Were Somalis Pagans before Islam or did we have a history of following other Abrahamic faiths?

[Apollo]

I sincerely hope you're joking.

The guy is a Black Hebrew Israelite/Hotep type of troll. I wouldn't take him seriously.

 

[Blackhesus]

The guy is a Black Hebrew Israelite/Hotep type of troll. I wouldn't take him seriously.

I am not a troll, you label me so just to dismiss what you've never heard. I am not a black Hebrew and I don't know what that means, However I believe that Afriakan History is deeper than we have been taught.

 

[The alchemist]

@Abdisamad

Lip plates are not ancient culture.

They started doing it somewhere in the Middle Ages to protect themselves from slave traders and then it stuck around.

I doubt the practice started because of the slave trade. What is more likely is that it might have culturally spread from a very fringe practice in a specific culture for the reason you explained.

An interesting thing is that a Native American population use plate labret. There is no way there is a connection.

 

[Apollo]

I doubt the practice started because of the slave trade. What is more likely is that it might have culturally spread from a very fringe practice in a specific culture for the reason you explained.

An interesting thing is that a Native American population use plate labret. There is no way there is a connection.

It did. I looked into it. None of the Nilotic groups related to them do it.

They are pretty much the only ones in all of Africa to do it and this area was a frequent target by slave traders.

 

[Griezmann7711]

I mean, until any physical evidence or historical documents are found it's all just conjecture. There's no reason to believe every Somali clan followed the same religion before Islam. If the history of the Greek city-states, Predynastic Egyptian towns and Mesopotamian city-states are anything to go by, different Somali clans probably honoured or worshipped different deities. Not to mention the evidence of Christianity and Judaism gravesites found in Somaliland. Barwaaqo is one word. Not enough to suggest anything.

P.s. by "Northern" clans, I mean Dir and Isaaq. Every clan came from the North if you go back far enough in time.

Not really, some came from west and are native to south.

Yeah Isaaq and Dir are the most Northern Somali clans.

Barwaaqo is a good one. Also Waqooyi kinda. I know there is a clan called Jidwaaq too.

Isaaq abtirsis are notably shorter than Darod ones as well, so not sure if that is really reliable.

That's because Isaaq as a clan is much younger than Darood.

Darood was founded around 10-11th century, while Isaaq was founded 13-14th century.

Darood is around 200-400 years older than Isaaq.

 

[Sheikh Google]

The names ayaan and ayaanle predate Islam and are names associated with Gods we worshipped.

 

[The alchemist]

It did. I looked into it. None of the Nilotic groups related to them do it.

They are pretty much the only ones in all of Africa to do it and this area was a frequent target by slave traders.

Not for one second do I believe they just went and put plates on their lips because of slavery. At least be more reasonable like, the minority that had lip plates in that population were targeted less and thus the practice became ubiquitous among the broader ethnicity. Something like that makes more sense to me. If not, let's agree to disagree.

 

[Apollo]

Not for one second do I believe they just went and put plates on their lips because of slavery. At least be more reasonable like, the minority that had lip plates in that population were targeted less and thus the practice became ubiquitous among the broader ethnicity. Something like that makes more sense to me. If not, let's agree to disagree.

I read anthropological work that said this. It was some time ago and I have to dig it up. I am not making it up as I go along.

Moreover, it is not like these tribes have any detailed historical documents. So we will never know for certain, but I am leaning towards the slavery hypothesis.

 

[The alchemist]

I read anthropological work that said this. It was some time ago and I have to dig it up. I am not making it up as I go along.

Yeah, man. Not everything you read is solid. Not this one, I think. Lol

 

[Apollo]

Yeah, man. Not everything you read is solid. Not this one, I think. Lol

It is an unknowable fact. Some anthropologists said it started from slavery. There is nothing to debunk it, no records.

Anyway, this practice is extremely rare in Africa alone, yet people often stereotype this as how ancient Africans were all like.

 

[one]

Barwaaqo is a good one. Also Waqooyi kinda. I know there is a clan called Jidwaaq too.

Waqal, there's also waaqla' in one of Umar Dhuule's songs: x

I remember once reading a Somali book that used that song as "proof" that reer Waqooyis used to worship Waaq, lol smh.

Before you guys dwell on Waaqism & balaayo aan loo jeedin, how about deciphering the word "waq/waaq/waaqo" first?

Just like how Somalis have abtirsi, all Somali words have their own "abtirsi" as well.

The word Wa+Aq is a Cushitic word for water. Which doesn't come as a surprise at all because water is the single most important thing for pastoral nomads. Sure, rainmaking rituals were a big part of Somali culture, but that doesn't necessarily mean Somalis "worshipped" a God called Waaq.
Barwaaqo= A place abundant in water.
Waaqla'= The opposite of barwaaqo, a barren waterless place.
Waqal= Rain cloud
Ceelwaaq= Water well
Waaqdhowr= Biyadhowr
etc.

For those that are curious about how you can "abtirsi" with words, here are some examples:

I got it from a book called "Abtirsiinta Ereyga Af-Soomaaliga", I totally recommend it if you know how to read Somali:
Waaq: Wa+Aq

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Barwaaqo= Ba+Ar+Wa+Aq+Qo

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Waqooyi: Wa+Aq+Qo+Yi

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Waqal= Wa+Aq+Al

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With all that said, there are still some words in Af Waqooyi vocabulary that kinda indicate that reer waqooyi(or at least some of them) possibly worshipped Waaq.
Garwaaq/Garwaaqso= Rain's judgment/justice sounds strange.
"Weligaa iyo Waaqaa"= It's equivalent to "Weligaa iyo Allahaa"

Even if let's say reer waqooyi didn't worship "Waaq", the worship of other Gods(Tincaws, Tiniixi, Tincaaro etc.) was still present. Whether if they were actual "Gods" or if it was just ancestor veneration is a whole different discussion, though.

 

[Mujahid Nur Marehan]

I think a few Somali clans might have followed different religions. The Marehan Garaad Hirabu Goita might have been a Christian, that's why he was against the Jihaad.

 

[Psychologist]

Arabs used female slaves as household maids. In fact, this was the most sought after slave by Arabs. They didn't have plantations to work on like what happened in the Americas.

Slavery With arabs was as bad as the one in the americans. Slavery is bad regardless of how it is done.

Americans were buying slaves from other Africans while Arabs were attacking villages and killing the men and selling the kid and the women.

What about the Men? And does that explain the dark skin complexion nature of the modern Arab?

they were mostly killed. it was killed the men and enslave the women and the children

 

[Psychologist]

More likely, Heard that some clan were following Judaism or Christianity but who knows. Also clan existing in that period is unbelievable due to their abtirsi So

 

[Som]

We have the following archaeological and wirtten/oral history evidence of a Christian presence in pre islamic somalia.
1)Archeologists Dr. Saada Mire discovered crosses and Christian burials in present day Somaliland, oral History from the locals confirmed those landmarks were built by non muslims. European explorers also confirmed the presence of christian burials and crosses.
2) arab geographers mentioned Zeila as a christian Abyssinian city in the 10th-11th century. It's likely that Zeila had a mixed muslim-christian population and probably some of the ancestors of modern day somalis practiced ethiopian style Christianity

Other than this the evidence for the religious practices of pre Islamic somalia as scarce

 

[Som]

Another religion was the cult of Waaq. Our only way to know waaq cult is through analyzing Oromos who still practice it to this day. Waaqist oromos are monotheistic and believe in this single diety, the religion though has some natural animist elements. Spirits are also a huge part of waaqism
The original somali waaqism may have been different from the one practiced by oromos but we can't be sure because it became extinct among somalis over a 1000 years ago and there's zero written evidence. The only things we have is towns like cabudwaaq, ceelwaaq or clan names such as jidwaaq.

 

[Som]

One last thing. Pagan comes from a latin word which means village, it was used by early roman Christians to describe the village dwellers who still practiced the traditional roman faith even after Christianity became the state religion of the empire. Pagan now means anyone who isn't abrahamic , the term though shouldn't be equated with polytheism. So technically somalia were pagans but not polytheistic. My main hypothesis is that waaqism was henotheistic which means they believed waaq was the only good worthy of worship but still recognized the existence of minor dieties/supernatural beings

 

[Som]

Arabs used female slaves as household maids. In fact, this was the most sought after slave by Arabs. They didn't have plantations to work on like what happened in the Americas.

Many males were also enslaved, the Zanj in iraq were forced into agricultural work while some other african slaves were involved in searching for pearls in places like Oman. Many male slaves of different origins were employed as slave soldiers, this was common in Egypt where the fatimids had a large number of black soldiers. Another occupation was eunuchs who were castrated and employed as harem guards. Since castration is Haram Arabs bypassed this by using christians to the dirty work for them. Zanzibari Omania also used slaves for hard labour and in the 1800s the slave trade resembled the one in the americas
While it wasn't the same as american slavery the Arab slave trade was extremely brutal to the point being black was equated with being a slave. Even black Muslims were enslaved, there's a written document dating to the middle ages were the Muslim king of kanem bornu complained to arab rulers about the kidnapping and enslavement of black Muslims in his kingdom

 

[James Dahl]

Many tribes including Rendille are still Waaqist though christian missionaries are trying to convert them to christianity these days. I think the Rendille version of Waaqism is probably closer to the one practiced by ancient Somalis than the one Oromos practice.

 

[Ninmadow]

Waaq was probably a Southern/Central Somali cult. No evidence to suggest that the northern Somali clans also engaged in Waaqism.

Theyres a whole place in waqooyi called cabudla meaning the one without god it was said that waaq abounded the people of cabdula and move to cabudwaaq