OUR ISLAM AGAINST THEIRS: A RESPONSE TO KAMBULI

[Galol]

The Islam I disrespect is not the one we had for thousand years, it is the one currently suffocating the malnourished soul of our dying nation.

We prophesed allegiance to allah and Muhammed for millennia yet your grandmother and mine braided their hair to advertise their maiden youth. Once they became mothers they suckled their babies from their nourishing breasts wherever they wanted, uninhibited by the restrictive codes and norms of insecure foreign races from across the seas. In our badiye days young men danced with their clan's virgins under sapphire blue nights while crickets sang a deafening chorus. They danced to welcome the holy rains of spring and to flaunt their own fertility in mesmerising acts of movement, rythm and beauty. The girls will gyrate and ululate till they faint from sheer excitement only to be revived by yet more loving odes from their men. Sometimes a prudish "soddoh"(mother of a Maiden) wil refuse her daughter to go out and dance. The men will chant in unsion "Oh the mother of Beauty...let her be free". If this doesn't work the men will simply swoop in and take the daughter in a stylised mock abduction accepted and understood by all sides for what it is. The maiden will put up a token resistance but will soon join in the fun after a an initial sulk is soothed by the other girls. Will you put Hijab and sharia in that picture?

The evil rules of so-called Sharia never bothered the Somali. Our proud forefathers took one look at this madness and treated it with the contempt it deserves. in Our Millenia under Islam not one somali was ever mutilated, not one mother stoned not one drunkard whipped. We have never heard of of the Orwellian terminolgy now so prevalent in our desert home. qisas and niqab and hijab and burqah and qiyabil hashafah.

The Somali thought God was a member of his own clan because otherwise god will not be worth bothering with. As children we chanted "Nebi Carabi, sheytaan Hereri, Ilaahu Somali(The Prophet maybe an Arab, the devil Ethiopian but God is Somali)

Once we built urban centres we continued our different, tamed, internalised and somalisied version of islam taking what we wanted from it and ignoring what did not fit in with our unique culture. Our women replaced the breast-revealing guntino and saddex qeyd with the divinely transparent diric taking pride in showing their curves as nature urged them to do. For what is the point of beauty if it has to be hidden and curtailed? The all night wildness of springtime dancing was replaced by an explosion of music and prose and innovation. Hargeisa in the 50s, 60s and 70s was a teeming hub of this cultural miracle when new crop of artists invented hees, balwo, raheye, arka qad and riwayad in one generation. The new middle classes sauntering in the aptly named suburbia of Paradise Pond and Waterfalls and The Clouds demanded to be entertained and educated through art and they got it in richness that today defies belief. This was the time of Belayo Cas(Red Devil), Hargeisa Brothers, Gududo Arwo, Ali suggulle, Hassan Sh. Mumin, Gu bas jire and many others. The hearthrobbing beat of our life-enhancingly African drum was now accompanied by Dhexyar(Violin) and Bass and flute and sax. The womenfolk sashayed in flowing silks while the men drank rum. Others chose the Mosque. All later met and remained friends enjoying the music and theatre together. No one was judged for the Somali islam believed judgment is left to god.

There was even some joy in our Islam even if Isalm is naturally barren elsewhere. Remember those Ramadan nights when every tea house will hire a band or at least one singer to mitigate the boredom of the religious sermon? They are now banned from Hargeisa to kismayu. Believe it or not they even want to ban praising Allah in somali. Apparently Allah's Somali is a little rusty and he can only comprehend the guttural tones of Arabic. our forefathers must be turning in their graves.

This is the new virus of Islam that we now have. The one where the children of the poor and the dispossed had their limbs amputated slowly with blunt pangas. This is the unmanly, unchivalrous, unsomali Islam where grown up men throw stones at teenage girls for daring to show their faces. this is the Isalm where dance is haram, music is haram, love is haram, gabay is haram, sex is haram, joy is haram, beer is haram, laughter is haram, beauty is haram, singing is haram. Life itself seems to be haram.

The only thing halal is death and murder and mutilation and ignorance and shrouds of varying shades darkness. What is hidden and absurd and cruel and barbaric. Defeaning joyless silence is halal. We reject this Islam. we abhor it and despise it and hate it with passion for it is surely an enemy of the Somali and an enemy of humanity.

This Islam is Not Known At this Adddress. Please RTS.

[SOULJAH]

".........The womenfolk sashayed in flowing silks while the men drank rum....."

you defenitely have come from a different somalia to the one thats known to most of us. On which side of the glope is it located if you dont mind me asking?

[Galol]

souljah

Mine, and it is the globe. But thanks for your contribution.

[S_lander-boy]

Galol why did you left islam did you never ask your self is their a higher power or whats the purpose of living/life???

[Galol]

S-lander

I did ask and decided there was none. And I never joined so I didn't "leave".

How old are you S_lander if you don't mind me asking?

[S_lander-boy]

Galol

Right as far as i know there arent somali atheist in somalia I could be wrong tho however where aint you born as a muslim atleast arent ur parents muslims??



Iam 19 do you mind why are you asking?

[PH.D.]

so galol is basically saying somalis should create their own sub-islam religion. No Thanks

[afdhere]

galol, the reer baadiye are still not affected by this new "religion" called wahabbism. while traveling from north to south and west and east, you will meet and see many somalis who are still like your grandmother. it is a beautiful islam, and a beautiful somali culture.

a young woman used to wear guntiino... with her beautiful shoulders shine as the sun set into the sea. with that dhex-xirad, in which she kept a garment of a purse. faraq, they used to call it. a way to keep her wealth. and everytime she walked, the dhex-xir would force her booty to move and part.

you used to see women wear dirac and rajistiin and googarad... all three as visible as the fingers on your hands. you desired her xulus... layers upon layers...

ah, those were the days.

beauty is lost on the aqwaan, surely

afdhere

[Galol]

PHD

Did uyou miss the whole point yaa cagdheer waaxid?(I love cagdheer cos they are archetypal Somalis - reer badiye, noble, dignified and absolutely bonkers!)

I am not saying lets invent a new Islam I am saying lets keep the one we had for thousand years. see now?

S-Lander

You missed out. I do feel genuinely sorry for your generation because you would not have experienced Somalia at its best. You grew up in destruction and misery and war and foreign lands and lack of pride. poor souls. And yes there atheists all over Somalia.

[The rebel]

What do we do about all those history books.
For the first time I am lost for words for a reply, but the really sad thing is, I have no wish to search for any.

[Galol]

Rebel

?

[S_lander-boy]

S-Lander

You missed out. I do feel genuinely sorry for your generation because you would not have experienced Somalia at its best. You grew up in destruction and misery and war and foreign lands and lack of pride. poor souls. And yes there atheists all over Somalia.[/quote]


Galol I have a hard time believing what you said according to Somali history Somalia did not had somali atheists in your time so where do you get this ??? furthermore I beg to differ The only thing I agreed in is my genaration grew up in foreigns land cause I came to a foreign land when I was 3 so I dont have any memories of the civil war so how could I grew up in destruction and misery ???

My genaration could be the key to somalia/somaliland their problems in the west is alot oppertunities (education etc) and iam proud of where I came from I visit Somaliland couple of times and every time I come there I feel like a king thousend of dollars iyo shillings in my pocket one day ILL will to something for my nation

[The rebel]

Excuse me what i meant was i should throw all the history books in my mini library and learn from you

Serious note though, if i was looking what other muslim do or believe i would never became a muslim. Go back to real sources Koran and check by your self. People aren't same level of intellegence they intrept verses differently. People believe as far as their intelligence will let them. So if I find a Muslim who has different views, I dont say , " Islam is bad" . I research and study his point of view to make sure that I am following the right path. This gives me peace of mind. And when I am clear about my status, I try to convince others too.

[fagash_killer]

GALOL FINNALY THEIR ARE SOME WISE MUSLIMS I SEE BUT HOWEVER I SHOULDNT LEFT THE ISLAM NOT YET LOOK HOW THE WOLRD ARE UNITED AGAINST THE ISLAM CUSS THE KNEW IN THE PAST THAT THE KORAN IS THE RIGHT HOLY BOOK THEY KNOW THAT PROHET MUHAMED WAS THE LAST PROHET THEY KNEW ALL OF THAT BUT WE WHERE DIVIDED BETWEEN SOENIT AND SHIIT AND THAT WAS THE END OF THE ISLAM FAKE CRISTIANS LIKE BUSH AND BLAIRS FAMMILY TOKE IT OVER AND STUDIED THE KORAN IF U SEE TO DAY THEY ARE DIVIDING MUSLIMS LIKE SOENITS AND SHIIT U HEAR SOMETIMES IN THE NEW BOM ATTACKS IN THE SHIIT MOSQ AND THE PPL WHO DID THAT ARE THE SOENITS SEE HOW SMART THEY ARE AND THEY LEARNED US IF WE READ THE CRISTIAN BOOKS ORE EVEN THOUCH IT WE CAN GO TO HELL TODAY INDEED WE ARE DIVIDED THE OTHER IMAM IS SAYING THATS TRUE WHILE THE OTHER IMAM NO THATS TRUE IT LOOKS LIKE THE ARE MAKING FUN ABOUT THE HOLY QORAN THE GAALO TOKE IT REALLY SMART BUT IF U KNOW THIS COULD BE TRUE I SHOULDNT LEAVE ISLAM NOT YET HOWEVER I KNOW SOMETIMES U WILL BE SO AGNERED THAT U TRIE TO LEAVE THE ISLAM ITS INDEED SAD BUT HANG ON THEIRS HOPE

[The rebel]

Why you using Caps? That is very rude, you sound some one screaming.