long Dervish struggle, God and Country, or freedom and faith in Allah. In 1960, after the Somali Youth League successfully led northern and southern Somalis to independence and immediate union, an inspired poet, looking back to decades of strenuous Somali resistance to colonial rule, sang the following stiiring lines: O Lord, who could convey gracious salutations to the great Dervish, Who may tell him that his land is free at last. Source: Divine Madness Mohammed Abdulle Hassan (1856-1920) By Abdi Sheikh Abdi

Soma Aad baad ugu mahadsantay. Waana runtaada dambigeena ayaa guusha inoo diidan. Waayo Cumar ibn Al Khattab wuxuu ku oran jiray ciidanka muslimiinta iska jira dambiyada iyagaa idin baa'biin.

Raganimo Sayid's poetry can only be understood by those who speak fluent Somali. So the younger generation can not appriaciate its wisdom and meaning which is very sad indeed. I am one them. So if you have any of Sayid's or great Somali poets gabayo in English it would be much appreciated.

Miskiin Tartiib waxba ha sii raac raacin dadka warkood. Dadkii horey way tageen marka su'aasha la iska rabo wa kuwa badildoona.