Isaaq

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Main article: Somali clan
Isaaq
إسحاق
Regions with significant populations
 Somalia
 Djibouti
 Ethiopia
Languages

Somali
Religion

Islam (Sunni, Sufism)
Related ethnic groups

Dir, Darod, Hawiye, other Somali clans

The Isaaq (also Isaq, Ishaak) (Somali: Reer Sheik Isaxaaq, Arabic: إسحاق‎) is one of the main Somali clans. Its members principally live in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia, and the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The populations of five major cities of Somaliland – Hargeisa, Burco, Berbera, Erigavo and Gabiley – are predominantly Isaaq. As of the late 1980s, the Sacad Muuse, Habar Awal and Jibriil Abokor sub-clans of the Isaaq were also the main inhabitants of Gabiley.[1]

Contents

History [edit]

According to early Islamic books and Somali tradition, the Isaaq clan was founded in the 12th or 13th century with the arrival of Shaykh Ishaq ibn Ahmad al-Hashimi from Arabia, a descendant of one of the Prophet Muhammad's early followers.[2][3] He settled in the coastal town of Maydh in modern-day northernwestern Somalia, where he married into the local Dir clan.

The tomb of Sheikh Isaaq, the founding father of the Isaaq clan, in Maydh.

A similar tradition exists for the Darod, who are said to have descended from one Sheikh Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, another Banu Hashim who came to Somalia around the same time.[2] As with Sheikh Darod, there are also numerous existing hagiologies in Arabic which describe Sheikh Isaaq's travels, works and overall life in northern Somalia, as well as his movements in Arabia before his arrival.[4] Besides historical sources, one of the more recent printed biographies of Sheikh Isaaq is the Amjaad of Sheikh Husseen bin Ahmed Darwiish al-Isaaqi as-Soomaali, which was printed in Aden in 1955.[5]

Sheikh Isaaq's tomb is in Maydh, and is the scene of frequent pilgrimages.[4] Sheikh Darod is buried nearby in the ancient town of Haylaan, situated in the Hadaaftimo Mountains.[6]

Sheikh Isaaq's mawlid (birthday) is also celebrated every Thursday with a public reading of his manaaqib (a collection of glorious deeds).[5]

The three major sub-clans of the Isaaq signed treaties with the British in the 1880s pledging them and their successors not to cede or otherwise alienate any part of their lands except to the British, and allowing the British Government to appoint agents who would reside in the territories of the clans. These groups were the Habr Awal, (dated 14 July 1884), the Habr Toljallo (dated 26 December 1884), and the Habr Garhadjis (13 January 1885).[7]

Clan tree [edit]

Partial breakdown of the Isaaq clan structure.

In the Isaaq clan-family, component clans are divided into two uterine divisions as shown in genealogy. The first division is between those lineages descended from sons of Sheikh Isaaq by an Ethiopian woman – the Habar Habuusheed – and those descended from sons of Sheikh Isaaq by a woman of the Magaadle clan – the Habar Magaadle. Indeed most of the largest clans of the clan-family are in fact uterine alliances.[5] This is illustrated in the following structure.

Sheikh Is-haaq Bin Ahmed[5]

1. Habar Habuusheed

  • Ahmed (Tol-Ja’lo)
  • Muuse
  • Ibrahiim (Sanbuur)
  • Mahammad (‘Ibraan)

2. Habar Magaadle

  • Ayub
  • Awal
  • Arab
  • Ismail

There is no clear agreement on the clan and sub-clan structures and many lineages are omitted. 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.[8][9]

  • Isaaq
    • Haber Awal
      • Sa'ad Muse
      • Issa Muse
      • Ayub
    • Habr Garhadjis
      • Habr Yunis
      • Aidagalla
      • Arab
    • Habr Jaalo (var. Habr Toljallo; Haber Geelo)
      • Mohamed Abokor
      • Ibrahim
      • Muse Abokor
      • Ahmad (Toljaalo)

One tradition maintains that Isaaq had twin sons: Ahmed or Arap, and Ismail or Gerhajis.[10]

Notable Isaaq people [edit]

 The inclusion of certain items in this list is currently being disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the article's talk page. (December 2012)

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ 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]
  2. ^ a b Rima Berns McGown, Muslims in the diaspora, (University of Toronto Press: 1999), pp. 27–28
  3. ^ I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), p. 22
  4. ^ a b Roland Anthony Oliver, J. D. Fage, Journal of African history, Volume 3 (Cambridge University Press.: 1962), p.45
  5. ^ a b c d 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.
  6. ^ I.M. Lewis, Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar, and Saho, Issue 1, (International African Institute: 1955), pp. 18-19
  7. ^ D. J. Latham Brown (1956). "The Ethiopia-Somaliland Frontier Dispute". International and Comparative Law Quarterly 5 (2): 245–264. JSTOR 755848. 
  8. ^ Worldbank, Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics, January 2005, Appendix 2, Lineage Charts, p. 55 Figure A-1
  9. ^ Country Information and Policy Unit, Home Office, Great Britain, Somalia Assessment 2001, Annex B: Somali Clan Structure, p. 43
  10. ^ Laurence, Margaret (1970). A Tree for Poverty: Somali Poetry and Prose. Hamilton: McMaster University. p. 145. ISBN 1-55022-177-9. "Then Magado, the wife of Ishaak, bore him twin sons, and their names were Ahmed, nick-named Arap, and Ismail, nick-named Gerhajis." 
  11. ^ Emeagwali, Gloria T. "Editorial: Focus on the Horn of Africa". Africa Update (Central Connecticut State University) 2 (1; Winter, 1994–95). Retrieved 2011-08-18. 
  12. ^ a b Counter-terrorism in Somalia: How external interference helped to produce militant Islamism

External links [edit]

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