Biography:Ishaaq bin Ahmed

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Short description: 12th century Muslim scholar and Somali clan patriarch
Sheikh Ishaaq bin Ahmed al-Hashimi
الشيخ إسحاق بن أحمد الهاشمي
Sheekh Isaaq.jpg
Tomb of Sheikh Ishaaq in Maydh, Sanaag, Somaliland
TitleSheikh
Personal
Born1095
Samarra, Abbasid Caliphate (today Iraq)
Diedmid 12th century
Maydh, modern-day Somaliland
ReligionIslam
Children12
Ahmed (Tolje'lo)
Musa (Je'lo)
Muhammad ('Ibran)
Ibrahim (Sanbuur)
Isma'il (Garhajis)
Muhammad (Arap)
Ayub
Abd al-Rahman (Awal)
Dir'an[1]
Shareef[2]
Mansur[3]
Yusuf[4]
Era12th century
JurisprudenceShafi'i
CreedAsh'ari
Main interest(s)Islamic literature, Islamic philosophy

Sheikh Ishaaq bin Ahmed bin Muhammad al-Hashimi, more commonly known as Sheikh Ishaaq or Sheikh Isaaq (Arabic: الشيخ إسحاق بن أحمد بن محمد الهاشمي, Somali: Sheekh Isxaaq) was an Arab Islamic scholar and was the forefather and common ancestor of the Somali Isaaq clan-family in the Horn of Africa, who inhabit a wide and densely populated traditional territory.[5][6][7][8][9]

Biography

Sheikh Ishaaq was born in 1095 in Samarra, modern-day Iraq, with a lineage tracing to Prophet Mohammed's daughter Fatimah and cousin Ali. From the line of Hussein, the son of Ali, the Sheikh belonged to the Sharif community, a title conferred to the descendants of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet.

Due to tensions, instability and civil strife under the then reigning Caliph Al-Mustazhir of the Abbasid Caliphate, along with the persecution of the ashraf, he and his family, led by his grandfather Muhammad bin Al-Hussein migrated to Madinah in Hejaz, where he was taught classical Arabic and finished his Islamic studies.[10][11]

After the death of Sheikh Ishaaq's grandfather he went on a series of travels to study further and preach Islam, passing through modern-day Yemen, Zeila and finally Harar.[12] Several accounts indicate Shaykh Yusuf al Kownayn and Shaykh Isaaq were known to be contemporaries in Zeila and in contact at the same time.[13][14][15] According to a popular legend, Shaykh Yusuf al Kownayn, known locally as Aw-Barkhadle, upon meeting Sheikh Ishaaq prophesied that Sheikh Ishaaq would be blessed by Allah with many children while Shaykh Yusuf would not have descendants. According to the prophecy the descendants of Sheikh Ishaaq would also visit Aw-Barkhadle's grave and pay respect and perform siyaaro, or pilgrimage to his tomb.[16]

After studying and prosletyzing in Harar he then settled in the coastal town of Maydh in the Sanaag region of Somaliland, where he married two women, one of the Magaadle Dir tribe and a Harari woman, with descendants belonging to the Habar Magaadle or Habar Habusheed branches respectively.[17] He sired eight sons who are the common ancestors of the clans of the Isaaq clan-family and remained in Maydh until his death.[18][19]

Descendants

Sultan Abdurahman Deria of the Habr Awal Isaaq in London 1955

In the Isaaq clan-family, component clans are divided into two uterine divisions, as shown in the genealogy. The first division is between those lineages descended from sons of Sheikh Ishaaq by a Harari woman – the Habr Habusheed – and those descended from sons of Sheikh Ishaaq by a Somali woman of the Magaadle sub-clan of the Dir – the Habr Magaadle. Indeed, most of the largest clans of the clan-family are in fact uterine alliances hence the matronymic "Habr" which in archaic Somali means "mother".[20] This is illustrated in the following clan structure.[21]

Warriors of the Habr Awal clan

A. Habr Magaadle

  • Ismail (Garhajis)
  • Ayub
  • Muhammad (Arap)
  • Abdirahman (Habr Awal)

B. Habr Habuusheed

  • Ahmed (Tol Je’lo)
  • Muuse (Habr Je'lo)
  • Ibrahiim (Sanbuur)
  • Muhammad (‘Ibraan)
Dualeh Abdi of the Musa Abokor Habr Je'lo tribe photographed in 1890

There is clear agreement on the clan and sub-clan structures that has not changed for a long time. The oldest recorded genealogy of a Somali in Western literature was by Sir Richard Burton in the mid–19th century regarding his Isaaq (Habr Yunis) host and the governor of Zeila, Sharmarke Ali Saleh[22]

The following listing is taken from the World Bank's Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics from 2005 and the United Kingdom's Home Office publication, Somalia Assessment 2001.[23][24]

  • Isaaq
    • Habr Awal
      • Sacad Muuse
      • Issa Musse
    • Garhajis
      • Habr Yunis
      • Eidagale
    • Arap
    • Ayub
    • Habr Je'lo
      • Muuse Abokor
      • Mohamed Abokor
      • Samane Abokor
    • Tol Je'lo
    • Sanbuur
    • Imraan

One tradition maintains that Sheikh Ishaaq had twin sons: Ahmed (Arap), and Ismail (Garhajis).[25]

Legacy

According to genealogical books and Somali tradition, the Isaaq clan was founded in the 13th or 14th century with the arrival Sheikh Ishaaq from Arabia, a descendant of Ali ibn Abi Talib in Maydh.[26][27] He settled in the coastal town of Maydh in modern-day northeastern Somaliland, where he married into the local Magaadle clan.[17]

There are also numerous existing hagiologies in Arabic which describe Sheikh Ishaaq's travels, works and overall life in modern Somaliland, as well as his movements in Arabia before his arrival.[28] Besides historical sources, one of the more recent printed biographies of Sheikh Ishaaq is the Amjaad of Sheikh Husseen bin Ahmed Darwiish al-Isaaqi as-Soomaali, which was printed in Aden in 1955.[29]

Tomb

Sheikh Ishaaq's tomb is in Maydh, and is the scene of frequent pilgrimages.[28] Sheikh Ishaaq's mawlid (birthday) is also celebrated every Thursday with a public reading of his manaaqib (a collection of glorious deeds).[17] His siyaara or pilgrimage is performed annually both within Somaliland and in the diaspora particularly in the Middle East among Isaaq expatriates.

References

  1. ↑ الاسحاقي الصومالي, عبدالرحمن. كتاب تحفة المشتاق لنسب السيد اسحاق. 
  2. ↑ الاسحاقي الصومالي, عبدالرحمن. كتاب تحفة المشتاق لنسب السيد اسحاق. 
  3. ↑ الاسحاقي الصومالي, عبدالرحمن. كتاب تحفة المشتاق لنسب السيد اسحاق. 
  4. ↑ الاسحاقي الصومالي, عبدالرحمن. كتاب تحفة المشتاق لنسب السيد اسحاق. 
  5. ↑ Ethnic Groups (Map). Somalia Summary Map. Central Intelligence Agency. 2002. Retrieved 2012-07-30. Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection – N.B. Various authorities indicate that the Isaaq is among the largest Somali clans [1], [2].
  6. ↑ "Somalia – The great Somali migrations" (in en). https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia. 
  7. ↑ MENAFN. "Somaliland: History of Sheikh Isaaq Bin Ahmed Bin Muhammad (AL-HASHIMI)". https://menafn.com/1100257944/Somaliland-History-of-Sheikh-Isaaq-Bin-Ahmed-Bin-Muhammad-AL-HASHIMI. 
  8. ↑ Rima Berns-McGown, Muslims in the diaspora, (University of Toronto Press: 1999), pp.27–28
  9. ↑ I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), p. 22
  10. ↑ (in en) TARIIKHDA SH ISXAAQ QAYBTA 1AAD Full Barnaamij, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptN45OgaP74, retrieved 2021-03-24 
  11. ↑ Lewis, I. M. (1994) (in en). Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society. The Red Sea Press. ISBN 978-0-932415-93-6. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9fAjtruUXjEC&pg=PA108&dq=tol+je'lo&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiP4Pqz3cXwAhVjBmMBHRGtC0IQ6AEwBXoECAYQAw#v=onepage&q=tol%20je'lo&f=false. 
  12. ↑ الاسحاقي الصومالي, عبدالرحمن. كتاب تحفة المشتاق لنسب السيد اسحاق. 
  13. ↑ Lewis, I. M. (1998) (in en). Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society. The Red Sea Press. ISBN 9781569021033. https://archive.org/details/saintssomalispop00lewi. 
  14. ↑ Andrzejewski, B. W. (1983-01-01) (in en). Islamic Literature of Somalia. African Studies Program, Indiana University. ISBN 9780941934473. "Shaykh Aw Barkhadle and Shaykh Isaaq belonged to the same time period." 
  15. ↑ Bader, Christian (2000) (in fr). Mythes et légendes de la Corne de l'Afrique. Karthala. pp. 90. ISBN 9782845860698. "Translated from French to English: Then, at the age of 68 (Shaykh Isaaq), he took his pilgrim's staff and went to Harar, where the Sheikh 'Aw Barkhadle was then teaching." 
  16. ↑ Lewis, I. M. (1998) (in en). Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society. The Red Sea Press. ISBN 978-1-56902-103-3. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=P5AZyEhMtbkC&pg=PA94&dq=%22sheikh+isaaq%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjK2org3sXwAhWRGBQKHaDSCKEQ6AEwA3oECAYQAw#v=onepage&q=%22sheikh%20isaaq%22&f=false. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), pp. 31 & 42
  18. ↑ Adam, Hussein M. (1980) (in en). Somalia and the World: Proceedings of the International Symposium Held in Mogadishu on the Tenth Anniversary of the Somali Revolution, October 15–21, 1979. Halgan. https://books.google.com/books?id=a1gMAQAAIAAJ&q=%22sheikh+isaaq%22. 
  19. ↑ Laurence, Margaret (1970). A Tree for Poverty: Somali Poetry and Prose. Hamilton: McMaster University. ISBN 978-1-55022-177-0. 
  20. ↑ Lewis, I. M. (1999). A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. ISBN 9783825830847. https://books.google.com/books?id=yoMBQCr4LysC. 
  21. ↑ I. M. Lewis, A pastoral democracy: a study of pastoralism and politics among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa, (LIT Verlag Münster: 1999), p. 157.
  22. ↑ Burton. F., Richard (1856) (in en). First Footsteps in East Africa. pp. 18. 
  23. ↑ Worldbank, Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics, January 2005, Appendix 2, Lineage Charts, p. 55 Figure A-1
  24. ↑ Country Information and Policy Unit, Home Office, Great Britain, Somalia Assessment 2001, Annex B: Somali Clan Structure , p. 43
  25. ↑ Laurence, Margaret (1970). A Tree for Poverty: Somali Poetry and Prose. Hamilton: McMaster University. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-55022-177-0. "Then Magado, the wife of Ishaak had only two children, baby twin sons, and their names were Ahmed, nick-named Arap, and Ismail, nick-named Garaxijis ." 
  26. ↑ Rima Berns McGown, Muslims in the diaspora, (University of Toronto Press: 1999), pp. 27–28
  27. ↑ I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), p. 22
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Roland Anthony Oliver, J. D. Fage, Journal of African history, Volume 3 (Cambridge University Press.: 1962), p.45
  29. ↑ I. M. Lewis, A pastoral democracy: a study of pastoralism and politics among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa, (LIT Verlag Münster: 1999), p.131.




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