Ishaaq bin Ahmed

In this Arabic name, the surname is al-Hashimi.

Sheikh Ishaaq bin Ahmed bin Muhammad bin al-Hussein al-Hashimi الشيخ إسحاق بن أحمد بن محمد بن الحسين الهاشمي
Tomb of Sheikh Ishaaq in Maydh, Sanaag, Somaliland
Title	Sheikh
Personal
Born	1095 Samarra, Abbasid Caliphate (today Iraq)
Died	mid 12th century Maydh, modern-day Somaliland
Religion	Islam
Children	12 Ahmed (Tolje'lo) Musa (Je'lo) Muhammad ('Ibran) Ibrahim (Sanbuur) Isma'il (Garhajis) Muhammad (Arap) Ayub Abd al-Rahman (Awal) Dir'an Shareef Mansur Yusuf
Era	12th century
Lineage	Banu Hashim
Jurisprudence	Shafi'i
Creed	Ash'ari
Main interest(s)	Islamic literature, Islamic philosophy
Other names	Ash-Shaykh Ishaaq bin Ahmed bin Muhammad bin al-Hussein bin 'Ali bin Hamza bin 'Abdullah al-Hashimi al-Qurashi

Sheikh Ishaaq bin Ahmed bin Muhammad bin al-Hussein al-Hashimi, more commonly known as Sheikh Ishaaq or Sheikh Isaaq (Arabic: الشيخ إسحاق بن أحمد بن محمد الهاشمي, romanized: Ash-Shaykh Isḥāq bin Aḥmad bin Muḥammad al-Hāshimīy, Somali: Sheekh Isxaaq) was an Arab Islamic scholar and poet and was the semi-legendary forefather of the Somali Isaaq clan-family in the Horn of Africa, who's traditional territory is wide and densely populated. Sheikh Ishaaq purportedly traveled from the Arabian peninsula to Somalia in the 12th or 13th century, where he married into the Somali Dir clan. He is said to have settled in what is today the Erigavo District, and to have established his capital at Maydh.

Migrations

After the death of Sheikh Ishaaq's grandfather he went on a series of migrations in order to study further and preach Islam. He first preached in Mecca and then travelled to Egypt, and hence to Eritrea and Zeila. He then later settled in the area of Saba' in modern-day Yemen where he married the sister of the king of the Al Haqar clan. She bore him two sons; Dir'an and Shareef, who's descendants are the Al Dir'an and Al-Ashraf clans respectively. Sheikh Ishaaq later settled in the Al-Jawf region in northern Yemen where he married once again and had a son, Mansur, who is the forefather of the Al Mansur clan in the Al-Jawf region. He then travelled to Yaba where he married and had a son, Yusuf, who is the forefather of the Al Yusuf clan based in Yaba and Ma'rib regions. Before embarking

Arrival in the Horn of Africa

Sheikh Ishaaq then continued his journey and migrated to Zeila, Somaliland and finally Harar in Ethiopia. Several accounts indicate Shaykh Yusuf al Kownayn and Sheikh Isaaq were known to be contemporaries in Zeila and in contact at the same time. According to a popular legend, Shaykh Yusuf al Kownayn, known locally as Aw-Barkhadle, upon meeting Sheikh Ishaaq prophesied that Sheikh Ishaaq would be blessed by Allah with many children while Shaykh Yusuf would not have descendants. According to the prophecy the descendants of Sheikh Ishaaq would also visit Aw-Barkhadle's grave and pay respect and perform siyaaro, or pilgrimage to his tomb. Saints and Somalis: popular Islam in a clan-based society states:

Since, however, Aw Barkhadle’s precise connection with the rulers of Ifat is not widely known, he appears as an isolated figure, and in comparison with the million or so spears of the Isaaq lineage, a saint deprived of known issue. The striking difference between these two saints is explained in a popular legend, according to which, when Sheikh Isaaq and Aw Barkhadle met, the latter prophesised that Isaaq would be blessed by God with many children. He, however, would not have descendants, but Isaaq’s issue would pay him respect and siyaaro (voluntary offerings). So it is, one is told, that every year the Isaaq clansmen gather at Aw Barkhadle’s shrine to make offerings in his name.

The tomb of Aw Barkhadle, which is located to the southwest of Berbera, was also used by the Isaaq clans to settle disputes and to swear oaths of alliances under a holy relic attributed to Bilal Ibn Rabah, with the Eidagale historically acting as mediators.

When any grave question arises affecting the interests of the Isaakh tribe in general. On a paper yet carefully preserved in the tomb, and bearing the sign-manual of Belat [Bilal], the slave of one of the early khaleefehs, fresh oaths of lasting friendship and lasting alliances are made...In the season of 1846 this relic was brought to Berbera in charge of the Haber Gerhajis, and on it the rival tribes of Aial Ahmed and Aial Yunus swore to bury all animosity and live as brethren.

After studying and proselytizing in Harar he then undertook the pilgrimage to Mecca, came back to Somaliland and went along the shore eastward to the coastal town of Maydh in eastern Somaliland, where he converted the pagan peoples to Islam. He later settled in the town aged 60, where he married two women; one of the Magaadle Dir tribe called Magaado, and a Harari woman called Xiis Xaniifa, the daughter of a Harari emir, with descendants belonging to the Habar Magaadle or Habar Habusheed branches respectively. He sired eight sons who are the common ancestors of the clans of the Isaaq clan-family. He remained in Maydh until his death.

Descendants

Main article: Isaaq

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 Habusheed – 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". This is illustrated in the following clan structure.

Warriors of the Habr Awal clan

A. Habr Magaadle

• Ismail (Garhajis)
• Ayub
• Muhammad (Arap)
• Abdirahman (Habr Awal)

B. Habr Habuusheed

• Ahmed (Tol Je’lo)
• Muuse (Habr Je'lo)
• Ibrahiim (Sanbuur)
• Muhammad (‘Ibraan)

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.

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.

• Isaaq
  • Habr Awal
    • Sacad Muuse
    • Issa Musse
  • Garhajis
    • Habr Yunis
    • Eidagale
  • Arap
  • Ayub
  • Habr Je'lo
    • Muuse Abokor
    • Mohamed Abokor
    • Samane Abokor
  • Tol Je'lo
  • Sanbuur
  • Imraan

One tradition maintains that Sheikh Ishaaq had twin sons: Muhammad (Arap), and Ismail (Garhajis). In addition, Sheikh Ishaaq had four additional sons in Yemen (Dir'an, Shareef, Yusuf and Mansur) who's descendants inhabit parts of northern Yemen, including the Khawlan district and the Ma'rib governorate.

Poetry

In addition to being an Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ishaaq was also well-known for his poetry, having composed over a dozen poems, including Laamiyah and Qaafiyah. Below is a translated excerpt from Qaafiyah;

إن الرجل الي ترق قلوبهم لسماع نظمي حين يسمع يعجبُ
فارقت ارضا ذات نخل ثمرها تينا فواكه والعنب متعكبُ
وسكنت ارضا لم اجد رفها بها غير القديد وبفضل ذر اشربُ
وسكنتها و احببت تربة ارضها و غرستها ثمرآ الذ واطيبُ
ثمر الفؤاد أولاد إسحاق الذي جال الفيافي شرقها والمغربُ

يعلوهم بعض السواد جلودهم لغلو أرض عندها متقلبُ
فسوادهم لا ضير في انسابهم إن الشريف العاقل المتأدبُ
إن الشرف من شرفت اخلاقهم بالعز والدين الذي لا ينضبُ
إن التقي يعلو على اقرانه لو كان عبدا جاء لسوق يجلبُ

فعليك تقوى رب قادر قاهر يغنيك ذاك عن نصيب مذنبُ
إن النسيب هو المطيع لربه لم يعتني عما سواه و يطلبُ
هذه صفات أهل المكارم والعلا شرق الشريف العالي المتحببُ
من أذهب الله عنه رجس الذي قد نص فيها ذو الكتاب الأغلبُ

من كان يدري هذه اوصاف من قبلهم اصبح حماهم خائفا يترقبُ
هم أهل البيت المصطفى وبحبهم ينجو من النار الشقي المذنبُ
نحن القرابة اوجب الله حبنا إلا المودة في القريب الاقاربُ
يا سامعا هذا فثق في حبنا نحن القرابة أين منا تهربُ

أما الصحيح فسوف يصوف قلبه و سقيم قلب قلبه يتقلبُ
فعليك يا صاح النصيحة بثها وإذا جفاك أهل الجفا أو كذبوا
لا يرهبنك من مكذب قائل إسحاق ضل ما كتب في مكتبُ
فتش لهم هذه النميقة واسقهم منها غوما هاطلات تسكبُ
واخبرهمو بالحق كي ما يرعو عما يصيب المرأ حين يكذبُ

Surely the hearts of men of renown are concerned -
with my prose, upon hearing it they are in aw,
I departed from a land abundant with date harvests,
Figs, a variety of fruits and plump grapes,

I settled in a land where I could find no comfort,
Other than cured meats and small water found by the foliage,
And I lived in this land, loving the very dust of its earth,
I cultivated in it a fruit of delight and of excellent fragrance,

The fruit of the hearts of Ishaq's sons who-
Roam vast deserts east and west,
They will be darkened due to their prolonged occupation in this land,
But their darkness shall affect not their lineage,

Indeed the honourable Sharif is intelligent and of good character,
Honour is that which envelops one's character,
With glory and religiosity that shall never dry out,
The pious man is risen above his peers for-
if a slave arrived at the market he would seek him out,

I counsel you with God-Consciousness of a Lord that is All-Powerful and Irresistible,
He shall make you free of that which gives rise to sin,
The fortuitous one is he who obeys his Lord,
He cares not for anything else and but only asks of Him,

These are the qualities of the Honoured Folk of high esteem,
The honour of the Sharif is lofty and enamored by all,
They are those whom Allah has removed all filth (33:33),
Inscribed in the Book that conquers all (Qur'an),

For whosoever acknowledges these qualities will surely be,
a guardian unto them having fear and due preponderance,
They are the Household of the Chosen One and by having love of them-,
The wretched is set free from hell,

We are The Relatives, Allah has made obligatory the act of having love for us,
For having love of a relative will undoubtedly draw one near,
O you who is listening to this be firm in your love for us!
We are The Relatives regardless of wherever you flee from us,

As for one who is of sound mind his heart shall surely be made pure,
And as for he of foul heart, his heart shall surely change,
I warn you O adviser that you proclaim and spread this message,
And if the people of mockery and repulsion repulse you, or declare you a liar-

Do not let a liar cause you to flee in sadness, who says:
"Ishaq was a lost man! He didn't write anything!"
Search this well written book for them and give them a drink!
A drink of diverse clouds of rain that unceasingly pours and overspills,

And Inform them such that they may not err-
Of what befalls a man when he is bent on lying.

—Sheikh Ishaaq Qaafiyah

Legacy

According to genealogical books and Somali tradition, the Isaaq clan was founded in the 13th or 14th century with the arrival Sheikh Ishaaq from Arabia in Maydh. He settled in the coastal town of Maydh in modern-day northeastern Somaliland, where he married into the local Magaadle clan.

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. 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.

His descendants would later on form two powerful sultanates that would later on dominate the northern coastline of the Horn of Africa during the early modern era; the Isaaq sultanate and the Habr Yunis sultanate.

Tomb

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