Ishaaq bin Ahmed
Sheikh Ishaaq bin Ahmed al-Hashimi الشيخ إسحاق بن أحمد الهاشمي | |
---|---|
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[1] Shareef[2] Mansur[3] Yusuf[4] |
Era | 12th century |
Jurisprudence | Shafi'i |
Creed | Ash'ari |
Main interest(s) | Islamic literature, Islamic philosophy |
Sheikh Ishaaq bin Ahmed bin Muhammad 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 was the forefather and common ancestor of the Somali Isaaq clan-family in the Horn of Africa, who inhabit a wide and densely populated traditional territory.[5][6][7][8][9]
Biography
Sheikh Ishaaq was born in 1095 in Samarra, modern-day Iraq, with a lineage tracing to Prophet Mohammed's daughter Fatimah and cousin Ali. From the line of Hussein, the son of Ali, the Sheikh belonged to the Sharif community, a title conferred to the descendants of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet.
Due to tensions, instability and civil strife under the then reigning Caliph Al-Mustazhir of the Abbasid Caliphate, he and his family, led by his grandfather Muhammad bin Al-Hussein migrated to Madinah in Hejaz, where he was taught classical Arabic and finished his Islamic studies.[10]
After the death of Sheikh Ishaaq's grandfather he went on a series of travels to study further and preach Islam, passing through modern-day Yemen, Zeila and finally Harar.[11]
He then settled in the coastal of Maydh in the Sanaag region of Somaliland, where he married two women, one of the Magaadle Dir tribe and a Harari woman, with descendants belonging to the Habar Magaadle or Habar Habusheed branches respectively.[12] He sired eight sons who are the common ancestors of the clans of the Isaaq clan-family and remained in Maydh until his death.[13][14]
Descendants
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".[15] This is illustrated in the following clan structure.[16]
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)
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[17]
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.[18][19]
- Isaaq
- Habr Awal
- Issa Musse
- Sa’ad Musse
- Garhajis
- Habr Yunis
- Eidagale
- Arap
- Ayub
- Habr Je'lo
- Muuse Abokor
- Mohamed Abokor
- Samane Abokor
- Tol Je'lo
- Sanbuur
- Imraan
- Habr Awal
One tradition maintains that Sheikh Ishaaq had twin sons: Ahmed (Arap), and Ismail (Garhajis).[20]
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, a descendant of Ali ibn Abi Talib in Maydh.[21][22] He settled in the coastal town of Maydh in modern-day northeastern Somaliland, where he married into the local Magaadle clan.[12]
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.[23] 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.[24]
Tomb
Sheikh Ishaaq's tomb is in Maydh, and is the scene of frequent pilgrimages.[23] Sheikh Ishaaq's mawlid (birthday) is also celebrated every Thursday with a public reading of his manaaqib (a collection of glorious deeds).[12] His siyaara or pilgrimage is performed annually both within Somaliland and in the diaspora particularly in the Middle East among Isaaq expatriates.
References
- ^ الاسحاقي الصومالي, عبدالرحمن. كتاب تحفة المشتاق لنسب السيد اسحاق.
- ^ الاسحاقي الصومالي, عبدالرحمن. كتاب تحفة المشتاق لنسب السيد اسحاق.
- ^ الاسحاقي الصومالي, عبدالرحمن. كتاب تحفة المشتاق لنسب السيد اسحاق.
- ^ الاسحاقي الصومالي, عبدالرحمن. كتاب تحفة المشتاق لنسب السيد اسحاق.
- ^ Ethnic Groups (Map). Somalia Summary Map. Central Intelligence Agency. 2002. Retrieved 2012-07-30. Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection – N.B. Various authorities indicate that the Isaaq is among the largest Somali clans [1], [2].
- ^ "Somalia – The great Somali migrations". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
- ^ MENAFN. "Somaliland: History of Sheikh Isaaq Bin Ahmed Bin Muhammad (AL-HASHIMI)". menafn.com. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
- ^ Rima Berns-McGown, Muslims in the diaspora, (University of Toronto Press: 1999), pp.27–28
- ^ I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), p. 22
- ^ TARIIKHDA SH ISXAAQ QAYBTA 1AAD Full Barnaamij, retrieved 2021-03-24
- ^ الاسحاقي الصومالي, عبدالرحمن. كتاب تحفة المشتاق لنسب السيد اسحاق.
- ^ a b c I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), pp. 31 & 42
- ^ Adam, Hussein M. (1980). Somalia and the World: Proceedings of the International Symposium Held in Mogadishu on the Tenth Anniversary of the Somali Revolution, October 15–21, 1979. Halgan.
- ^ Laurence, Margaret (1970). A Tree for Poverty: Somali Poetry and Prose. Hamilton: McMaster University. ISBN 978-1-55022-177-0.
- ^ Lewis, I. M. (1999). A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. ISBN 9783825830847.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Burton. F., Richard (1856). First Footsteps in East Africa. p. 18.
- ^ Worldbank, Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics, January 2005, Appendix 2, Lineage Charts, p. 55 Figure A-1
- ^ 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
- ^ 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 .
- ^ Rima Berns McGown, Muslims in the diaspora, (University of Toronto Press: 1999), pp. 27–28
- ^ I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), p. 22
- ^ a b Roland Anthony Oliver, J. D. Fage, Journal of African history, Volume 3 (Cambridge University Press.: 1962), p.45
- ^ 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.