Somali History and Culture
The Somalis are an East Cushitic group of people who live in the Horn of Africa. They have a common background, culture, and ancestry. The Somali language is the mother tongue of all ethnic Somalis.
It is in the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, and most Somalis are Sunni Muslims. They are one of the biggest ethnic groups in Africa and live on one of the biggest parcels of land in Africa for a single ethnic group.
Origin of the Name Somali
Most people think that the name “Sumatran” comes from Irir Samaale, who is the oldest shared ancestor of many Somali clans. The word “Somali” is thought to come from the words “soo” and “maal,” which together mean “go and milk.”
This is a reference to the fact that most Somalis work as herders. Another possible origin theory says that the word “Somali” comes from the Arabic word for “rich” (dhawamaal), which again refers to the abundance of animals in Somalia.
In the 9th century, an ancient Chinese text called the northern Somali coast Po-pa-li. At that time, Arab geographers called it “Berbera” to honor the “Berber” (Cushitic) people who lived there. That being said, the first clear written use of the nickname Somali was in the 15th century. He had one of his court officials write a hymn to celebrate a military win over the Sultan of Ifat’s troops during the wars between the Solomonic Dynasty and the Ifat Sultanate based at Zeila.
Language Of The Somali People
Somalis speak a language called Af-Soomaali, which is a branch of the Cushitic language family and part of the bigger Afro-Asian language family. It is a Lowland East Cushitic language, just like the Afar and Saho languages, which are its closest cousins. Somali is the Cushitic language that has been studied the most, with the first academic papers being written in it before 1900.
Over 19 million Somalis live in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Kenya, and many more speak the Somali diaspora language. Somali is the second most common Cushitic language spoken after Oromo.
A few people and groups from nearby ethnic minorities also speak it as their second language. A majority of the people in the Federal Republic of Somalia speak Somali as their first language. It is also the national language of Djibouti and is used for work in the Somali area of Ethiopia.
Economy Of The Somali People
Somalis used to be nomadic farmers of cattle, and some of them later became fishermen. It is estimated that most Somalis work in agriculture. Somaliland’s farming can be broken down into three smaller areas. The first type is nomadic pastoralism, which is done away from farming places. This industry, which raises goats, sheep, camels, and cattle, is becoming more focused on the market.
The second sector is traditional agriculture, which consists primarily of small farmers engaged in subsistence farming. There are two types of traditional farming in this area: rain-fed farming in the south and northwest grows sorghum with a lot of animals, and small irrigated farms along the rivers grow corn (maize), sesame, cowpeas, and veggies and fruits near towns.
In the third sector, farming for the market is done on medium- and large-sized irrigated fields along the lower Jubba and Shabeelle rivers. Fruits and veggies, sugarcane, rice, cotton, grapefruit, mangoes, and papayas are the main crops there.
The thorny grassland in southern Somalia is home to acacia trees that are used to make charcoal and good wood. However, charcoal production has long gone beyond what is environmentally safe. It might be possible to get more scented gums if frankincense, myrrh, and other trees that release resin were handled more efficiently and carefully.
There is an industry, but it’s mostly small-scale and makes goods that are sold in local markets instead of sending them abroad. Somalia may be able to show other very poor third-world countries how to build an economy. In many ways, the lack of any participation from the government has been a good thing.
In the north, ethnic Somalis catch and can catch tunny (also called tuna) and mackerel as part of their small fishing industry. Small-scale inshore fishermen often catch sharks and sell them dried. In the southern part of Somalia, fresh fish and crabs are prepared to be exported. At the start of the 21st century, climate change, overfishing, and more piracy along the coasts of Somalia hurt the fishing business.
Most of Somalia’s foreign currency comes from Somalis who work and send money back to their home country, mostly in the Middle East. Once more, this is a big deal because there are no banks in the country. To handle these deals, an unofficial banking system has sprung up. The Somalis have shown that they can handle a lot.
Clan And Family Structure Of The Somali People
The Somali people live in large groups called clans. Belonging to a clan is an important part of Somali society and politics. Clans are passed down through male lineage and are further split into sub-clans and sub-sub-clans, which form extended families.
In most cases, they only show the parts of men in the family tree, unless the man has more than one wife and there is a difference between his sons by different wives. But this doesn’t mean that women don’t matter in these kinds of male structures. Instead, women have more subtle roles that vary from one ethnic group’s clan system to the next.
In Somali clans, a man can marry anyone: someone from his own clan or sub-clan, someone from any other clan or sub-clan, or someone who is not Somali. As Muslims, Somali men can have up to four wives at once, but because of their poor living situations, they usually can’t have more than one or two wives at a time. In some families, when a man dies, his brother will marry the widow to make sure she has money after the death.
Marriage between clans and subclans also serves important strategic purposes. When a small group from one clan enters territory that belongs to another clan, the men from the smaller clan should marry women from the larger clan, and the opposite is true for the larger clan. This keeps things peaceful.
It doesn’t matter how old the clan is or what place the founding father holds in the Somali family hierarchy. What matters is how big the clan or subclan is and how much money it has, which is usually shown by how many animals it owns. Small clans may have to merge with bigger clans in order to stay alive, and small clans often live for long periods of time within a larger clan, as if they were part of that clan.
“Somalis traditionally marry within their own ethnic group.” So, to strengthen alliances, people often marry someone else of the same racial group from a different clan. For example, a recent study looked at 89 marriages between men from the Dhulbahante clan. Of those, 55 (62%) were with women from different Dhulbahante sub-clans than their husbands; 30 (33.7%) were with women from nearby clans of other clan families (Isaaq, 28); and 3 (4.3%) were with women from other Darod clan families (Majeerteen 2, Ogaden 1).”
Classes and Castes Of The Somali People
The Samaal (Zumali) think that their family clan is better than the Saab. There is a caste system in the Saab clan that gives different groups of people different levels of standing based on their heritage or job.
The Digil and Rahanwayn put people into lower-class groups based on what they did for a living. The midgaan, a word used to insult them, were the largest group. They were barbers, circumcisers, and hunters. The Tumaal worked with metal and blacksmithing.
The Yibirs told fortunes and made charms and amulets to protect people. In the late 20th century, many people from these groups found work in towns and cities, which raised their standing. By the 1990s, most of the old arrangements where they worked for certain clans were gone.
Marriage
In Somalia, marriage has always been seen as a link between more than just a man and a woman. It’s also seen as a link between clans and families. Most Somali marriages were set up not long ago. They were usually between an older guy with money and the father of a young woman he wanted to marry.
People still do these things in many rural places in the twenty-first century. A bride’s price is something the man gives to the woman’s family. It’s usually animals or money. Samaals usually marry someone from a different family lineage, or at least six generations away from the man if they marry someone from the same family bloodline.
As is customary in Arab culture, Saab women marry within their father’s family tree. First cousins often get married. When a Somali woman gets married, she usually moves in with her husband’s family while her parents take care of the house and all the things she needs. But she keeps her family name.
Weddings are happy events, but in Somalia, it is usual for the couple to agree to give the bride a certain amount of property if they get divorced. Her husband is holding it in trust for her. According to tradition, if the wife files for divorce, she must give up her right to the land.
Sharia law says that a man can have up to four wives as long as he can support all of them and their children equally. When a man tells his wife three times, “I divorce you,” the couple is officially divorced. The wife does have three months to get married, though, in case she gets pregnant.
Many Somalis who live in cities today choose a partner based on love and shared hobbies instead of getting married because it was arranged.
Kinship Group
Somali society is based on families that are part of a clan. The Samaal (or Samale) and the Saab (or Sab) are the two main clan groups. They were named after two brothers who are said to have been from the Quraysh of Arabia, the tribe of the prophet Muhammad. Many Somalis think that Noah’s son Ham was their relative from the time of the Bible.
About three-quarters of Somalis are Samaal, who are split into four main clan families: the Dir, the Daarood, the Isaaq, and the Hawiye. The Saab are split into two groups: the Digil and the Rahanwayn. There can be thousands of people in a major group, and all of them claim to be related to the same ancestor.
These clans are further broken down into subclans and main bloodline groups. Somali men are members of a clan family because their fathers were members of that family for at least twelve generations. The most respected clan groups are the ones with the longest lines of ancestry. The land that a clan or subclan lives on for most of the year is linked to them.
In Somalia, families have always been the most important political block. Dia-paying groups are made up of a few small lineages, with between a few hundred and a few thousand people in each. They can trace their roots back four to eight generations.
Members have a social contract with each other that says they will help each other with their legal and political duties. This includes giving and getting dia, or blood compensation (mag in Somali). When someone does something bad to or against a dia-paying group, they have to pay for it. This includes blood compensation if someone gets hurt or dies.
Religious Belief
The vast majority of Somalis are Muslims, and they follow the Sunni branch of Islam and the Shafi’i school of Islamic law. However, some Somalis also follow the Shia Muslim sect. Sufism, the spiritual side of Islam, is also well-established, and there are many local jama’a (zawiya), or groups of people from different tariiqa or Sufi orders. In the same way, Somalia’s constitution says that Islam is the official faith of the Somali Republic and that Islamic Sharia is the main source of national law.
At the request of Prophet Muhummad, a group of oppressed Muslims crossed the Red Sea to find safety in the Horn of Africa. This was the first time Islam came to the area. This means that Islam may have come to Somalia a long time before it became popular in its home country.
At first, Somalian women were not allowed to join the many religious orders that were mostly made up of men. However, in the late 1800s, the all-female school Abay Siti was created, combining Somali tradition with Islam.
Over the ages, the Somali community has also produced many important Islamic figures. Many of these people have had a big impact on how Muslims learn and practice their religion in the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and other places. One of these Islamic teachers is Uthman bin Ali Zayla’i of Zeila, a Somali theologian and jurist who lived in the 1400s.
He wrote the Tabayin al-Haqa’iq li Sharh Kanz al-Daqa’iq, which is a collection of four volumes and is considered the most authoritative work on the Hanafi school of Islam. Over 1,000 people in Somalia practice Christianity, but it is a small group.
Religious Practitioners
Somali Muslims are different from other Muslims because they think that both religion and secular leaders can bless and curse people. Baraka is the word for this power, which people think comes from Allah. Baraka is thought to stay at the tombs of Somali saints and can heal people who visit the tombs or solve other problems. A lot of people who follow Islam are teachers and people who work in mosques (Islam doesn’t have priests).
Dervishes are Somalis who follow Sufism and give up everything to live a religious life. They teach Islam and don’t own anything. The Sufi are also known for building jamaat, which are farming communities and religious sites in the southern part of Somalia.
A respected male leader or religious follower might be named Wadad by nomads. He is in charge of leading prayers and making sacrifices as part of religious ceremonies on holidays and other special days. He also learns folk astronomy, which is used to find out when people should move, heal, and make predictions.
One more group of religious people is the Yibir clan of the Saab. Yibir practitioners are asked to get rid of ghosts and bring people health, luck, or wealth again through ceremonies and prayers, which may include killing animals.
Rituals And Holy Places
In every city and town in Somalia, you can find a mosque. Nomads pray and read the Qur’an separately for men and women, no matter where they are. Islamic law says that Somalis must face Mecca and pray five times a day. They should say the Islamic faith and, if they can, do zakat, which means giving to the poor. Also, they should fast during Ramadan and make the trip to Mecca at least once.
The graves of the Somali holy men, or sheiks, who are revered as saints have been turned into national shrines. People come to see the saint on his yearly feast day, which is usually in the month he was born, because that’s when people think his power is strongest.
These are some religious holidays: Id al-Fitr (the Little Feast); the First of Muharram (when an angel is said to shake the tree of life and death); Maulid an-Nabi (the birth of the prophet Muhammad); and Id al-Adha (which remembers the story of Abraham and his son Ishmael).
The Islamic calendar shows that different events happen at different times of the year. People enjoy holidays by eating, telling stories, visiting graves, giving to the poor, and having parades, plays, and ceremonies.
Death And The Afterlife
Somalis are Muslims, and they believe that Allah will judge everyone in the next life. They also think that there is a tree that stands for all Muslims at the line between Earth and Heaven. Some people think that this line is on the moon.
A leaf on the tree stands for each person. In Islam, the first day of the new year, or Muharram, is when an angel shakes the tree. It is said that those whose leaves fall off will die in the next year. They also think that Allah blesses people even more if they die while fasting during Ramadan.
People in Somalia feast and celebrate when someone dies, just like they do when someone is born. According to Islamic law, a Somali wife who loses her husband must stay at home and mourn alone for four months and ten days.
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