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Isaaq

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Main article: Somali people
Isaaq
إسحاق
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Somali
Religion
Islam (Sunni, Sufism)
Related ethnic groups
Dir, Darod, Hawiye, Rahanweyn, and other Somali peoples

The Isaaq (also Isaq, Ishaak) ([Reer Sheik Isaxaaq] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), Arabic: إسحاق) are one of the main clans of the Somali people. 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, Burao, 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]

History

Main article: Somali aristocratic and court titles

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]

Although the Isaaq clan claims paternal descent from Sheikh Isaaq, group members are often recognized as a sub-clan of the Dir.[7]

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).[8]

Clan tree

Partial breakdown of the Isaaq clan structure.

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 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.[9][10]

  • 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.[11]

Historical publications

Historical publications on Sheikh Isaaq include:[12]

  • Al-Dur Al Muntakhab Fi Alaqab Wal-asab - 12th-century manuscript by unknown author
  • Al Casjad Al-Manduum Li-Taariikh Wal-culuum - 12th-century manuscript by Maxamed Hasan Al-Basri (50 pages, Al-Zahiriyah Library, Al-Hamidiyah Souq, Damascus Syria)
  • Al-3asjad Al Manduum - by Sharif Ahmed Muhammad Qaasim Al Gheribaani, a Hashimi historian of Yemen (1910)
  • Thamrat Al-Mushtaaq Fi Manaaqib/Nasab al-Sheekh/Sayid Is'haaq - by Sharif Aydarus Sharif Ali Al-Aydarus 1947 (d 1347 H.A.). Also the author of Bughyat Al-Amaal Fi-Taariikh Al Soomaal
  • Adhwaa 3alaa Taariikh Al-Soomaal - by Shariif Maxamed 3aydarus (1932-1999), the ex-mayor of Mogadishu during the 1968 election in Somalia
  • Kitaab Fatx Al-Baab Fi Al-Ansaab Wal-Alaqaab - by 3abdialma3alim Ibn Yuusuf

Notable Isaaq people

  • Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Somaliland and the Chairman of Wadani political party.
  • Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur, Last Somali National Movement Chairman and First President of Somaliland.
  • Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud, President of Somaliland, fourth and longest-serving Chairman of the Somali National Movement, and former Chairman of the Kulmiye Party.
  • Faysal Ali Warabe, Chairman of the Justice and Welfare Party of Somaliland (UCID)
  • Edna Adan Ismail, She is the Director and Founder of the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital in Hargeisa and a world renowned activist and pioneer in the struggle for the abolition of female circumcision.
  • Rageh Omaar, He is is a world renowned Somali-born British journalist and writer. A former correspondent for the BBC, Al Jazeera English he currently works as chief international affairs correspondent for ITV News.
  • Mohamed "Mo" Farah, He is a Somali-born British international track and field athlete in the long distance and middle-distance. He is the current 10,000 metres Olympic and World champion and 5000 metres Olympic, World and European champion
  • Mohamed Hasan Abdullahi, Chief of Staff of Somaliland Armed Forces.
  • Dr. Sada Mire, She is a world renowned Somali archaeologist. She is the only active archaeologist working in Somaliland
  • Hadrawi, poet and philosopher; author of Halkaraan; also known as the "Somali Shakespeare"
  • Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal, former Prime Minister of Somalia; former President of Somaliland
  • Nadifa Mohamed, She is an Oxford alumni and a respected Somali-British novelist.
  • Ismail Ahmed, Founder and CEO of WorldRemit a major remittance organisation. Also an MBA graduate from the London School of Business and Finance.
  • Fowsiyo Yusuf Haji Adan, Former Head of NDP in Somaliland and later former Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia.
  • Abdifatah Noor Promising young footballer who also plays for the Wales Under 21 National Team.
  • Umar Arteh Ghalib, former Prime Minister of Somalia, former President of UN Security Council, teacher and poet.

References

  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. Cite error: The named reference "Lewisapd" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  6. ^ I.M. Lewis, Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar, and Saho, Issue 1, (International African Institute: 1955), pp. 18-19
  7. ^ I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), p. 22
  8. ^ D. J. Latham Brown (1956). "The Ethiopia-Somaliland Frontier Dispute". International and Comparative Law Quarterly. 5 (2): 245–264. doi:10.1093/iclqaj/5.2.245. JSTOR 755848.
  9. ^ Worldbank, Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics, January 2005, Appendix 2, Lineage Charts, p. 55 Figure A-1
  10. ^ Country Information and Policy Unit, Home Office, Great Britain, Somalia Assessment 2001, Annex B: Somali Clan Structure, p. 43
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ Islam in Somali History Fact and Fiction revisited , the Arab Factor
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