RECONFIGURATION OF THE SOMALI SOCIETY: THE IMPACT OF SUFI ORDERS AND COLONIALISM (original) (raw)

Phases of the Islamic Movement in Somalia

This paper divides history history of the Islamic movement in Somalia into four historical phases: the Islamic revival, the rise of the Islamic consciousness, the beginning of the Islamic awakening, and the emergence Islamic movements. it also provides good literature review on the topic.

THE RISE AND FALL OF SOMALI NATIONALISM: MODERATION AND RADICALIZATION IN PURSUIT OF PERFECT UNITY

The Somali nationalism has emerged as anti-colonial and cultural nationalism and its beginning was romantic and idealistic, aiming for the liberation of the Somali people under the rule of multiple colonial powers and uniting them in one Greater Somalia state. It was also a modernizing project against tradition, which aimed to reform segmented clannish society by diminishing its role, marginalizing its leadership. The formative period of Somali nationalism coincided with the poisonous atmosphere of the Cold War after WWII and was implicated by the competing super powers and regional states interested in the Somali strategic geographic location. Moreover, successive Somali governments pursued moderate approaches to realize nationalist goals, nonetheless, the war with Ethiopia in 1977-78 was suicidal and marked the beginning of the downfall and the ruinations of the first fruits of Somali nationalism, the Somali state. Consequently, the Somali state was collapsed in 1991. Even so, Somali nationalism did not die but suffered great losses as a result of the flawed emotional approaches and elite competition for political power. It possesses natural and organic ingredients that sustain its viability and rejuvenate its identity, such as in Somalia’s ethnic and linguistic homogeneity and common Islamic faith. The new revival of Somali nationalism is mounting with cultural sensitivities and new conception for Greater Somalia.

Somalia: Reconfiguration of National Identity

Somalia is building and reshaping its national identity, which still in flux, regenerating and recycling social conflicts. The national identities constructed during the struggle for the independence was dismantled after the collapse of the state in 1991 and was replaced with reconfigured national identities. For instance, secularism was replaced with Islamism, the unitary structure of the state was abandoned in favor of federalism, multiple identities took over single national identity, and the role of the clans denied earlier was recognized and employed as means for power sharing mechanism. Yet, the reconfiguration of the national identities is still contested and attracts assiduous public debates and discussions. Nonetheless, trends in the reconfiguration of national identity are evident in the two National Charters of 2000 and 2004 and the Provisional Constitution of 2012. This paper attempts to examine the historical process of reconfiguration of the national identity from the pre-colonial era until the post-civil war period. Nonetheless, this topic will not be given satisfactory coverage unless historical context is provided and the concept of identity is well defined.

UNDERSTANDING THE EMERGENCE OF ALSHABAB IN SOMALIA

UNDERSTANDING THE EMERGENCE OF ALSHABAB IN SOMALIA, by Captain Mohamed Omar Assowe, 88 pages. A radical islamic insurgency named Alshabab has appeared in Somalia in recent years. African Union forces, with the support of the international community are actively engaged to defeat this movement. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), composed of nine thousand troops from Uganda and Burundi, is confronting Alshabab, alongside the Transitional Federal Government’s (TFG) forces. On October 2011, Kenya also launched a military campaign into Somalia to defeat the radical group. The research question is to investigate the emergence of Alshabab in Somalia. This movement has adopted a jihadist ideology as well as terror methods. The collapse of the Somali State, two decades ago and a number of factors, both internal and external, could explain the spread of the radical ideology in Somalia. These factors could also explain the predominance of Alshabab over other armed factions. However, due to its radicalism and its uncompromising stance on politics, Alshabab is becoming isolated. Nevertheless, the movement is benefitting from the division of its opponents and the total defeat of Alshabab with an exclusive military approach is unlikely to succeed.

The Homogeneity of the Somali People: A Study of the Somali Bantu Ethnic Community

PhD Dissertation, St Clements University, Turks & Caicos Islands (Kenya Study School), 2005

For a long period of time, a general belief has reigned in the academic and non-academic circles that Somalis are an extremely exceptional people, in that theirs is a homogeneous society composed of men and women from one eponymous father from Arabia, celebrating monoculturality, monolinguality as well as monotheologicality! In the background of all the said shared commonalities, this study intends to argue that the Somali people have a composition of various communities of distinct ethnic background, with each ethnic community practising its own distinct mode of living and culture in the midst of a conglomeration of multi-ethnogenic societies. Therefore, subsequent to the believed universality of Somali culture and origin, the study aims at clarifying the vagueness of Somaliness or Somali citizenship, and that distinct identities, ethnicities and cultures are categorized or marginalized in the melting-pot of Somaliness. The core theme, however, is to put in the limelight the social situation of the Jareer/Bantu people amidst the racialist nature of pastoral Somaloid stock. Relatively, the study intends to investigate the subject by focusing on some basic questions such as:- (a) Does Somalia constitute a homogeneous society of Arab origin? (b) Do the Somali Bantu/Jareer suffer ethnic marginalization? (c) Who is a Somali and by what criteria is the paradigm of Somaliness/Somalihood determined?