The dark side of Sayyid Abdullah Hassan

[Somaliman50]

The hidden version that also shapes the acts and personality of this leader entices our attention in order to treat history with its due balance of truth, regardless of its consequential dissatisfaction in certain quarters. Unlike the known religious leaders, Mohamed Abdulle Hassan’s followers mainly consisted of his own Ogaden sub-clan of the pseudo-nobility of the Darood clan. The method he used to employ to obtain support and followers remained incompatible with Islam because of the tools he applied; in that, Hallett asserts, “He resorted to the most ruthless methods,”47 because “members of the local Muslim establishment were outraged by his attacks…”48 as “…doubtful followers ran the risk of summary execution.”49 In another page about Mohamed Abdulle Hassan’s tyranny, Michael Tidy and Donald Leeming remark, “Muhammad again resorted to military activities against various Somali communities.”50

Among the discredibility in the mainstay of Sayid Mohamed’s theological profession (if it can be called so) is his announcement of being the Mahdi, a statement which no Islamic scholar in his right senses would ever dare say. He kept wandering and attacking communities in order to coerce them into his accompaniment. “The men were flogged until, sworn on the triple divorce oath [“xila-fur” in Somali], they agreed to obey him.”51 (Text in parentheses mine.) In dissonance with the behaviour requisite of an Islamic scholar, the Mad Mullah must have been a chronic liar and a slanderer of the highest proportion by claiming the possession of powers to turn the white infidels’ bullets to water.52

By reading Jardine, one may assume of exaggerations contradictory of this popular Somali character, but a variety of his poetry confirm the kind of heinous policy he engaged and the quality of tyranny he employed. The concealment of this reality about the man’s true life in the social history is an attestment of the military regime’s hypocritical attitude in dealing with the historiography of the country and its people.

To contribute to the thesis of the hidden picture of the Sayid, Professor Abdalla Omar Mansur cites a verse from a great Somali poet, Ali Dhuux, who looted camels and in defence referred that even a man regarded so ‘religious’ as Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan permitted and actually indulged in looting other people’s camels:

* Sayidkii wadaad oo dhan xiray, Waris xalaaleeye
Xaaraan haddu yahay Xula ma qaadeene
Xoolaha kaleetiyo isaga waaba kala xeere
Nin kastoo xadreeyaba wuu u xusual duubaaye
Haddaan xaajiyadu weerareyn xer uma duuleene.

…The Sayid, the wise one
Who knows more
than all other men religious in the land
did sanction Waris [camel] by force to take
Xula [camel] he won’t take
Should this act unlawful be
Laws superior camels govern
above other animals all
any preacher religious
camels to acquire desires
though pious pretends he to be
should Hajis ambitious
other men’s camels raided not
I, too, would have done the same.53

The likes of the above verses and other indecent activities of the Sayid in oral literature or in the traditions and the government’s super-humanization of the so-called hero Mohamed Abdulle Hassan, have annoyed a Jareer poet who was alternatively concerned about the top officials’ expropriation of Bantu farms in the riverine areas of Juba and Shabelle. He said:


* Tuugadii Tolkiina Taalaa u dhisteene,
Tacabkeeyi haleeyseen maxaa ka Tireen?54

Translation:
You erected monuments for (even) the looters among your kinship,
But what is the fate of my expropriated lifeline?

Another poet and a Jareer compatriot responded to him with a clear definition of the situation and the disparity between the Jareer and the Jileec:
* Tuugga reer Tolkiisaa Toowraadaan ka buuxo
Yaa ku Taagsaheey oo Tiir kuu naqahaayo?55


Translation:
The thug’s kinship dominate the ruling Supreme Revolutionary Council,
You (Jareer) don’t have a center-pole to lean on!

The revisionist scholarship acknowledges the insincerity of the ruling elite. One of such scholars is Mukhtar who wrote: “Historical sites were set up where there were no signs of history. Religious heroes were made up where the practice of Islam has been insignificant”.56 Citing Jama Mohamed, Professor Cassanelli enlightens, “The dervish wars and the dislocation of nomadic groups caused by them left a legacy of mistrust and bitterness which was typically preserved by clan poets in series or “cycles” of poems that kept these rivalries alive.”57 The Somalist scholar, in a further elucidation of the theme, writes, “For example, the mutual suspicion that has characterized relations between Isaq and Darood Somalis for most of this century almost certainly originated in the events of the dervish period.”58 Ascertaining the tyrannical leadership of Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan, Dualeh notes, “His religious movement became despotic. He would kill and loot the tribes that would not lend him support. The tribes in British Somaliland, with the support of the British authorities, took up arms against him. He was finally defeated”.59

In southern Somalia, many communities and pious religious personalities and sects (tariqas), particularly the Qadiriyya, know Mohamed Abdulle Hassan and his Dervish henchmen, notwithstanding the lavish decoration and monumentation, as unreligious villains operating under cover of Islam. Mohamed Adulle Hassan assigned a team of his Dervish for the assassination of Sheilk Uwees, one of the most celebrated religious leaders of the Jareer in Somalia in the famous rural town of Biyooleey. After the sad and cold blooded gangland style massacre, the Qadiriyya religious poets composed the following (dhikr) religious song in a couplet:


* Afaraay Ahaayeen Uweesaay dileen
Owliya Allaayaay ka Inkaar-sadeen.60

Translation:
Four they were who murdered (Sheikh) Uwees
And (as a result) Accumulated curses from all corners of the pious ones of God.

And the righteous of the Reewing, in whose territory the renowned Sheikh Uwees was killed, went in pursuit of the culprits as they recited:

* Ankaaraneegii Abdoow (Abdulle) Hassan Aragteey?
Usii Amuudee Illeey maddii Aragdo.61

Translation:
Who can tell me the whereabouts of the cursed Abdulle Hassan?
Death will be his fate upon my sight of him.

All these evidences from Somalis and non-Somalis, scholars and non-scholars, expose the quality and character of the man for whose aggrandizement so immaculate a monument was towered into the sky. The dubious military administration under the ideological tutelage of nomadic political doctrine deliberately forged a Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan hero-ization scheme in an agenda to exonerate him and his Dervish militia from the genocide they committed against innocent peoples of diverse Somali communities in the north as well as in the south.

The policy that Mohamed Abdulle Hassan exploited was his people’s desire for wealth in camel and for women because he preached, contrary to the sound teachings of Islam, the lawfulness in misappropriating the wives of the non-compliants to his way of life. Jardine confirms, “The wife of one of our Somali native officers was divorced from her husband by the Mullah and appropriated to his own harem.”62 His despotism disobeyed all Islamic and human boundaries that “Until they promised to obey him, the tribesmen found their property plundered, their women ravished.”63

By means of this coercive principle of raping and appropriating women, married and unmarried, without doubt, many a great number of unpropitious offsprings were conceived. As a result of this otherwise unbecoming sexual avarice, an undesirable lineage contamination (but nobody mentions) must have drastically spread across the sub-clans subjected to this punishment, a reason why the wounds and grudge will never be healed.

[Grant]

Here it is yet again, the Sufi and the Wahaabbi, the builder of Jamaat and the builder of jihad:

"In southern Somalia, many communities and pious religious personalities and sects (tariqas), particularly the Qadiriyya, know Mohamed Abdulle Hassan and his Dervish henchmen, notwithstanding the lavish decoration and monumentation, as unreligious villains operating under cover of Islam. Mohamed Adulle Hassan assigned a team of his Dervish for the assassination of Sheilk Uwees, one of the most celebrated religious leaders of the Jareer in Somalia in the famous rural town of Biyooleey. After the sad and cold blooded gangland style massacre, the Qadiriyya religious poets composed the following (dhikr) religious song in a couplet:


* Afaraay Ahaayeen Uweesaay dileen
Owliya Allaayaay ka Inkaar-sadeen.60

Translation:
Four they were who murdered (Sheikh) Uwees
And (as a result) Accumulated curses from all corners of the pious ones of God.

And the righteous of the Reewing, in whose territory the renowned Sheikh Uwees was killed, went in pursuit of the culprits as they recited:

* Ankaaraneegii Abdoow (Abdulle) Hassan Aragteey?
Usii Amuudee Illeey maddii Aragdo.61

Translation:
Who can tell me the whereabouts of the cursed Abdulle Hassan?
Death will be his fate upon my sight of him.

All these evidences from Somalis and non-Somalis, scholars and non-scholars, expose the quality and character of the man for whose aggrandizement so immaculate a monument was towered into the sky. The dubious military administration under the ideological tutelage of nomadic political doctrine deliberately forged a Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan hero-ization scheme in an agenda to exonerate him and his Dervish militia from the genocide they committed against innocent peoples of diverse Somali communities in the north as well as in the south."

[Voltage]

The dubious military administration under the ideological tutelage of nomadic political doctrine deliberately forged a Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan hero-ization scheme in an agenda to exonerate him and his Dervish militia from the genocide they committed against innocent peoples of diverse Somali communities in the north as well as in the south."

Grant to be honest I never agreed with you much before but I now view you with eyes I had not before. You are nothing but a pig, an apologist for African colonialism and disgusting white imperialism.

Sayyid Mohammed Abdulle Hassan is a hero, the father of Somali nationalism and the man that stood up to repulse the British pigs and their Ethiopian christian allies that united to subjugate us and change our way of life. He is a hero who resisted at a time when the British pigs thought they were the kings of the world and our land belonged to them. He is a hero resisted when the British pigs brought their devalued religion and perverse way of life to forecefully alter our religion, culture, and way of life and attempted to do so as they had done with other African and Asian societies around the world.

I mean just who do you think you are? You claim to have been in Somalia for a max two years in the 60's as a peace corps volunteer and since then have not been in or had interaction with Somalia. Who gives you the authority to comment with finality the affairs and history of our people? What legitimacy do you have? What authority and recognition do you hold?

Will you then, as an American, come and say the Americans who died for independence did not die as a result of resisting the British but died as a result of "George Washington's war". Will you ever utter such? Nay! Because you are a disgusting hypocritical pig. That is what you are!

How dare you come here and accuse the Sayid, the man who resisted the British, of "genocide" when it is the focking British who air bombed our people (the first usage in modern warefare) and brought even their native troops from as far as India and Asia to come and do battle in our land? According to your pig logic the Sayid is one responsible for the people that died as a RESULT OF resisting the British but not the British who came to subjugate us in our land. Oh, we should have taken it Bending! Huh Grant? We should have done that right? Lean forward and bend for the African colonialism? Right?

Pig!

Somalis are a clannish society and there are some clans that took the brunt of the war against the British, such as the Isaaq, but even the Isaaq's greatest men will tell you their clan has no right to continue to hold grudges against the Sayid! Read the book of Jama Mohammed Ghalib, an Isaaq defector from the Siad Barre government and was there when Somaliland was announced in 1991, in his book "Somalia: The Cost of Dictatorship" he writes HE was born at a time when the Sayid attacked his sub-sub-subclan and he was left orphaned. But he then goes to you say the Sayid had a RIGHT to attack his sub-sub-subclan because they were under the tutelage of the British and the Sayid was fighting the British AND their foot soldiers, which he did successfully until the first modern application of air warfare was tested in Somalia. Even the Libyan leader Omar Muktar had to wage war against the Sanussi Sufis who served on the side of the Italians and today the Italians accept the responsibility for EVERYTHING that happened in Libya at that time because the war and everything that occured was a direct result of their imperialism. Which is why Italy will be paying reparations to Libya for a long time!

If it was not for the Sayid, today my name or surname would include "John" or "Gordon" and our way of life would have been destroyed. But because the Sayid resisted I continue to hold on to my culture, language, and traditions. How dare a white colonialism-apologizing imperialist pig like yourself meddle in my affairs and seek to discuss and question the position the Sayid should hold in the historical psyche of our people. Over my dead body old man!

[Voltage]

Abakar, you are nothing but a discredited clan-baiter. To you every bogeyman is "Darod" and any "Darod" should be judged based on his clan. Ignorant boy, the Sayid is directly responsible for taking on the Italians who were subjugating your own people in Ceelbuur and using them as "river crossings". Go ask that granddad in your location who will give you first hand accounts you ungrateful and perverse-thinking little imp. Sit down and objectively educate yourself for once, nothing annoys me more than kids so influenced by civil war hostilities they would then try to revise history to fit the clan model of today's post-war era Somalia.

[hanqadh]

abakr you ignorant imbecile, the sayid made a sacred struggle against what he saw as an external enemy, he pursued his enemy with ferocity and a burning desire to eradicate them,he attacked any clan who stood in his way including his own dhulbahante and ogaden.....he was a man of principle a man who was not willing to compromise his land, promised whatever he wished by the colonist, he remained firm in his ambition to see them gone...dont come here with your gibberish and tell us about how the sayid's efforts does not warrant his status as an icon a legend to the somali people. if he was hawiye perhaps you would have seen things in a different light?

[Grant]

The dubious military administration under the ideological tutelage of nomadic political doctrine deliberately forged a Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan hero-ization scheme in an agenda to exonerate him and his Dervish militia from the genocide they committed against innocent peoples of diverse Somali communities in the north as well as in the south."

Grant to be honest I never agreed with you much before but I now view you with eyes I had not before. You are nothing but a pig, an apologist for African colonialism and disgusting white imperialism.

Voltage,

You illiterate ignoramus! Do you undersatand what quote marks are? I was quoting the author of the piece you seem not to have bothered reading. FYI it is one of a number of scholarly exposes of the myth-creation under the Barre rigime that favored militarism over nationbuilding. I recommend a paper copy from Amazon.com, but you can read about most of it here on the web:

http://books.google.com/books?id=XpdAzR ... sw#PPP1,M1

[Samaale_Myth]

He was the first G rapper:

[Voltage]

Doesn't matter Grant. I can pen a book right now and get it published. If someone chooses to copy and paste my information as a source it means the individual shares my opinion. Directly or indirectly you are an apologizer unless you come out right now and clear the air.

As for the source, thank you for bringing it. Ali Jimale is a discredited Abgal educator at Queen's College. There has been so much complaints about the falsities he contributes no one uses him as a source anymore. I never thought for a second a respectable, credible source would ever write such colonialism apologizing disgusting piece of writing as you quoted above and I am glad to have been right.

[Somaliman50]

Abakar, you are nothing but a discredited clan-baiter. To you every bogeyman is "Darod" and any "Darod" should be judged based on his clan. Ignorant boy, the Sayid is directly responsible for taking on the Italians who were subjugating your own people in Ceelbuur and using them as "river crossings". Go ask that granddad in your location who will give you first hand accounts you ungrateful and perverse-thinking little imp. Sit down and objectively educate yourself for once, nothing annoys me more than kids so influenced by civil war hostilities they would then try to revise history to fit the clan model of today's post-war era Somalia.

Who is more ignorant and stupid than you, ye fool? Didn't you accuse the Admin of having favouritism because he denied Imam Ahmed Gurey being Somali? Didn't you say James Dahl was a tribalist because he criticised Siad Barre's economic policies?

The fact is, all this Buunbuuni and Isweyneys of the Sayyid came after 1978, to bring his tribe closer to Barre's clan, away from Harti's, to prevent uprise against his Faqash regime. Anyway, the Sayyid was not an Islamist in the slightest, but a freedom fighter only. He critisized the Muslim Jama'ats that existed in the South and killed Uways al Baraawi because the Sheikh did not adhere to his fanatic sufi militancy. He killed his wife, the daughter of Majerteyn sultan, because of hostilities between that sultanate and himself. He use to compose poems which degraded clans. Infact his own teacher of the Sallihiya rejected him.

[Voltage]

Anyway, the Sayyid was not an Islamist in the slightest, but a freedom fighter only.

The first part clearly shows you are very ignorant on the situation. But your understanding be that as it maybe, the second part is the most important.

The irony of all ironies. You now admit the Sayid was "freedom fighter", although "only". O.K well the reason the Sayid is hailed and I proudly call him the father of Somali nationalism is because he was a freedom fighter, which you have now admitted. So why then the point of starting this topic? I mean do you now see how you have contradicted yourself and proven your only problem with the Sayid now is his greater clan grouping?

[Grant]

Voltage,

I honestly don't know who wrote the paticular peice being quoted here. As I said, the numbers of such pieces are growing.

I would hardly call Ahmed discredited. Contoversial, maybe. Here is a review of his most recent book, along with some personal data:

http://wardheernews.com/Book%20Review/J ... Liban.html

I found the comments rating him as a professor quite interesting:

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRat ... tid=349048

Also Fyi: Ali Jimaale Ahmed is the EDITOR of The Invention of Somalia. The authors cover a broad range of scholarship and background.

[Somaliman50]

Anyway, the Sayyid was not an Islamist in the slightest, but a freedom fighter only.

The first part clearly shows you are very ignorant on the situation. But your understanding be that as it maybe, the second part is the most important.

The irony of all ironies. You now admit the Sayid was "freedom fighter", although "only". O.K well the reason the Sayid is hailed and I proudly call him the father of Somali nationalism is because he was a freedom fighter, which you have now admitted. So why then the point of starting this topic? I mean do you now see how you have contradicted yourself and proven your only problem with the Sayid now is his greater clan grouping?

Even Indhacadde can be classified as a freedom fighter because he fought the occupation, but that does make him a virtuous person? Anyway, your ways are known. You are reduced to dishing out personal insults when you cannot bring a good arguement. Afweyne's attempt to try and change history will never prevail, not only did he try to elevate the status of the Sayyid, he tried to say Imam Ahmad Gurey was a Dooro, the biggest fabrication of the 21st century.

[AbdiWahab252]

Abakar20,

Adeerow, excellent article

[Voltage]

Grant,

The reviewer is a close relative of his. "Liban Ahmed" is the pen name of "Liban Ali Mahdi", the son of Abgal warlord Ali Mahdi who has recently been bombarding Somali sites with pro-Ali Mahdi articles attacking accusations his father was a participant to the dumping of toxic waste off of the coast of Somalia even though many international news reports and the Italian parliament have already implicated him.

http://wardheernews.com/Articles_09/Feb ... liban.html

Also, rating of a instructor by his students does not say anything about the international standing of the instructor. It just means the instructor is amicable. Within Somali studies, Somali people have long crossed him off as one of those psuedo-intellectuals who are plagued with clan bias.

Also, after reading a synopsis of that book "Invention of Somalia", the objective in it itself is ridiculous. All it does is attack and attack and attack, it is a book of so-called "myths" that only seem to be "myths" in the eyes of their writers. Let's keep moving please because the source is thoroughly bankrupt.

[Voltage]

Afweyne's attempt to try and change history will never prevail, not only did he try to elevate the status of the Sayyid, he tried to say Imam Ahmad Gurey was a Dooro, the biggest fabrication of the 21st century.

and I dismissed your lunacy above with:

Abakar, you are nothing but a discredited clan-baiter....kids so influenced by civil war hostilities they would then try to revise history to fit the clan model of today's post-war era Somalia.

Point proven. Keep moving please.

Grant, hopefully now you have finished your first lesson in Somali 101.