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Isaaq

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Isaaq
بني إسحاق
Flag of Somaliland.svg Flag of Djibouti.svg Flag of Ethiopia.svgFlag of Kenya.svg Flag of Yemen.svg
Sheekh Isaaq.jpg
The tomb of Sheikh Ishaaq, the founding father of the Isaaq clan, in Maydh, Sanaag
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Somali
Religion
Islam (Sunni)
Related ethnic groups
Dir, Darod, Hawiye, Rahanweyn, other Somalis

The Isaaq (also Isaq, Ishaak, Isaac) (Somali: Reer Sheekh Isxaaq, Arabic: بني إسحاق‎, romanized: Banī Isḥāq) is a Somali clan.[1] It is one of the major Somali clans in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory.[2]

The clan-family traces their lineage to Sheikh Ishaaq bin Ahmed, an Arab Islamic scholar who purportedly traveled to Somaliland in the 12th or 13th century and married into the local Dir clan, though this story is probably legendary.[3]

Overview

Further information: Ishaaq bin Ahmed
Portrait of Sultan Abdillahi Deria, the 4th Grand Sultan of the Isaaq Sultanate.
Isaaq warriors on horseback

According to genealogical books and Somali tradition, the Isaaq clan was founded in the 12th or 13th century with the arrival of Sheikh Ishaaq Bin Ahmed (Sheikh Ishaaq) from Arabia.[4][5] He purportedly settled in the coastal town of Maydh in modern-day northeastern Somaliland, where he married into the local Magaadle clan.[6] Sheikh Ishaaq was sometimes claimed to be a descendant of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad, though this lineage was most likely invented to enhance the clan-family's prestige and to stress its proper Muslim background.[3]

There are also numerous existing hagiologies in Arabic which describe Sheikh Ishaaq's travels, works and overall life in modern Somaliland, as well as his movements in Arabia before his arrival.[7] Besides historical sources, one of the more recent printed biographies of Sheikh Ishaaq is the Amjaad of Sheikh Husseen bin Ahmed Darwiish al-Isaaqi as-Soomaali, which was printed in Aden in 1955.[8]

Sheikh Ishaaq's tomb is in Maydh, and is the scene of frequent pilgrimages.[7] Sheikh Ishaaq's mawlid (birthday) is also celebrated every Thursday with a public reading of his manaaqib (a collection of glorious deeds).[6] His Siyaara or pilgrimage is performed annually both within Somaliland and in the diaspora particularly in the Middle East among Isaaq expatriates.

Distribution

An Isaaq banner derived from an Adal Sultanate flag with the shahada

The Isaaq have a very wide and densely populated traditional territory. They live in all 6 regions of Somaliland such as Awdal, Marodi Jeh, Togdheer, Sahil, Sanaag and Sool. They have large settlements in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, mainly on the eastern side of Somali Region also known as the Hawd and formerly Reserve Area which is mainly inhabited by the Isaaq sub-clan members. They also have large settlements in both Kenya and Djibouti, making up a large percentage of the Somali population in these two countries respectively.[9]

The Isaaq clan constitute the largest Somali clan in Somaliland. The populations of five major cities in Somaliland – Hargeisa, Burao, Berbera, Erigavo and Gabiley – are all predominantly Isaaq.[10] They exclusively dominate the Marodi Jeh region, and the Togdheer region, and form a majority of the population inhabiting the western and central areas of Sanaag region, including the regional capital Erigavo.[11] The Isaaq also have a large presence in the western and northern parts of Sool region as well,[12] with Habr Je'lo sub-clan of Isaaq living in the Aynabo district whilst the Habr Yunis subclan of Garhajis lives in the eastern part of Xudun district and the very western part of Las Anod district.[13] They also live in the northeast of the Awdal region, with Saad Muse sub-clan being centered around Lughaya and its environs.

The populations of five major cities in Somaliland – Hargeisa, Burao,[14] Berbera, Erigavo and Gabiley – are predominantly Isaaq.[15][16]

An illustration depicting a Somali woman of the Isaaq clan published in Bilder-Atlas in 1870

History

The Isaaq clan played a prominent role in the Ethiopian-Adal War (1529–1543, referred to as the "Conquest of Abyssinia") in the army of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi,[17] I. M. Lewis noted that only the Habr Magadle division (Ayoub, Garhajis, Habr Awal and Arap) of the Isaaq were mentioned in chronicles of that war written by Shihab Al-Din Ahmad Al-Gizany known as Futuh Al Habash.[18]

Sultans of the Isaaq clan in Hargeisa, Somaliland

I. M. Lewis states:[19]

The Marrehan and the Habr Magadle [Magādi] also play a very prominent role (...) The text refers to two Ahmads's with the nickname 'Left-handed'. One is regularly presented as 'Ahmad Guray, the Somali' (...) identified as Ahmad Guray Xuseyn, chief of the Habr Magadle. Another reference, however, appears to link the Habr Magadle with the Marrehan. The other Ahmad is simply referred to as 'Imam Ahmad' or simply the 'Imam'.This Ahmad is not qualified by the adjective Somali (...) The two Ahmad's have been conflated into one figure, the heroic Ahmed Guray (...)

The first of the tribes to reach Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi were Habr Magādle of the Isaaq clan with their chieftain Ahmad Gurey Bin Hussain Al-Somali,[20] the Somali commander was noted to be one of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi's "strongest and most able generals".[21] The Habr Magādle clan were highly appreciated and praised by the leader Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi for their bravery and loyalty.[22]

Dervish Commander Haji Sudi on the left with his brother-in-law Duale Idris (1892).

Long after the collapse of the Adal Sultanate, the Isaaq established successor states, the Isaaq Sultanate and the Habr Yunis Sultanate. These two Sultanates possessed some of the organs and trappings of a traditional integrated state: a functioning bureaucracy, regular taxation in the form of livestock, as well as an army (chiefly consisting of mounted light cavalry).[23][24][25][26] These sultanates also maintained written records of their activities, which still exist.[27]

The Isaaq clan also played a major role in the Dervish movement, with Sultan Nur Aman of the Habr Yunis being fundamental in the inception of the movement. Sultan Nur was the principle agitator that rallied the dervish behind his anti-French Catholic Mission campaign that would become the cause of the dervish uprise.[28] Haji Sudi of the Habr Je'lo was the highest ranking Dervish after Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, he died valiantly defending the Taleh fort during the RAF bombing campaign.[29][30][31] The Isaaq sub-clans that were highly known for joining the Dervish movement were from the eastern Habr Yunis and Habr Je'lo sub-clans. These two sub-clans were able to purchase advanced weapons and successfully resist both British Empire and Ethiopian Empire for many years.[32]

The Isaaq clan along with other northern Somali tribes were under British Somaliland protectorate administration from 1884 to 1960. On gaining independence, the Somaliland protectorate decided to form a union with Italian Somalia. The Isaaq clan spearheaded the greater Somalia quest from 1960 to 1991.

During the Somali Civil War, the Isaaq were subjected to a genocidal campaign by Siad Barre's troops (which also included armed Somali refugees from Ethiopia); the death toll has been estimated to be between 50,000 and 200,000.

After the collapse of the Somali Democratic Republic in 1991 the Isaaq-dominated Somaliland declared independence from Somalia as a separate nation.[33]

Mercantilism

Historically (and presently to a degree), the wider Isaaq clan were relatively more disposed to trade than their tribal counterparts due in part to their centuries old trade links with the Arabian Peninsula. In view of this imbalance in mercantile experience, other major Somali clans tended to resort to tribal slang terms such as "iidoor", an enviable pejorative roughly meaning trader/exchanger:

Somalis bandied about numerous stereotypes of clan behavior that mirrored these emerging social inequalities. The pejorative slang terms iidoor or kabadhe iidoora (loosely meaning "exchange") reflect Somali disdain for the go-between, the person who amasses wealth through persistence and mercantile skills without firm commitments to anyone else. As the Isaaq became more international and cosmopolitan, their commercial success and achievement ideology aroused suspicion and jealousy, notably among rural Darod who disliked Isaaq self-confidence and made them the target of stereotypes.[34]

This was not lost on the sole president and dictator of the Somali Democratic Republic (1969–1991), Siad Barre, who disliked the Isaaq clan due to their financial independence, thus making it harder to control them:

Siyaad had a deep and personal dislike for the clan. The real reasons can only be guessed at, but in part it was due to his inability to control them. As accomplished business operatives, they had built a society that was not dependant on government largesse. The Isaaq had traditional trade relationships with the nations of the Arabian Peninsula that continued despite the attempts of the government to center all economic activity in Mogadishu. Siyaad did what he could, however, and Isaaq traders were forced to make the long trip to Mogadishu for permits and licenses.[35]

Nevertheless, in the 1970s and 1980s, nearly all of the livestock exports went out through the port of Berbera via Isaaq livestock traders, with the towns of Burao and Yirowe in the interior being home to the largest livestock markets in the Horn of Africa.[36][37][38] The entire livestock exports accounted to upwards of 90% of the Somali Republic's entire export figures in a given year, and Berbera's exports alone provided over 75% of the nation's recorded foreign currency income at the time.[39][40]

Clan tree

Sultan Abdurahman Deria of the Habr Awal Isaaq in London 1955

In the Isaaq clan-family, component clans are divided into two uterine divisions, as shown in the genealogy. The first division is between those lineages descended from sons of Sheikh Ishaaq by a Harari woman – the Habr Habuusheed – and those descended from sons of Sheikh Ishaaq by a Somali woman of the Magaadle sub-clan of the Dir – the Habr Magaadle. Indeed, most of the largest clans of the clan-family are in fact uterine alliances hence the matronymic "Habr" which in archaic Somali means "mother".[41] This is illustrated in the following clan structure.[42]

Warriors of the Habr Awal clan

A. Habr Magaadle

B. Habr Habuusheed

Dualeh Abdi of the Musa Abokor Habr Je'lo tribe photographed in 1890

There is clear agreement on the clan and sub-clan structures that has not changed for a long time. The oldest recorded genealogy of a Somali in Western literature was by Sir Richard Burton in the mid–19th century regarding his Isaaq (Habr Yunis) host and the governor of Zeila, Sharmarke Ali Saleh[43]

The following listing is taken from the World Bank's Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics from 2005 and the United Kingdom's Home Office publication, Somalia Assessment 2001.[44][45]

One tradition maintains that Sheikh Ishaaq had twin sons: Muhammad (Arap), and Ismail (Garhajis).[46]

Notable figures

References

  1. ^ Lewis, I. M. (1994). Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society. The Red Sea Press. p. 102. ISBN 9780932415936. isaaq noble.
  2. ^ Ethnic Groups (Map). Somalia Summary Map. Central Intelligence Agency. 2002. Retrieved 30 July 2012. Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection – N.B. Various authorities indicate that the Isaaq is among the largest Somali clans [1], [2].
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Lewis, Ioan M. (1994). Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society. Lawrencewill, NJ: The Red Sea Press. pp. 103–104. ISBN 0-932415-93-8.
  4. ^ Rima Berns McGown, Muslims in the diaspora, (University of Toronto Press: 1999), pp. 27–28
  5. ^ I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), p. 22
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), pp. 31 & 42
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Roland Anthony Oliver, J. D. Fage, Journal of African history, Volume 3 (Cambridge University Press.: 1962), p.45
  8. ^ I. M. Lewis, A pastoral democracy: a study of pastoralism and politics among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa, (LIT Verlag Münster: 1999), p.131.
  9. ^ Gitonga, Antony. "Community takes over 'ancestral land'". The Standard. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  10. ^ Somaliland: With Addis Ababa & Eastern Ethiopia By Philip Briggs. Google Books.
  11. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | Report on the Fact-finding Mission to Somalia and Kenya (27 October – 7 November 1997)". Refworld. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  12. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ "EASO Country of Origin Information Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  14. ^ Tekle, Amare (1994). Eritrea and Ethiopia: From Conflict to Cooperation. The Red Sea Press. ISBN 9780932415974.
  15. ^ Briggs, Philip (2012). Somaliland: With Addis Ababa & Eastern Ethiopia. ISBN 9781841623719.
  16. ^ Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Somalia: Information on the ethnic composition in Gabiley (Gebiley) in 1987–1988, 1 April 1996, SOM23518.E [accessed 6 October 2009]
  17. ^ Lewis, I. M. (1999). A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. James Currey Publishers. ISBN 9780852552803.
  18. ^ I. M. Lewis (1959). "The Galla in Northern Somaliland". Rassegna di Studi Etiopici. Istituto per l'Oriente C. A. Nallino. 15: 21–38. JSTOR 41299539.
  19. ^ Morin, Didier (2004). Dictionnaire historique afar: 1288–1982 (in French). KARTHALA Editions. ISBN 9782845864924.
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b c "مخطوطات > بهجة الزمان > الصفحة رقم 17". makhtota.ksu.edu.sa. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  21. ^ Lewis, I. M. (1999). A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. James Currey Publishers. ISBN 9780852552803.
  22. ^ "مخطوطات > بهجة الزمان > الصفحة رقم 16". makhtota.ksu.edu.sa. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  23. ^ Horn of Africa, Volume 15, Issues 1–4, (Horn of Africa Journal: 1997), p.130.
  24. ^ Michigan State University. African Studies Center, Northeast African studies, Volumes 11–12, (Michigan State University Press: 1989), p.32.
  25. ^ The Journal of The anthropological institute of Great Britain and Ireland| Vol.21 p. 161
  26. ^ Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society: Official Publication of the Coryndon Memorial Museum Vol.17 p. 76
  27. ^ Sub-Saharan Africa Report, Issues 57–67. Foreign Broadcast Information Service. 1986. p. 34.
  28. ^ Foreign Department-External-B, August 1899, N. 33-234, NAI, New Delhi, Inclosure 2 in No. 1. And inclosure 3 in No. 1.
  29. ^ Sun, Sand and Somals – Leaves from the Note-Book of a District Commissioner.By H. Rayne,
  30. ^ Correspondence respecting the Rising of Mullah Muhammed Abdullah in Somaliland, and consequent military operations,1899–1901.pp.4–5.
  31. ^ Official history of the operations in Somaliland, 1901–04 by Great Britain. War Office. General Staff Published 1907.p.56
  32. ^ Official History of the Operations in Somaliland, Volume 1. p. 41
  33. ^ "History". Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  34. ^ L. Geshekter, Charles (1993). Somali Maritime History and Regional Sub-Cultures: A Neglected Theme of the Somali Crisis. The European Association of Somali Studies & School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). pp. 21–22.
  35. ^ Maren, Michael (2009). The road to hell: the ravaging effects of foreign aid and international charity. New York: Free Press. ISBN 978-1439188415.
  36. ^ Regulating the Livestock Economy of Somaliland. Academy for Peace and Development. 2002.
  37. ^ Project, War-torn Societies; Programme, WSP Transition (2005). Rebuilding Somaliland: Issues and Possibilities. Red Sea Press. ISBN 978-1-56902-228-3.
  38. ^ A Self-portrait of Somaliland: Rebuilding from the Ruins. Somaliland Centre for Peace and Development. 1999.
  39. ^ de Waal, Alex. "CLASS AND POWER IN A STATELESS SOMALIA". ResearchGate.
  40. ^ Somalia: A Government at War with Its Own People (PDF). Human Rights Watch. 1990. p. 213. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  41. ^ Lewis, I. M. (1999). A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. ISBN 9783825830847.
  42. ^ I. M. Lewis, A pastoral democracy: a study of pastoralism and politics among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa, (LIT Verlag Münster: 1999), p. 157.
  43. ^ Burton. F., Richard (1856). First Footsteps in East Africa. p. 18.
  44. ^ Worldbank, Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics, January 2005, Appendix 2, Lineage Charts, p. 55 Figure A-1
  45. ^ Country Information and Policy Unit, Home Office, Great Britain, Somalia Assessment 2001, Annex B: Somali Clan Structure Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, p. 43
  46. ^ Laurence, Margaret (1970). A Tree for Poverty: Somali Poetry and Prose. Hamilton: McMaster University. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-55022-177-0. Then Magado, the wife of Ishaak had only two children, baby twin sons, and their names were Ahmed, nick-named Arap, and Ismail, nick-named Garaxijis .
  47. ^ Bollettino della Società geografica italiana By Società geografica italiana. 1893.
  48. ^ Somalia e Benadir: viaggio di esplorazione nell'Africa orientale. Prima traversata della Somalia, compiuta per incarico della Societá geografica italiana. Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti. 1899. The Somalis in general have a great inclination to poetry; a particular passion for the stories, the stories and songs of love.
  49. ^ Bollettino della Società geografica italiana. ... 1893 (ser.3, vol. 5). p.372
  50. ^ http://www.somalilandinformer.com/somaliland/somaliland-prominent-somali-journalist-ahmed-hasan-awke-passes-away-in-jigjiga/
  51. ^ "Ahmed Said Ahmed" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. Retrieved 13 September 2019. Kansallisuus: Suomi
  52. ^ "#80 Said Ahmed, Ahmed" (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga. Retrieved 13 September 2019. Kansalaisuus FI
  53. ^ http://www.somalilandinformer.com/somaliland/breaking-ibrahim-dheere-tycoon-passes-away-in-djibouti/
  54. ^ Mohamed Yusuf Hassan, Roberto Balducci (ed.) (1993). Somalia: le radici del futuro. Il passaggio. p. 33. Retrieved 22 September 2014.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  55. ^ "Mo Farah's family cheers him on from Somaliland village". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  56. ^ "Somali Entrepreneurs". Salaan Media. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  57. ^ "Somalia: Education in Transition".
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