Any good Somali history books written in english?
- Thread starter hornkompf
- Start date
The first one i shared the History of Somali Scholars which is translated from Arabic into Somali you can find it on amazon.
There are many books published in Arabic and Somali language discussing Somali history written by Somali authors who particularly share important details , struggles, developments, travels of people in the region and even reference local private sources and diaries and other external arabic sources . Because they published mainly in Arabic and Somali languages their contributions are not widely seen or available as opposed those written in English which is a shame really because they contain a wealth of information
One i am reading right now is.
The History of Somali Scholars by Mohamed Hussein Ma'alim
The earlier Arabic version of it:
In it he refrences two important Arabic works by Somali scholars:
Tarikh al-Sumal fi al-Usur Wusta Wa-al Haditha (The Modern and Medieval History of Somalia) by Aw Jama Umar Issa
And
Kashf al-Sudul An Tarikh al-Sumal Wa-Mamalikihim al-Sab'ah (The History of Somalia and the Seven Muslim Kingdoms) by Shaykh Ahmad Abdallah in reference to the medieval polities in the horn interior.
Among the slew of other sources and refrences by the ulema.
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I wanted to ask why is it that we don't have many historical buildings in the Horn of Africa?
Somalis have been Muslim for a long time yet for some reason we struggle to find historical sites like functioning Mosques that is over a few centuries old.
False assumptions baked into your question.
There is mosques and buildings all over the Horn and Somalia, some are over few centuries old and others were built over older ones. You don't struggle to find them.
Throughout Somali history, mosques were divided into regular mosques for everyday prayer and larger Cathedral Moques for Friday prayers which were in city/town centers that are often named Jama/Jami
Countries in the Middle East have very old mosques, institutions and many places that are extremely old. For a nation that has been Muslim since the time of the Sahaba what buildings can we look at and say yes that's our heritage. Masjid Qiblatayn is not functioning
Zayla's Masjid Al-Qiblatayn is a bad example, it was bombed razed, looted several times and abandoned. So there is not much left of it, despite it being an important saintly city in the past and where Islam entered and spread from. Zayla at its height had many Mosques, large ones that included extensive libraries, houses 3-4 stories high covered with terraces and a stone wall with gates surrounding it. Sadly not much of it remains not even Arabic tomb inscriptions visitors saw it remains of it.
In cities that suffered less you have Masjids of several centuries old like Jama and Grand Jami Mosques to mention a few and a bunch of other ones and institutions along with them.
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