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In my recent article about Somali-Weyn and Islam-Weyn, I examined how these two ideologies, rooted in ethnonationalism and belief orientation, have been politicized in a way defying the geographic boundaries that define the modern territorial state. The article traced the historical and contextual evolution of both Pan-Somalism and political Islamic movements in 20th century as being shaped by, or reacting to, the colonial and postcolonial political dynamics. Both Somali-weyn ideology and Islamic movements were parts of broader anticolonial, revivalist and respectively Pan-Somali unity and Caliphate restoration ambitions organically connected with African liberation movements, Arab nationalism, and subsequent Islamic revivalism.
The article generated considerable feedback in different platforms, but most notably from Ibrahim Hirsi, whose response was both thoughtful insights and significant misinterpretations. His central critique was that I had reduced Somali-weyn and Islam-weyn to mere colonial byproducts and I had downplayed the grievous impacts of the colonial history on Somalis which led to their lands’ partition and territorial dismemberment. Ibrahim argued that Somalinimo, as a political ethnonationalist sentiment, existed for centuries, and that the states historically evolved through shared identities of culture, language and religion. He implied that geographical borders were not central in the history of state formation.
I acknowledge Ibrahim’s points about the colonial grave legacy on Somalis and on all other colonized nations, and the idea that European colonialism divided Somalis into pieces of land and how impactful this legacy was on their land and psyche is undeniable, as documented by Dr. Bulhan in his great book – Politics of Cain; One Hundred Years of Crisis in Somali Politics and Society. Yet, this history needs to be thoroughly examined without succumbing to anticolonial narratives, particularly because defining nationalism solely through the lens of anti-colonialism can be deeply problematic. Such an approach risks reproducing the colonial logic it seeks to oppose- reifying boundaries and identities forged by external domination rather than reimagining them beyond it. According to Achille Mbembe critiques, in (On the Postcolony) the way postcolonial regimes have instrumentalized anti-colonial rhetoric while mimicking colonial authoritarianism, suppressing dissent and pluralism in the name of national unity.
In fact, precolonial Somalis, as most of other African nations, were organized in lineage-based clan structure, without any central authority based on Somali ethnicity, or nation state. The kinship organization of the clans developed as clan identity domination and sense of ‘tolnimo – clan loyalty’ over any ethnocentric loyalties related to ‘being Somalis’. In truth, the outsiders commonly used the term ‘Somali’ to describe Somalis, while pastoral populations within these societies used to identify themselves by their clan names or ancestral legend. Thus, and to Somali perspective, the colonial powers divided the territory and the people of individual clans among Somalis. The Somali pastoralists resented more to the lineage division and pastoral land limitations imposed by the colonial rule, than resentment to tearing Somali territorial land mass in an ethnocentric consciousness.
The rise of Somali nationalism was largely the result of political awakening of Somali elites and urbanized communities who were educated and exposed to global and regional ideologies, particularly after World War II and associated geopolitical and world view changes. Many of these elite figures, including veterans returned from colonial military service and those educated and lived in Aden and other overseas capitals, were influenced by liberation currents and the wave of nationalism in Africa and the Arab world. Mover over in the Somali context, a Pan-Somali loose movement was pushed by different actors in different circumstance; the role of the British rule in four Somali territories in 1940s in promoting Pan-Somali unity, both locally and internationally, is well documented and founded. Ernest Bevin, the then British Foreign Secretary (1945- 1951), campaigned among the great powers for Pan-Somali Unity and ethnic state formation. One may wonder what could justify that intellectually Italian-Speaking elites in Somalia had self-styled as Somali Youth League – SYL (founded in 1943), without British fingerprints in the league’s emergence during the British Military Administration of Somalia in 1941 – 1949.
Ibrahim rightly asserted that state formation historically stemmed from, and evolved through, tribal organization and religious societies, and that is partially true. However, that is the history of state formation, but for modern state, the concept is shifting from ethnicity to citizenship promoting inclusivity, rule of law and civic consciousness in nationality. Ethnocentric states in the contemporary era face challenges and mostly handle brutal politics of suppression and ethnic cleansing. As the recent history demonstrates, almost all racial and ethnocentric states were both genocidal and failure. Nazism and Italian Fascism, in modern European nation states, ultimately collapsed after years of brutality and failure to achieve racial supremacy, and they are now remembered as despised figures and history by the same races they fought for. Likewise, while Europe was shifting from nation states to citizen states, vast territories of the world, including Africa and the Arab world, were vigorously campaigning for nationalism and ethnic politics. In the Somali context, as an example of other nationalist race-based states and political movements, Pan-Somalism failed to translate into viable statehood but unleashed significant levels of violence, wars and lasting instability. Some may argue that the concept was not the culprit, but how it was implemented or employed. This argument may have some merit, but how the Somali-weyn rhetoric was politically initiated would have the brutal end of what Dr. Hussein A. Bulhan eloquently described as a ‘Fratricidal state’.
Political Somali-weyn proponents defamed the civilian Somali governments and condemned how they handled the Somali territories under Ethiopian and Kenyan sovereignties and paved the way for Siad Barre’s rise to power in 1969 with tactical visions aligned with the Somali-weyn rhetoric and aspirations. Siad Barre, with the political ingredients of racial supremacy and salvation, readily took the path of Hitler and Mussolini to conduct repressive campaign of silencing all voices of opposition either forever or for unspecified durations of solitary confinements by labeling them with dabadhilif and anti-Somali.
Finally, he ended up genocide, ethnic cleansing and national fragmentation, in total contradiction of all ambitious components of the less-defined Somali-weyn ideology. Almost all autocratic tyrants led destructive policies through ethnocentric statecrafts and pretexts of racial supremacy, unity and salvation, and the Somalian autocratic Kacaan, in the guise of Somali-weyn ideology, did little to alleviate the suffering of Somalis living in the peripheral territories annexed to Ethiopia, Kenya, and then France-colonized Djibouti. These populations paid a heavy price for a dream that never materialized. In addition, the counterproductive pursuit of Pan-Somali state led to inevitable conflicts with the neighboring countries, like Ethiopia and Kenya, with its dire consequences on the Somalis living in these countries. Ironically, even the hastily achieved unification between Somaliland and Somalia, intended to anchor the pan-Somali unity, resulted in decades of instability, civil war and self-destruction.
Another critical misrepresentation of Somali-weyn political ideology lies in its assumption of ethnic and cultural homogeneity, and even restoring a pre-existed unity. This ideology gravely failed to accept the ethnic diversity in Somalia itself, as significant populations including Bantu tribes, and many other ethnicities of the coastal residents, were systematically assimilated and culturally eliminated by the state institutions. The whole concepts were not founded as the Somalis were never united in a central administration before the colonial era, and that those living in some of the colonies have never been a pure nation. Somalia, the largest of the five territories, was not, and is not yet, ethnically homogeneous population. From Mogadishu to Kismayo and beyond, the Bantu tribes and other nationalities were, unfortunately, suppressed in culture, language and even lineages, and were pushed into demise to force them into somalization through somali-weyn ideology using the state tools. Somali nationalism adopted the European nation-state ideals without accounting for the country’s clan-based social order and promoted ethnic unity and centralization while ignoring internal diversity to reproduce colonial frameworks which contributed to later state collapse.
Re-Imagining Somalinimo and Islam in Somali Political Life
In his response, Ibrahim articulated his views under the above title, a concept that resonates with my central argument about Somali political future. Indeed, Somalis share deep cultural bonds, linguistic commonalities and some degree of collective memory about their history that can serve as a foundation for cooperation and broader unity, but these should not be premises for resurrecting failed ideologies, ethnic misrepresentation and misuse, as these commonalities do not still grantee a nation state. Considering these commonalities, Somali state should be re-imagined based on citizenship, collective interest and civic principles, but not on bloodline, belief and ethnic exclusivity. The shared heritage and identity of Somalinimo will naturally feed cooperation, togetherness and formulate future collective and voluntary shared interests, without consuming it for political agendas and group interests, or distorting it with constitutionally or forcefully forged state apparatuses.
Similarly, Islam is an integral to Somali culture, social identity and sacred values. Islam necessarily guided considerable aspects of Somalis’ world view, their life and social relations for centuries, and still does. However, transforming Islam into a political ideology of parts or movements and being re-evangelized in the Somali community has often led to radicalization, infighting and belief distortion. In fact, and contrary to Ibrahim’s assertion, the internal dynamics of Somali state including corruption, moral vacuum and clan-based politics could only be justifications used as a motive for proselytizing the Islamist ideology and to propagate their political agenda. But the truth is that all the Somali Islamists were not more than franchise of other movements in the Arab world. They were all either of Muslim Brotherhood or Wahabi Salafists. Even in case of further proliferation of a group in its original country, that division reflects in the Somali groups indicating how any change in the idea, attitude and interpretations of a mother group in one of the Arab states, would rapidly echo in the Somali groups. For instance, the takfīr doctrine—originally propagated by radical Egyptian group of jama Islamiyah —rapidly found its way into Somali Islamist discourse and contributed to organizational division of al-Ahli group – Somali Jama Islamiyah. This pattern reveals that Somali Islamism was more externally influenced than organically developed from home-grown idea.
In conclusion, the Somali identity and Islam remain integral to the social fabric of the people, but their politicization has led to clan and ideological conflicts, political crisis, belief confusions and radicalization. So, we must re-imagine them as cultural fabric that can inspire collaboration, mutual respect, and coexistence instead of forcing homogeniety, domintaion in ethnoccentric statehood, racial chauvinism, and religious extremism at the expense of civic rights and embraced diversity within all other similirities. Somali statehood should move beyond ideology of uniformity and embrace free will, historical differences, and somali political imagination should be reclaimed towards peaceful coexistance and future prosperity without persuing delusional racial hegemony that transcends geographical borders.
About the Author
Dr. Mohamed Hirsi is a health professional, university lecturer, and writer specializing in political history and philosophy. He holds an MBBS in Medicine and Surgery and a Master’s in Public Health Epidemiology. Dr. Hirsi is the author of the Somali novel Dabinkii Jiraalka – Diiriye-Maarkoos and has translated several significant works into Somali, including Bamboo Stalk by Sanusi and Politics of Cain; One Hundred Years of Crisis in Somali Politics and Society by Bulhan. His multidisciplinary background spans healthcare, academia, and literary contributions to Somali culture and political discourse.
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints of the Somaliland Chronicle, and its staff.
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