Exploring the spread of Islam in Somalia

The following is a guest post by Abdulahi Ahmed, Reference Librarian in the African Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division

On September 5, 2024, the African & Middle Eastern Division hosted a captivating lecture by Dr. Mohamad Hajji Mukhtar, a distinguished professor from Savannah University. The event titled “The Rise and Expansion of Islam in Somalia”, provided attendees with an enlightening journey into a lesser-known chapter of Islamic history.

The arrival of the Islamic faith in Somalia marked a turning point in the history of the region, influencing, not only religious practices, but the social, political, and cultural landscapes as well. Situated at a crossroads between the Arabian Peninsula and the broader Indian Ocean trade routes, Somalia was uniquely located to engage with Muslim traders and scholars from the earliest days of Islam. The region’s proximity to the cradle of Islam, its flourishing southern port cities, such as Mogadishu, Marca, Barawe, and its powerful Islamic sultanates, rendered it a natural conduit for the spread Islam from the south to the north.

Mukhtar provided an extensive discussion of the conventional historiography which argues that Islam came from the north and spread to the south of Somalia. Indeed, for years, scholars have generally viewed the spread of Islam in Somalia as a north-to-south phenomenon. By citing a variety of sources to back up his claim, Mukhtar emphasized how the current academic literature exaggerated the supposed northern origins of the religion in Somali society.  Moreover, by the examination of oral histories and archaeological findings, Dr. Mukhtar uncovered narratives that point to an earlier adoption of Islam among southern clans than previously recognized.  He therefore expounded the need to reevaluate the current narrative and reconsider the pathways through which the Islamic faith may have spread among the nomadic clans of the South in particular.

Dr. Mukhtar’s lecture further delved into the actual diffusion of Islam among the nomadic Somali-speaking clans of the Horn of Africa. By highlighting how Islam spread through these communities, he emphasized the unique cultural and religious dynamics shaping this process.

Furnishing the audience with a rich tapestry of novel historical insights, Mukhtar shed light on the resilience and adaptability of Islamic traditions in the diverse environments of the Somali region.  He thus provided attendees with a clearer understanding and appreciation of the complexities and nuances of Islamic history in that part of the world.  The Library of Congress collects books on Somalia in a variety of languages which include: Somali, Chimwiini (language of Barawe), English, Arabic and Italian.

The lecture was part of the African and Middle Eastern Division’s series on new research on African and Middle Eastern religious cultures made possible through the generous support of the Lilly Endowment, Inc.

 

Further Reading:

Abdurahman Abdullahi, 1954-, The Islamic movement in Somalia: a study of the Islah movement, 1950-2000.  London, United Kingdom: Adonis & Abbey Publishers, [2015].

ʻAydarūs, ʻAydarūs ibn ʻAlī, 1894-, Hādhā kitāb Bughyat al-āmāl fī tārikh al-Ṣūmāl. s.n., s.l., 1954.

Lewis, I.M., Saints and Somalis: popular Islam in a clan-based society. Lawrenceville, N.J.: Red Sea Press, 1998.

Mohamed Hussein Moallin, 1964-, Taariikhda culimada Soomaaliyeed.  Leicester: Looh Press, July 2021.

Najjār, ʻAbd Allāh, al-Islām fī al-Ṣūmāl.  [al-Qāhirah]: al-Majlis al-Aʻlá lil-Shuʼūn al-Islāmīyah, Lajnat al-Taʻrīf bi-al-Islām, 1973.

Qādirī, Uways ibn Muḥammad, Mawlid al-sharfān fī madḥ Sayyid wild ʻAdnān ; wa-yalīh, mawlid al-nashr al-ʻāṭir fī madḥ al-Sayyid Abd al-Qādir.  Miṣr: Shirkat Maktbat wa-Maṭbʻat Mūṣafʹa al-Bābī al-Ḥalbī.

Reese, Scott, Renewers of the age: holy men and social discourse in colonial Benaadir. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2008.

Vianello, Alessandra, Kapteijns, Lidwien, Kassim, Mohamed (eds).  ‘Stringing coral beads’: the religious poetry of Brava (c.1890-1975): a source publication of Chimiini texts and English translations. Leiden; Boston: Brill, [2018]