Paradigm Shift in Somalia

[Nur]

Two new clans emerging in Somalia

 

 

an eNuri online write-up, fresh from the oven.

 

 

Somali kids at Quranic schools learn two main lessons, one at home, the other at the Quraan school, one lesson guides them through the maze of clan life, the other gives them a heavenly purpose, the first is known as the abtirsi, a rote memorization of the child's family tree, up to 30 fore fathers ( most Somalis inadvertently end up as Armenians or Azerbaijanis, depending on Prophet Abraham's lineage, whose son Ishmael and the Qureish tribe of Arabia many Somalis call their ancestors

 

Now freeze!

 

Now, before we go on further, lets define Paradigm Shift:

 

Here is the definition:

 

A paradigm is our perception of reality, our view of the world. It is our interpretation of events based on previous teaching we have received.

 

A paradigm shift means to have a sudden change in perception, a sudden change in point of view, of how you see things. Hopefully this change will be in the right direction.

 

Now, imagine all the tribal lineage that you have memorized as a child is suddenly radically turned up side down, your tribal lineage, your loyalties, friends and enemies are suddenly redefined.

 

How can that be?

 

Well, for purpose of illustration lets us assume that your abtirsi (literally meaning counting for FATHERS) ), is changed to ( HOOYO TIRSI, meaning counting ones fore MOTHERS )

 

What clan will you be?

 

Nomad, sorry if I sent your head spinning out of control,and sorry if I offended you in case you have just turned member of a clan that you hate, I mean your Hooyo tirsi will go something like this.

 

Nur son of Halima who is daughter of Hibaaq, daughter of Habboon, daughter of Hillaac, daughter of Muraayad, daughter of Maandeeq.

 

Wait a minute, do you mean that I am a Reer Qansax clans man?

 

Thats right, your present clan's family tree is a male lineage ( Boy's Club), some even say that Jews do not trust their male lineage to be considered as an authentic Jew (only a mother can tell for sure that you are her son ).

 

Now, that would be a good example of a Paradigm Shift, and that is exactly what happened in Somalia. A Paradigm shift from the allegiance of the clan that was predominantly controlled by bloody warlords, to the allegiance of a spiritually guided new Islamist formation. Suddenly we have two new non-clan-based camps instead of the multiple clan based groups that were all vying for power in Somalia including perverts.

 

As of today, you are either with Islam as Somalia's base of governance, or you are with the Warlords Version of Democracy, because a third option is not feasible, which is chillin at Addis Ababa's Cafe of Cabasho iyo Ciil.

 

The two new camps are thus , the camp of 4.5 clans and the Camp of Islam.

 

Tribalism is sponsored by Condoleeza Rice, Cofe Anan, IGAD and Ethiopia.

 

Islam is sponsored by Allah.

 

The New face of Somalia is changing, it has more hair in the case of men, and its modestly smiling behind a Hijab for dignified women. For the past 16 years, Islam was helping the weak and the down trodden, delivering food to the poor, while the clan based warlords where busy stealing aid funds ( UIC should request for an accounting audit to determine where all the aid funds destined to the poor in Somalia ended up, funds that were paid by aid agencies for the past 16 years , UN and USA are not known where they were spent or deposited ).

 

Meanwhile, Islamists were running businesses as engines of the devastated Somali economy from Telecom to money transfers ( You know you can not trust anarchists to your hard earned money ) . The Islamists aka Wadaads in Somalia, have delivered services to the people for the past 16 years without the eye of an earthly government while securing good profits to investors faithfully, and today, the Islamists have taken control of the helm, which infuriated Anarchists and their supporters.

 

The Tribe is shaken to its roots, in the old order, only the worst of the tribe could surface for his Tribes leadership, in the new formation, only the most respected are claiming their place, even if you were a Moriyaan in the old order, if you surrender to Islam, you get a new life, you become like Abu Sufyaan, not only are you safe, but all of your subordinates are safe, welcome the new Tribe, and enter the New crystallizing Somalia, a nation that will be defined along faith lines, not along blood lines anymore inshAllah.

 

It has been reported that the Prophet SAWS said:

 

Man yubti bihi camaluh, lam yusric bihi nasabuh

 

"He whose (bad deeds) slow him down (from entering Paradise), is never speeded up by his tribal linneage (Prestige)"

 

 

Nur

 

2006 eNuri Inspirationals Series

We Captivate Your Attention, To Activate Your Imagination

[xiinfaniin]

Ramadaan Kariim. This is a timely post to which I will fully respond IA.

 

But Nurow, I have been camping at the Politics sections since Kismayo’s fall, and man, you are right on the money. I have been humbled and taken aback by how clannish loyalties trample everything else. I have never expected people to support Islamic Courts attempt to change things in Somalia. In fact I have been open for people to be cynical about these Courts given Somalia’s long tribal strife. But the degree of desperation and tol-beeley-shouts to which some people have resorted is beyond anything I have anticipated indeed. I am speechless saaxiib…and to say our sense of moral conscious is being tested is understatement yaa Nur.

 

I will come back IA with more comments.

[me]

^^^ You dont get it man, people are not against the courts, they are against the way the take over took place.

 

If the Courts negotiate allot of people will join them, there are allot of suspicions and actions like this one will not make the mistrust go away.

 

The courts should have negotiated. They have burned themselves now. Kismayo was a bad move and they will regret it. Their cause might seem noble but their is allot of clannism involved in it.

 

One of the beter move they made was when they announced the reconciliation forum. They should have used something like that forum to get support first then move towards the areas they are moving to and they should also get a more diverse leadership in terms of clans.

 

Islam or not, mistrust exists. We are Somalis and we know what neighbours did to each other, we know what friends did to each other, so lets cut the crap.

 

We are all tired of war and we all want peace, the courts seem to be a good choice for now,but they are making a big mess and that messis making allot of people doubt.

 

Its not about your either with clan or your with islam. there are real fears here, fears of marganilazation, fears of discrimination and fears of genocides. No one will give us his weapons to his forner enemies even if they are now devout, there should be a negotiated settlement t end this or the war will continue in a new form.

 

if the courts win, some groups will feelmarginalized and they will continue the struggle and the wars willbe forever going on unless the underling issues are addressed.

 

Stop dreaming folks.

[xiinfaniin]

^^And how did the take over take place, informed ME? Would you please furnish us with the missing facts in Kismayo!

 

That aside, you need to face it saaxiib, what’s happening is not the doings of a one single clan. What you see, yaa ME, is rather a political and military manifestation of a emboldened Saxwah. The harvest as it were of sixteen years of Dacwah hardwork has indeed commenced. I intend to share my thoughts about its expected political results and milatery limitations in due time, but don’t dismiss this movement’s quest for power as a feeble wish, saaxiib!

[NGONGE]

Nur & Xiin you might be right and this might be about pure clannish loyalties. On the other hand, one can easily extend them the benefit of the doubt and assume that their real opposition is to do with mistrust and caution rather than hatred. After sixteen years of mistrust it’s almost impossible to expect everyone to suddenly drop everything and shake hands just because their foes have donned the garb of Islam. What will convince your detractors will be your conduct (in this debate at least). The confrontational style and the casting of aspersions does not encourage any acceptance.

 

Anyway, the position of those that oppose the ICU today reminds me of Ahmed Shouqi’s great Arabic poem about the fox and the rooster. Now if the rooster insists he’s good yet keeps bearing its teeth as it does, can you really blame the rooster for being wary?

 

برز الثعلب يوماً

..................................... ÙÙŠ ثياب الواعظينا

 

Ùمشى ÙÙŠ الأرض يهدي

..................................... ويسب الماكرينا

 

ويقول: الحمد لله

..................................... إله العالمينا

 

يا عباد الله ، توبوا

..................................... Ùهو كه٠التائبينا

 

وازهدوا ÙÙŠ الطيران

..................................... العيش عيش الزاهدينا

 

واطلبوا الديك يؤذن

..................................... لصلاة الصبح Ùينا

 

Ùأتى الديك رسول

..................................... من إمام الناسكينا

 

عرض الأمر عليه

..................................... وهو يرجو أن يلينا

 

Ùأجاب الديك عذراَ

..................................... يا أضل المهتدينا

 

بلغ الثعلب عني

..................................... عن جدودي الصالحينا

 

عن ذوي التيجان ممن

..................................... دخل البطن اللعينا

 

إنهم قالوا، وخير القول

..................................... قول العارÙينا

 

مخطئ من ظن يوماَ

..................................... أنّ للثعلب دينا

It’s all about appeasement and reassurance rather than confrontation and accusations.

 

** Quick translation **

 

The above poem is about the day the Fox came out dressed up in religious garb and commenced to preach and tell people to fear god! He advised his listeners to forsake the meat of birds, claiming that the best life is that of those that forsake pleasures. He then requested that someone go to the rooster and ask him to come and conduct the call for prayers! A messenger of this new preacher went to the rooster and informed him of the request. But the rooster refused and cited the advice of his own grandfathers who perished at the hands of the fox. He quoted their words that said: wrong is he that believed the fox to have faith!

 

Ps

I hope no ignoramus misunderstands the poem and assume that I’m accusing the Courts of being as vile as the fox and those that oppose them to be as wise and innocent as the rooster. The only reason I used the poem here is to highlight the deep mistrust between the two sides. That’s all.

 

PPs

I wrote the above before reading Xiin's reply below. No offence intended, akhi

[xiinfaniin]

^Agreed with the gist of your message! Though I think the analogy is not fair (Courts=thaclab?), still to reassure people and ease their anxiety is exactly what the Courts have done at least in Kismayo. Yet the blatant lies continue to be propagated.

 

P.S: NGONGE, as you know Ahmed was a practicing lawyer and I like the fairness in his story's dialogue!

[me]

XIIN this might be the result of long hard work, but you can not dismiss the power of mistrust. If this mistrust is not adressed in every level we see the war continuing. Even if the ICU takes over the whole of the country, if they do not adres the issues of mistrust between teh clans, then this wholeproject will fail. New rebel groups will start and we will always have wars. I hope that you are right and that all ends well and that we get some breathing time and that we can atleast raise few generations in peace.

 

But even if the courts takeover the whole of the country, Ethiopia and Kenya await us, so the wars wont end and after that, it won't stop. The war won't end.

 

and was also wondering about something else.

 

I was reading some of the end of the world prophecies. I would like to ask the resident wadaads here, is Somalia or its general direction mentioned in the end of the world prophecies?

 

I came something like that across in the Bible end of the World prophcies in Ezekiel 38. and they state that CUSH, which stands for Somalia/Ethiopia(Oromo) will be one of the Armies.

 

 

Ezekiel 38.

1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

 

2 Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

 

3 and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:

 

4 and I will turn you around, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;

 

5 Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;

 

6 Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with you.

[xiinfaniin]

End of the world, eh?

 

I rather think it’s more like Coming Kingdom !

 

ME, we will discuss saaxiib IA. Afur wanaagsan all!

[Legend of Zu]

Dear brothers,

 

Since we are in the islamic section, can we discuss the issue from the islamic prespective rather than the way it is discussed in the politics section?

 

To me the grave issues that are about to emerge is beyond whether their campaign is regarded success or not. What I see the issues to be are by taking the name of Islam, their failures and short comings will be attributed to the Islamic Sharia (or Islamic Governship) or Islam itself.

 

Once they claim they will rule by the sharia everyone expects justice, prosperity and new dawn in which everyone will be equal in the eye of the law (no one to be above the law). If they don't deliver those expectations it will be a huge scarr left on all future islamic da'wah to come to Somalia.

 

What I am worried about is the heftiness of what awaits them and whether they understand it or are capable to manage it.

 

Only time will tell!!

[Nur]

Nomads

 

Xiin , Ngonge, me, Legend

 

Good feedback from different points of view, as long as we share our feelings on issues we can never find a solution, this problem of Qabiil, is a national curse, it has no cure but ISLAM.

 

The question, is how can we trust those raising the islamic banner?

 

If the banner is a tool to reach power, its indeed sad, and I pray that is not the case, nothing is more disasterous than to use islam for a powe grab. On the other hand, its as bad if not worse to use our national enemies as allies to reach power as the TFG and warlords have done.

 

I agree with Ngonge that trust betwen clans has eroded, but inshAllah, its not beyound repair, at least all of those who follow Islami trully in their daily life are not as effeced with the Tribalist mantra as those who do not practice islam, which explains that their ailment is not the tribal politcis, but in their heart, we pray that Allah cures them and guides them toward Islam.

 

The UIC is not another political faction, and it has not started that way, it was the result of a tipping point ( Gladwell) of events that needed a foreign interference to make it happen, and Alhamdulillah, the warlords with the help of the CIA did the trick, inadvertently causing the domino effect that led to the rise of the UIC in a miraculous way. In the last Mogadishu battle between the UIC and the ruthless warlord Qaybdeed, a young Britton of Somaliland origin was killed as a martyr, the UIC are no more defined as a tribe, its sypathizers and volunteers are across the tribes, nation and the world, from Kismayo to Puntlnd and Somaliland, the UIC is winning hearts and minds, Allah sent this uprising of the courts when we reached rock bottom.

 

The coming days are going to be interesting, let us all give the courts the benefit of the doubt, and lend them a hand it may be our last chance.

 

 

Nur

[Abu-Salman]

What I am worried about is the heftiness of what awaits them and whether they understand it or are capable to manage it.

There is neither a point in worrying nor does it makes sense to let few people bear what should be a collective burden, albeit a most noble one.

 

Are we not fully conscious that they represent the only Islamic force striving for reconciliation and security, their actions being dictated by mere necessity if not emergency, not least regarding our hard-won sovereignity now in peril?

 

While I can not agree more with Xiin and Nur, especially when they remind us that we are now harvesting the fruits of 16 years of laborious Da'wa, we have also some reasons to be optimistic given the Islamic monopoly on charities and national solidarity.

 

Indeed, this last fact was recently recognized by the creation of a governmental agency in Djibouti to coordinate Da'wa and welfare programs, among others roles...

[me]

Somalia as a nation has been devided, not only is our nation divided 5 ways by the colonial forces. Today each clan stands alone, each sub-clan stands alone, even each individual stands alone. We have become a society of 'me' against the rest, where everyone is init for hisown personal gain and the collective gain does not matter anymore. For what I can make up about our history we have always been individualistic but never to this level.

 

The mistrust that exists among our people has penetrated each one of us. This might seem a huge generalization, but Somalis in the diaspora mistrust each other in a level that we have never seen before. Males mistrust females and vica versa. The young mistrust the old. The old don't see the young as their kind.

 

The only thing that unites Somalis all over the world today is ISLAM. The love for the true religion is the only banner under which we can all unite. My fear is if this 'Revolution' turns out to be a clan tool intended for power grap, that we may loose the only hope we had. The only thing that untites us and disarms is Islam,lets hope that the leadership of the ICU sees this and does not squander our chance.

 

If this revolution fails then it will take a long long time before we find a banner under which we can all unite.

[Rahima]

To me the grave issues that are about to emerge is beyond whether their campaign is regarded success or not. What I see the issues to be are by taking the name of Islam, their failures and short comings will be attributed to the Islamic Sharia (or Islamic Governship) or Islam itself.

 

Once they claim they will rule by the sharia everyone expects justice, prosperity and new dawn in which everyone will be equal in the eye of the law (no one to be above the law). If they don't deliver those expectations it will be a huge scarr left on all future islamic da'wah to come to Somalia.

The problem then Zu lies not with those who are trying to implement Islamic principals bur rather those who have the warped thinking that Islam is synonymous with the practices of Muslims- this is what the kufaar do everyday. If one would always keep in mind that unlike Islam which is perfect, Muslims on the other hand however (no matter how much of an effort they put in) are not perfect and will no doubt make mistakes. It is therefore that we should not use this as an excuse to not support instead we need to have patience and for those of us who have the capacity to do so advice (such as the scholars).

 

My fear is if this 'Revolution' turns out to be a clan tool intended for power grap, that we may loose the only hope we had.

To have such a fear me means that you understand little about the courts. How can be a power grab of certain clans when it is amalgamation of people from all over Somalia? To harbour such fears me would mean that one is in agreement with all those who seem hell-bent on portraying the courts as an entity which upholds tribalism.

[Legend of Zu]

Rahima Sis, let me elaborate but before that I would express my disagreement on your statement

 

"The problem then Zu lies not with those who are trying to implement Islamic principals bur rather those who have the warped thinking that Islam is synonymous with the practices of Muslims- this is what the kufaar do everyday.

While Islam is synonymous with what muslims do; however the role of Islamic Government is not - The Role of Islamic Government is in simplest terms - to impose the laws of Allah, protect those who belief in him and work towards the welfare of mankind.

 

So every step they take will be interpreted as such that they following the commands of Allah, therefore any errors will be attributed to the commands they following i.e. Islamic Sharia. It will then become a propaganda tool for Islamic enemies to use and set the population against them.

 

So how can they implement and yet to avoid that? - they manage expectations, attribute their mistakes to themselves and avoid equating their cause to Islam - what do I mean by this - I mean by avoiding grandiose statements like "if you don't support us you are against Islamâ€

 

While their campaign (cause) is substantially greater and better than the causes of Qabiil and nationalistic hullabaloo (I call them hullabaloo), one will exercise caution, manage the expectations and ensure that they hover with moderation than fly high only to find out they are far from the ground with no protection.

 

Salaamaat

 

PS: Ramadaan kariim by the way

[Haashim]

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