Are Somalis sufis?

[Reekha]

Are most of the Somalis sufis?

 

[Sheikh Google]

If you go back before the garaac of the civil war then yes you could argue but it also depends on the region. Since the civil war and the petrodollar influence over the past 30 years then no. Which is a shame as sufism was a big part of our culture, the Wahhabism that is prevalent now goes against our somali identity/culture imo. It is an alien Arabic influenced culture not somali.

 

[Reekha]

If you go back before the garaac of the civil war then yes you could argue but it also depends on the region. Since the civil war and the petrodollar influence over the past 30 years then no. Which is a shame as sufism was a big part of our culture, the Wahhabism that is prevalent now goes against our somali identity/culture imo. It is an alien Arabic influenced culture not somali.

My family are sufis. But the thing is they don’t know what Sufi means yeah wahabis changed everything

 

[pirater]

not anymore

 

[Sheikh Google]

My family are sufis. But the thing is they don’t know what Sufi means yeah wahabis changed everything

Could be worse atleast we have some remnants of our identity and atleast have our somali language. The Arabs haven't fully colonised us just yet.

 

[pirater]

Could be worse atleast we have some remnants of our identity and atleast have our somali language. The Arabs haven't fully colonised us just yet.

we should be lucky that we made somali a written language

 

[faarax_mn]

If you go back before the garaac of the civil war then yes you could argue but it also depends on the region. Since the civil war and the petrodollar influence over the past 30 years then no. Which is a shame as sufism was a big part of our culture, the Wahhabism that is prevalent now goes against our somali identity/culture imo. It is an alien Arabic influenced culture not somali.

Exactly, this extremist islamic ideology was never this prevelant in Somalia and the Somalis practiced a much less strict version of Islam.

You would never see a woman walking around in a Jilbaab in the hot sun 100 years ago

 

[bidenkulaha]

Sufism is dead. I’m an Ceyr and my family aren’t even Sufi.

 

[Shimbiris]

Exactly, this extremist islamic ideology was never this prevelant in Somalia and the Somalis practiced a much less strict version of Islam.

You would never see a woman walking around in a Jilbaab in the hot sun 100 years ago

Repost from another thread but:

There were an are some local Sufi militia groups who've been opposed to al-Shabab.

"Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a - Wikipedia" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlu_Sunna_Waljama'a

Somalis historically were never hardline fundamentalists:

Whether it was a good or terrible thing, Somalis were never really a hyper-religious group:

Though superstitious, the Somal are not bigoted like the Arabs, with the exception of those who, wishing to become learned, visit Yemen or El Hejaz, and catch the complaint. Nominal Mohammedans, El Islam hangs so lightly upon them, that apparently they care little for making it binding upon others.

This is a very ignorant statement, abowe. Islam came to Somalis through trade and thus the manner in which it was adopted was very syncretic meaning a great part of the pre-Islamic culture was intermingled with the new religion and cultural influences. Frankly, the vast majority of Somali culture just 100 years ago was pretty much indigenous:

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He is very correct. Somalis in the 1800s and early 1900s were still traditionally dressing no different from a Xabash in Ethiopia or a Beja in Sudan, using traditional Xeer law alongside the Sharia, using their own native calendar, believing in sacred trees, trials by fire, Ayaanle spirits, figures like Nidar and Huur, folktales like this, keeping alive material culture and burial customs like this, keeping dogs (yes) with their nomadic flocks and practicing all kinds of un-Islamic shirk on a daily basis.

Islam and Arabs had a very strong impact but Geeljires were not living in Bedouin goat-hair tents and still aren't to this day but in the domed mat-tents of Cushitic nomads like Bejas, Afars and even South-Cushitic influenced people like the Khoe-Khoe of South-Africa:

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Our native culture always remained. It has been more diluted in the last 30-60 years due to things like modernization and salafism but even so we aren't some Carab Iska dhalis people. To this day we have our own language, identity, heritage and culture like any other non-Arab Muslim people such as Desi, Turkic and Iranic Muslims. We are simply a native Horn, Cushitic people who adopted Islam along with some notable cultural influences from the Jazeera.

You insult your forebears with such statements.

Islam was adopted in a syncretic manner by our ancestors because it came to the region peacefully so a lot of the pre-Islamic culture and customs remained hence the attire and customs like keeping shepherd dogs in the past or practicing all kinds of weird shirk.

Even more recently I've listened to stories of older relations and one thing an old ayeeyo told me that really caught my eye was that, to her, Arabians were generally more fussy toward their women than the Somalis of her time. She told me a story about how a Somali who'd grown up in Saudi was her close family friend and she and her husband and his brother and sister had visited him in Riyadh back in the day and, according to her, he had adopted "dhaqan carbeed" and was over the top with how controlling he was toward her and the sister. Kept insisting they not leave the hotel needlessly and that he would bring them things they needed and when they visited him in his office he'd tell his male coworkers to not speak to them and to stay away. According to her this was not Somali custom and her husband and brother in law were not nearly as controlling and concerned with the comings and goings of women.

It was normally just some of the urban people and scholars who had spent time in the Jazeera who were pretty hardline but most other Somalis practiced Islam in a very syncretic manner; that is to say with loads of pre-Islamic elements woven in and were not generally obsessed with making the religion binding on others or with too much ritual which is why most Geeljire women dressed like this a century ago with no one batting an eye:

Current day hardline Somali Muslims would 100% Takfir 19th and early 20th century Somalis.

 

[Sheikh Google]

Repost from another thread but:



Current day hardline Somali Muslims would 100% Takfir 19th and early 20th century Somalis.

As always @Shimbiris coming with the receipts. Tbf I dont think you would ever have to go that far back. Current day salafs would takfir their own mothers and grandmothers if they saw the Somali culture in the 50s 60s and 70s.

 

[Shimbiris]

As always @Shimbiris coming with the receipts. Tbf I dont think you would ever have to go that far back. Current day salafs would takfir their own mothers and grandmothers if they saw the Somali culture in the 50s 60s and 70s.

What often kills me are the folks who became more hardline within the last couple decades but would have been Takfir material in their youth. I have several eedos who are very religious and demand their daughters wear abayas and are always covered up. My mother would often crack me up by saying "You see this woman who demands her girls be in jilbabs at 10? She used to wear skirts up to her knees back in Xamar before the civil war."

 

[Bundasliga]

As always @Shimbiris coming with the receipts. Tbf I dont think you would ever have to go that far back. Current day salafs would takfir their own mothers and grandmothers if they saw the Somali culture in the 50s 60s and 70s.

But somali culture in the 50s 70s & 70s werent real Somali culture anyway they were heavily influenced by colonizers such as the dress codes , that's why its disingenuous to use 80s disco pic of Somalis as scapegoat & present it as our "real" culture .

The real authentic somali culture was before colonization ,wahhabism & civil war

 

[Im_✨]

But somali culture in the 50s 70s & 70s werent real Somali culture anyway they were heavily influenced by colonizers such as the dress codes , that's why its disingenuous to use 80s disco pic of Somalis as scapegoat & present it as our "real" culture .

The real authentic somali culture was before colonization ,wahhabism & civil war

not really, my family wore jilbabs and were extremely religious ‘wahabbis’ for centuries.I think it depends on regions because different areas have different cultures

 

[Sheikh Google]

But somali culture in the 50s 70s & 70s werent real Somali culture anyway they were heavily influenced by colonizers such as the dress codes , that's why its disingenuous to use 80s disco pic of Somalis as scapegoat & present it as our "real" culture .

The real authentic somali culture was before colonization ,wahhabism & civil war

Depends on region to region to be fair but I kinda agree I would see old pics of my pops and would be wearing flared bottoms and had his hair styled like Micheal Jackson lmao but this was more in the 80s. My point was highlighting how funny it is that the same niggas that would takfir everything and everyone don't have to look too far as their own parents were living it up decades ago lol.

 

[Cerberus]

I'm mystical Sufi. I use the evil Eye and believe it can harm people.

 

[Jungle]

Some subclans have a strong sufi background.

A hint there why sharifka is a leader and didnt come out of the blue lol

 

[HiraanBorn]

Sufism has a long history in pre-modern Somalia but as @Shimbiris pointed out in one of his posts Somalis were very lax in their Islam and had evidently jahil practices. Now I'm not defending Wahabism because I also believe it to be an extremist stance but in my opinion, Somalis are more educated in Islamic doctrine today than they were in the 19th and early 20th centuries in general.

Most wadaads in pre-modern Somali history didn't travel to seek religious knowledge except for a select few that were mentioned in oral history. Plus, the Reer Baadiye nomads in the Somali heartland knew the basics of the religion but not the nuances and specific details that go along with the basic foundations.

 

[Cerberus]

Sufism has a long history in pre-modern Somalia but as @Shimbiris pointed out in one of his posts Somalis were very lax in their Islam and had evidently jahil practices. Now I'm not defending Wahabism because I also believe it to be an extremist stance but in my opinion, Somalis are more educated in Islamic doctrine today than they were in the 19th and early 20th centuries in general.

Most wadaads in pre-modern Somali history didn't travel to seek religious knowledge except for a select few that were mentioned in oral history. Plus, the Reer Baadiye nomads in the Somali heartland knew the basics of the religion but not the nuances and specific details that go along with the basic foundations.

I was born in Hiiraan too M8

 

[Bundasliga]

Depends on region to region to be fair but I kinda agree I would see old pics of my pops and would be wearing flared bottoms and had his hair styled like Micheal Jackson lmao but this was more in the 80s. My point was highlighting how funny it is that the same niggas that would takfir everything and everyone don't have to look too far as their own parents were living it up decades ago lol.

Yeah I agree , it came to my attention just recently
Imo it has to do with salafi's because I think somali became 90% salafis & salafis make takfir soooo quick specially this young wannabe sheikhs who have little knowledge they look to make takfir on people when they have a discussion

 

[Bundasliga]

not really, my family wore jilbabs and were extremely religious ‘wahabbis’ for centuries.I think it depends on regions because different areas have different cultures

Honest question brother how you know?
When I look at the earliest pictures of Somalis you won't find anyone wearing jilbaab , I saw many wear guntino