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196 9 Muslims on the Horn of Africa Historical and Thematic Patterns The Horn of Africa forms one of the smallest regions of Islam in Africa. The arid lowlands of the Horn are characterized by fairly homogeneous ethnic, linguistic, and religious structures dominated by Somaal tribal groups. The history of the Horn has been characterized by competition over scarce resources, as well as tribal feuds. At the same time, the region has been marked by the absence of a central government until the early twentieth century. As such, the Horn can be seen as a huge bilād al-sība, where tribal self-governance has historically prevailed over processes of state formation. While Ethiopia was linked with the lands on the Nile and those on the Red Sea, the Horn of Africa formed links with southern Arabia in the north and the East African coast in the south. Islam in the Horn originated in three regions: the ports of Zaylaʿ and Berbera in the north; H ˙ arär and other centers of Islamic learning in the eastern Ethiopian highlands; and the ports of the Banādir coast, namely Mogadishu, Brawa, Marka, and Kismayu. From at least the thirteenth century, these market places, harbors, and trading places had sizeable settlements of traders and scholars from H ˙ ad ˙ ramawt in Yemen, often of sharīfian descent. H ˙ ad ˙ ramī scholars introduced Sufi teachings, and, probably in the early nineteenth century, the Qādiriyya and the Shādhiliyya orders established a foothold in some centers of learning. Until the nineteenth century, the Sufi orders remained confined, however, to the circles of scholars and traders in the major port cities and market places. This chapter focuses on the movements of reform in the nineteenth century and the jihād of Muh ˙ ammad ʿAbdille H ˙ asan in particular, as his movement of reform and resistance against European colonialism informed the history of Somalia in the twentieth century in decisive ways. Processes of Islamization The development of Islam on the Horn, as in many other parts of Africa, was linked with trade. Ibn Bat ˙ t ˙ ūt ˙ a, in the context of his report on the East African coast, mentioned his visit to Zaylaʿ in 1331 and noted that Zaylaʿ was a city of black Berbers (the Arabic term for the Somaal), who followed the Shāfiʿī school of law ( . . . Wa-hiya madīna al-barābira wa-hum t ˙ āʾifa min al-sūdān shāfiʿiyya al-madhhab, Ibn Bat ˙ t ˙ ūt ˙ a 1985 1: 279). Zaylaʿ was described as a major trading place, but also as one of the dirtiest cities on earth (Ibn Bat ˙ t ˙ ūt ˙ a 1985 1: 279). Due to the stench of the carcasses of slaughtered camels and dried fish, which were exported to the Arabian peninsula, Ibn Bat ˙ t ˙ ūt ˙ a decided to Muslims on the Horn of Africa | 197 spend the night on board his ship. Mogadishu was also an important Somaal harbor, where many traders lived. When Ibn Bat ˙ t ˙ ūt ˙ a’s ship entered the harbor of Mogadishu, he discovered that smaller boats came out, each containing a group of young men who carried dishes of food. They offered this food to individual traders on the ship and then proclaimed, “This is my guest” (hadhā nazīlī). When the trader left the ship, he would go nowhere except to the house of his host who would take care of him and his trade. This custom points to an important tradition in Somaal society, namely the role of the patron (Som. abbaan), who provided protection for his respective guest. As Ibn Bat ˙ t ˙ ūt ˙ a was recognized as a faqīh, a legal scholar, he was not claimed by a trader but adopted by the Qād ˙ ī of Mogadishu, one Ibn al-Burhān al-Mis ˙ rī. Like Zaylaʿ, Mogadishu was governed by a pious “Berber” sult ˙ ān, Abū Bakr b. al-Shaykh ʿUmar, who spoke Arabic. Ibn Bat ˙ t ˙ ūt ˙ a also recorded a large number of ashrāf at the court of the sult ˙ ān of Mogadishu (Ibn Bat ˙ t ˙ ūt ˙ a 1985 1: 279–83). From approximately the fifth century, the Somaal expanded from their original pastures at the headsprings of the Juba and Shebelle in a northeasterly direction and became the dominant population in the eastern highlands of Ethiopia and the northern Horn by the tenth century. Despite their clear Cushitic linguistic and ethnic identity, Somaal oral traditions claim Arab origin...

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