Of Subag and Rhinos and Ducks

[Grant]

I noticed in one of the threads here where someone said that Jews do not eat fat. That is not true. At least in Europe they used chicken fat (schmaltz) as a substitute for butter and I believe that usage continues to this day in orthodox households where a meat dish is being served. It is important to Kosher practice that meat and milk or milk products not be consumed at the same meal. But they may both be consumed at separate meals.

The area of practice that Jews share most obviously with Muslims is in the matter of blood. Kosher cooks go to great lenghts of rinsing and salting meat to ensure that there is no blood left in it.

The basic law of Kosher food is that an animal to be eaten must "divide the hoof and chew the cud." Fish must have scales. Predatory birds and animals of all types are unclean. I believe "Hallal" has similar rules.

The hunting practice I saw in Somalia when gazelle were to be killed, was to shoot to wound, and then for someone to jump off a truck with a knife to finish the animal off. It looked very dangerous but made good religious sense.

I watched an elephant carcass rot because no one would eat the meat.

I was told if a rhino was killed no one would eat the meat, but that they would take the subag.

I was told that ducks and geese were not hallal, but that it was ok to eat them if you cut the feet off first.

I am curious:

Why would people take rhino subag but not marodi?

Would the rhino subag have been eaten or used for some other purpose?

Are ducks and geese not hallal because of the webbed feet?

I know that Somalis eat shark, which has no scales. Is this a distinction between Judaism and Islam or just a practice peculiar to Somalia?

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How much of this did I misunderstand? I have wondered for years.

Grant

[The Arabman]

Mr. Grant, welcome to the General section. As you have noticed, this is where most members of Somalinet are active.

You got an interesting topic; a glimpse of Somalia's past, especially its rural dwellings and wildlife. I am afraid much has changed since your time; the habitat and wildlife have changed significantly due to several reasons/factors, and a substantial number of rural Somalis have been resettled in urban centers during the 1970's (due to droughts). As a result, rural Somalis today represent a minority.

About your observations while in Somalia; throughout history, Somalis had an abundant of livestock resources (camel, cattle, goat). That abundancy and for cultural and/or other reasons, some Somalis do not eat some types of meat, eventhough it's halal. It's like not bothering with or wanting to eat less appealing meat when you have access to an excess of the best meat.

About rhino subag; I don't think Somalis used to eat it as a sort of nourishment, but can deduce it had useful applications, perhaps of chemical nature (catalyst, glue, solvent, drier, etc). That's what I deduce, but searching Google could provide useful answers,

BTW, in this forum, especially among its males, using the "Rolling Eyes" emoticom (:roll:) isn't considered a manly thing.

[Grant]

Tam,

I will stop using the rolling eyes emoticon immediately! But what do you use to show that you are questioning something or may be confused?

I have suspected that most of the big game was gone. I have heard about deforestation and the salting of some of the soil near Jowhar. How bad is the situation?

Do you know the source of the irrigation water for Jowhar? If it is ground water I can understand the salt. If it is the Schebelli, that is more problematic. The big problem with salt is that it eventually prevents drainage. In the Phoenix basin of Arizona they have been using spaced deep plowing to break through an acccumulated salt layer. However, raised fields or deep ditches to allow the salt to drain off can keep land in production for a long time.

The soil around Jilib is mostly good old aro madow, very deep and fairly loose. I didn't notice any evidence of salt in the Jubba, so I think this area could still produce enormous crops, especially with overhead irrigation. Too bad about the mosquitos.

I am saddened to hear of all the changes to the countryside. When I was there the vast majority of people were geeljire and the country was virtually pristine. In my mind there is nothing worse than the poverty that occurs when rural people are concentrated in urban camps. I am reminded of a poem about a tree on the plain of Baanawl (sp?) that was there for miskiin to shelter under. It will be a real shame if that tree disappears entirely.

I did not understand about ducks and geese. Are they halal, but just not part of the Somali diet; or are they haram because of the webbed feet?

Is shark hallal?

I am enjoying this conversation immensely. Thank you.

Grant

[The Arabman]

Mr. Grant, there are other emoticoms, like these; and . Personally, my favorite emoticom is; . I use it when a topic or comment appeals to me.

What you have suspected about the big game is correct; much have gone. It's a rarity to spot an elephant, a lion, rhino, cheetah, etc. Some of the wildlife habitats got transformed into grazing zones for pastoralists. Today, wildlife in Somalia is confined to gazelles (also a few related species), ostrich, warthogs, baboons, tortoise, owls- in short, species that don't threaten man directly.

I have not been to the area of Jowhar, but I understand its source of irrigation is the Shabelle river, which itself originates from Ethiopia;
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/7060/shabelle5ho.gif

I have been to Janaale, Hawaay and other towns along the Shabelle and didn't observe any salting of the soil near the river.

About the deforestation; the situation has degraded since the civil war started. These links should give you a good idea:
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Afri ... NMENT.html
http://english.people.com.cn/200206/05/ ... 7230.shtml

Ducks and geese (game birds) are halal as long as they are zabihah (slaughtered according to Islamic rites). There's an Islamic term called Jallalah; it refers to an animal that Muslims can consume, but which eats the waste or flesh of other animals (i.e. camels, cows, sheep, chickens, geese). If what it eats is stopped for some time and given pure and clean feed, the meat then will become good and lose its Jallalah definition. Shark is also halal. This is an ayah (verse) from the Qur'an regarding what's haram:

"Haram to you (for food) is carrion; blood; the flesh of swine; that which any name other than Allah has been invoked; that which has been killed by strangling; and beat to death, or dead through falling from a height; and killed by the goring of horns; and that which was eaten by wild beasts, unless you are able to perform dhabiha; and that which is sacrificed to idols."

(Surah Al-Maa’idah, 5:3)

You're welcome.

[Grant]

TAM,

Thanks for the links.

Oh Boy! It is worse than I thought. I was also not aware that so much of the watershed of the two rivers was inside Ethiopia. Now there is grounds for future trouble and good reason to seek an early plebiscite in the Ogaden. (Did I read that right, that Ethiopia is open to a plebiscite?!!!!)

With droughts two years out of five, large resevoirs and animal food storage have got to be key to any stable animal agriculture. Now you are talking big central government and major foreign aid......

One thing I noticed about the agricultural land near both Jilib and Barawe was that, once the fertility declined and it was abandoned or allowed to lie fallow, that it would soon become covered with caus marodi, which just about nothing else would eat. I believe it has a use as thatch or may be chopped up to reinforce mud brick or daub for stick houses, but that a large excess still exists. I was once asked if I knew of any additional uses for this stuff and I had to reply at the time that I did not.

I saw cherry tomatoes growing near the well at Tallex. I saw small yams growing below the springs at Eyl. I saw onions growing under the eaves of houses in Jamame. These were all tiny little plots, but very successful and with good yields. At Barawe, the Italians had clearly been highly successful with a garden next to the hotel and Nurenni Haji Ahmed had a small plot inside a compound wall where he was growing amaranth for greens.

The idea I have had for some time is to use the caus marodi as a fertilizer and soil conditioner for garden plots either in or near urban areas. Raised beds and overhead watering can greatly reduce the amount of water necessary to produce vegetable crops for direct human consumption and can make small plots incredibly productive. For Barawe my idea was to build low walls with chopped-up caus marodi and aro gedud just high enough to keep the sand and wind off the crops, and to water overhead by pumping from the relatively shallow wells there. I have thought it was cool enough down near the beach to grow a good many temperate zone vegetables. Inland there are still many good choices.

Does it sound to you like any of my ideas might work? In a post-central government phase, do you think that a program promoting local gardening could become popular?

I remember when I was there that Americans were not generally welcome, but that an exception was made by most people for PeaceCorpska. Has the atmosphere become totally poisoned, or do you think such exceptions would again be made? Keep in mind that I am gaalo, aadaan and kaafir and that at my age I am not likely to change.

Grant

[The Arabman]

Mr. Grant, I don't think Ethiopia is open to a plebiscite. It's not politically mature to let a plebiscite. Besides, I don't think it would let Ogaden slip away; that region represents as a buffer zone for it.

From what you have described, and the ideas/solutions you have proposed, you appear to be a specialist. I am afraid I am only a casual observer & nature lover. But, what I have observed in Hamar is, most residents had gardens in their villas, growing a variety of plants (including vegetables, fruits, flowers). People from the riverine areas used to tend to those gardens, and they knew what they were doing, because the plants used to successfully grow up. Of course, aro madow from Afgoi or other nearby sites was used in those gardens. Perhaps your ideas/solutions have already been figured out and incorporated. Local gardening in Hamar was already popular, at least among the middle class.

I am surprised Americans were not generally welcomed by Somalis while you were there. Perhaps Somalis in that era were not influenced by Hollywood. After you left, Hollywood movies erroneously built a faulty image of America/Americans in the imaginations/minds of most Somalis (as with other societies). I am saying faulty, because much of that image wasn't fact-based or accurate. Americans were admired and glamorized from the mid 70's to the mid 90's. Hollywood is no longer influential, and America's foreign policy has done much damage. I think you could be befriended on an individual basis, with some people separating individuals from their government's foreign policy. But, Somalia isn't generally safe for Americans. Perhaps things will change when there's a functioning government.

[Grant]

TAM,

I actually started as a generalist, with a degree in history. Then I got backed into a number of specialities. I have spent the last thirty five years making crowns and bridges for people with bad teeth. I have had commercial laboratories, but now work at home. If you ever need anything in porcelain or gold, let me know.

The part of my background that draws me to Somalia began much earlier in my life. I spent four summers as a teenager working for my grandfather on his ranch in central Utah. He had forty acres of alfalfa and 270 acres of grass hay in the valley and 40 acres and permits to run 104 head of cattle on the mountain. He kept about 225 head in the valley for a total of about 330 head. My job was to irrigate, cut and rake the hay, and then load and unload the hay onto the stack, while my grandfather drove the truck pulling the hay rack. I mowed and we did some plowing with a tractor, but I raked and still did much of the work with horses. This was very old fashioned even then, but I think you can see from the numbers that it was very effective. Except for me, my grandfather worked alone, and at that time he was in his mid-seventies.

Utah is at a higher latitude and much higher elevation than is Somalia. In most years it is also drier. Virtually all agricultural water comes from snow which arrives in the winter and then gets to the fields only through irrigation.

Utah is also much more mountainous, which is an advantage because it means the water that is available is concentrated in small streams and springs, and can be fairly easily brought to urban areas or farms. Ground water is very limited and is available only by permit. ALL water is owned.

I assure you, it is different there today, but my grandparents NEVER bought food. Their parents bought almost nothing. My grandfather was born in an adobe (mud brick) house that was built by his father and his father's two wives (We are Mormon). That house was built in 1876, stood until 1962, and was torn down then only because the owners wanted something "modern" on the site. My grandparents and great grandparents lived almost entirely out of their own land.

My adult life has not included the culture and attitudes I learned as a child and teenager, but much of that seems applicable to Somalia

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There is a big leap involved when you try to convert a "kept" garden in a villa in Xamar into a plot that would support even a nuclear family.

I read Otali's thread "Somalia Poor by Policy." I notice a lot of thinking there that is parallel to mine. The German study is an interesting hypothetical think- piece. I fear it ignores issues of Qabiil in a potentially dangerous way. I am also concerned about the transition to a permanent farming location. It is important that similar water supplies be available and that ownership or tenancy of the land is secure.

I am thinking demonstration plots on someone's actual farm, or community gardens in connection with the administrations of some of the smaller towns, is the way to go.

In any case, the key is in getting the water to the land. I agree with Gurey that urban poverty is adequate motivation to learn new ways of making a living. While I don't think that everyone needs to be involved in farming, it is a basic occupation and one that needs more government support than it has had in the last thirty years.

Except maybe for the Midgaan and Tumals, manufacturing is not a traditional Somali way of life. In a post-central government period, however, manufacturers could come in and build factories or assembly plants that would provide wages that would probably be higher and received sooner than could profits from farming. It occurs to me that many ex-geeljire could prefer clean work in a factory and a reliable paycheck, to sweaty work on the land and uncertain profits.

Still, as a way of life, I would personally prefer farming. If this could be combined with some small-scale animal husbandry, say a few milk goats or a cow, I think I could personally be quite content.

Grant