Sufism in Somaliland a Study in Tribal Islam--I by: I.M. lewis

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Sufism in Somaliland: A Study in Tribal Islam--I

Author(s): I. M. LewisReviewed work(s):Source: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 17,No. 3 (1955), pp. 581-602Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/609599 .

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SUFISM IN SOMALILAND: A STUDY INTRIBAL ISLAM 1 I

By I. M. LEWISAlthough Somaliland has attracted the attention of a distinguished body of Italian scholarsit has not yet been subjected to a specifically social anthropological study such as the presentwriter hopes to make. Excellent studies notably by Puccioni (1919-1937), Cerulli (1918-1943),and Colucci (1924,1943) have elucidated the sociology of the Somali and created a sound corpusof knowledge for future investigations. Colucci'sPrincipi di diritto consuetudinariodella SomaliaMeridionale (1924) provides a penetrating analysis delineating with great clarity the generalframework of Somali social organization and the political structure of the Sab tribes of Somaliain terms of lineage organization. Cerulli's studies of tribal custom and social organization arealso of great value; his 'Note sul movimento musulmano nella Somalia', published over 30

years ago, is at present the foundation of all studies of Islam amongst the Somali. The presentpaper attempts to set this and other material on Somali religion in the context of the sociologicalinvestigation of the literature of the Somali which I have made elsewhere (Lewis, 1955), and inwhich I have beenguided by Somali informants in London. It is hoped that the procedure adoptedhere may be of value in suggesting the lines along which field studies of Islam amongst theSomali might profitably be conducted, and also that it may make some contribution to studies ofIslam amongst tribal societies generally.INTRODUCTION

A DESCRIPTION and analysis of religion have now come to be regardedas essential components in any satisfactory study of society. In nocase, probably, is this more necessary than in that of an Islamic people wherethe study of Islam tends to throw as much light on the social structure as thestudy of the social structure does upon religion. This close interdependencehas always been particularly clear in Muslimsocieties with a state-like structurewhere the Shari'a (the religious law in the widest sense) has had a wide fieldof application, although, of course, with the progressive Westernization ofthe Islamic world the gap between the spiritual and temporal realms is againwidening (cf. Gibb, 1947; Milliot, 1949; Fakhry, 1954). But the conformityof social and religious structure is equally far-reaching in a tribal Muslimsociety although it may not at first sight appear so.2 Somali society is a case

1 OrthographyIn the transcription of Somali words I have wherever possible used the orthography ofB. W. Andrzejewski as adopted by C. R. V. Bell in his work The Somali Language (Longmans),1953. In this orthography vowel length is represented by doubling vowel letters, i.e. long a iswritten aa, etc. In some cases, however, I have had to adhere to the spellings given by myItalian authorities. Somali place-names, such as Mogadishu, are 'anglicized' from the Italian.Arabic words are transliterated according to common usage, although certain words such as'sheik' which have well-known 'anglicized' forms have been left in these forms. Thus theProphet is referred to as 'Mohammed', while in other proper names the transliteration'Muhammad' is given.I wish to acknowledge the help in the preparation of this paper which I have received frommany scholars and to express my gratitude in particular to Ali Garaad Jama and Musa HaajiIsma'il Galaal of the British Somaliland Protectorate, to Mr. A. M. Abu Zaid, Mr. B. WAndrzejewski, Dr. P. T. W. Baxter, Professor E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Sir H. A. R. Gibb, Dr. G.Mathew, and Professor R. B. Serjeant.2 The same conclusion is reached by Drague in his masterly Esquisse d'Histoire Religieuse duMaroc, 1951, p. 8.

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I. M. LEWISin point. This essay sets out to examine the role of Sufismin the social structureof the Somali and is designed to elucidate the nature and function of Somaligenealogies.It is unnecessary here to justify the ethnic classification 'South-EasternCushites' which embraces the Somali, Afar, Saho, Galla, and Beja, and whichrests upon similarities in material and social culture, including religion, andupon physical and linguistic affinities, and certainly in the case of the first four,upon traditions of common origin.1 I assume here that the pre-Islamic religionof the Somali was that of a Cushitic Sky God (Waaq), and that the presentMuslim structure of Somali society owes much to the interpretation of Islamin terms of Cushitic belief. It follows that it should be possible to relate thesocial functions of present-day Somali Sufism to syncretism between the tworeligions. There are still a few tribes (e.g. some of the Dir and Hawiye) uponwhom Islam has as yet made little impression and whose Cushitic culture iscorrespondinglylittle modified. Again among some of the southern tribes ofSomalia, especially those of the Hawiye tribal family, certainfeatures of Cushiticreligion still survive, as will be shown, and much of the terminology and beliefsof Cushitic religion persist and are applied to Islam. In interpreting Cushiticbelief and practice in their present form among the Somali, the wider literaturedescribing the religion of the Afar, Saho, and Galla has been drawn upon,but I do not deduce from Cushitic religion in general any belief or custom forwhose independent existence among the Somali there is not ample evidence.It is not implied that all those features of Somali social structure whoseinteraction with Islam is considered are necessarily typically Cushitic, butsimply that in the pre-Islamic state of Somali society they were related toCushitic institutions.

We shall deal particularly with Sufism and examine the way in which itssocial organization, political, and religious structure are associated with thebaraka of Sufi sheiks and their personal genealogies which trace religiouspower to the lineage of the Prophet Mohammed. It will be argued that thegenealogical canalization of divine grace (baraka)dependent upon connexionwith Mohammed'sclan of Qurayshfindsclose parallelsin the social and religiousfunctions of Somali tribal genealogies (abtirsiinyo). These similarities infunction between Arabian genealogies in Sufism and genealogies in the tradi-tional (pre-Islamic)social order account for the ease with which the genealogiesof Suifisheiks are absorbed amongst the Somali and underlie the Somali claimto descent from the Prophet. Such an interpretation, it will be noticed, doesnot depend upon the validity of the preceding assumptions on the nature ofCushiticreligion, but, since these seem well established it is relevant to considerthe incorporation of Sifi genealogies 2 into the Somali lineage structure in

1 The authorities upon whose work this classification rests are cited in the Cushitic biblio-graphy at the end of Part II of this paper.2 By ' Sfif genealogies' are meant, as indicated above, the personal genealogies of thesheiks who are the founders and heads of the Somali Siuf Dervish Orders.

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SUFISM IN SOMALILAND: A STUDY IN TRIBAL ISLAM-I

relation to them. The religious functions of Somali genealogies which centrein sacrifice at the tombs of eponymous ancestors are, in the pre-Islamic stateof Somali society intrinsically a part of Cushitic religion and knowledge of thelarger hierarchy of Cushitic spirit-refractionsdoes, I think, throw light uponthe nature of sacrifice to the dead and leads to some elucidation of the religiousconcepts attached to Somali genealogies. Thus it is proposed (1) that Sufigenealogies are adopted due to the close resemblances in their religious andpolitical functions to Somali tribal genealogies, and that (2) this assimilationcorresponds o underlyingsimilarities in the Cushiticand iSufi eligious conceptswhich attach to genealogies.

I. PRELIMINARYSome 2,000,000 in number, the Somali occupy the territories of French,British, and ex-Italian Somaliland (the United Nations Trusteeship Territoryof Somalia administered by Italy), the south-east dependencies of Ethiopia,and the Northern Frontier Province of Kenya. They are essentially nomadic

pastoralists owning in abundance sheep, goats, cattle, and camels used formilking and the transport of the nomad's hut and possessions. In some partsof southern Somalia oxen replace camels as burden animals. Some temporarycultivation is practised, but as a whole, there is little permanent cultivationin the barren pastureland of the north. In the south, however, arable landoccurs along the courses of the two rivers which water Somalia (the Shebelleand the Juba), and in the hinterland between them. Here enclaved settle-ments of Negroes, Bantu and others, are engaged in permanent cultivation,and some Somali tribes, especially those of the Sab family, have adopted asedentary mode of life. Mixed farming is characteristic of this region, and,under the stimulus of administrative development, there is an increasingtendency for nomadism and transhumance to give place eventually to fixed-cultivation.

The Somali nation comprises two main subdivisions, the 'Soomaali'and the ' Sab '.1 The Sab tribes form an extensive wedge of cultivators betweenthe rivers of Somalia and separate the nomads of northern Somaliland fromthose of the south. The ' Soomaali ', who are numerically superior,despise the' Sab ' fortheir sedentaryway of life, for their obscureorigins(Gallaand Negroidadmixture is pronounced),and for their mixed genealogies. Nevertheless, Sabare included in the designation ' Soomaali' by outsiders, in much the sameway as the inhabitants of the British Isles are frequently indiscriminatelyreferred to as 'English'. Within the Somali nation, Soomaali and Sab aredifferentiated although there is an increasing tendency for the Soomaali/Sab

1 It is important to distinguish the ' Sab ' from the ' outcast' client peoples of Somalilandwho have no independent tribal organization and do not own lands. These artisans and crafts-men have a clearly defined subject status and are written sab (see Lewis, op. cit., pp. 51-5).It is not yet known whether sab and Sab are linguistically identical or whether there are anyethnic connexions between the two peoples.VOL. XVII. PART 3. 43

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cleavage to be ignored in the rising tide of Somali nationalism. Urbanizedand Westernized Somali maintain that discrimination is 'old-fashioned',that it is contrary to the injunctions of the Prophet, and that it undermines

Condensedgenealogyof the Somali nation, representing egmentationnto social groups,with specimen segmentationof one tribalfamily, the Daarood (Lewis, 1955, p. 15).Qurayshitic lineage of the Prophet Mohammed

'Aqil ibn Abi TalibHil

Sab Soomaali

Digil* Irir Pre-Hawiye*Rahanwiin* Tunni 1 Dir* Hawiye* Gedabuursi2

Ishaaq* Daarood*(Tribalfamily)Harti

(Confederacy)Majeerteen(Sub-confederacy)

'UsmaanMahamuud(Tribe)the unity of the Somali people. In practice and actual social relations, however,these ideals are often betrayed, which serves to indicate how deeply engrainedthe traditional Somali social order is. Still, within Somaliland, the cleavageremains the primary subdivision of the Somali nation, and in the rest of thispaper 3 I shall use the term 'Somali' 4 to include the Sab except where adistinction is expressly stated. Each comprises a vast segmentary systemof units which may be classified as: tribal families (of which there are seven:Dir, Hawiye, Pre-Hawiye, Ishaaq, Daarood, Digil, and Rahanwiin), con-federacies, sub-confederacies, tribes, and tribal sections. This terminologywhich I have elsewhere described (Lewis, 1955, pp. 14-40) is illustrated in theaccompanying chart.The tribe stands out as a clearly defined unit which embraces the mostgenerally effective social solidarity. Cattle-theft and war characterize therelations between tribes, and intertribalhostility is frequently of long standing.

* Somali tribal families.1 The Tunni are a tribal confederacy rather than a tribal family.2 The Gedabuursi are of uncertain affiliation, they may belong to the Dir tribal family.3 This division is, as Professor R. B. Serjeant has suggested to me, reminiscent of that betweenthe northern and southern Arabs who trace descent from 'Adnan and Qaht.anrespectively.4 Correctly as above indicated ' Soomaali'.

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Internally the tribe tends to be divided by feud amongst its fractions. Withinthe tribe, however, homicide is normally settled peaceably by payment ofblood-compensation. With the extended enforcement of the Europeanadministrative system tribes are now also, wheneverpossible, obliged to settletheir differencesby payment of compensation in place of further fighting. Theobligationsentailed by tribal membershipareclearlyformulatedin the procedurefor the adoption of strangers,1who undertake to share tribal responsibilityin payment and receipt of blood-price and in other matters. In essence thetribe is of one blood, and it is, in short, a social, territorial, political, and tosome extent religious unit closely similar to that of the Nuer (Evans-Pritchard,1940) or of the Arab Bedouin (Jaussen, 1948). It is not, however, entirelyexogamous.2 Like the total Somali society of which it is the microcosm, thetribe constitutes a balanced system of sections of various orders of segmenta-tion. In some cases there may be no more than three orders of segmentationwithin the tribe, but in most cases there are at least four, for some tribesboast as many as 100,000 members. The average, however, seems to be about20.000 tribesmen. It will be seen that the Somali tribe is a relatively largeunit, with a fairly high degree of internal segmentation.In each political unit from the basic group of closely related families to thetribal confederacy, the elders constitute a council representative of the group'sinterests and convened by a political figurehead. In the tradition of the medievalperiodwhenthe petty Muslimsultanates of southern Eritrea and north-westernEthiopia engaged ChristianEthiopia in war, chiefs are styled both by the Somaliand by the Administrations as 'Sultan'. But this title does not imply thatits incumbents wield authority over a centralized state and is not to be under-stood in the classical Muslim sense.3 Normally the tribe recognizes a chieftain(called variously boqor,garaad, ugaas), as president of the tribal council. Yetnot every tribe owns a common chief. In effect, a chief's authority derives fromthe structural situation-from the circumstances of tribal allegiance-andfluctuates with it. His power depends largely upon his personality. Thus theposition of the Somali chief is closely similar to that of an Arabian sheik(Montagne, 1947, p. 59).Considerablereligious power attaches to a chief. In the past chieftaincyseems to have been connected with rainmaking,and there is evidence that thisfunction is still retained amongst the less Islamized tribes of the north-westcorner of British Somaliland and of certain parts of Somalia. In many cases,the chief still conducts periodical rainmaking ceremonies (roobdoon seekingwater ) and the great rite (lak) performed in Somalia to mark the onset ofthe main rains. The chief's glance is referred to as 'the burning eye' (il kulul)

1 Clients are called magan in the northern dialects; in the south 'arifa, and among theDigil, sheegad.2 The extent of exogamy appears to vary from tribe to tribe, partly no doubt dependentupon size, and it is at present impossible to generalize definitively.3 Contrast the classical definition of Ibn Khalduin, Prolegomenes,trs. de Slane, I, p. 382.VOL. XVII. PART 3. 43*

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and his person is so strongly endowed with power that among some closelyrelated tribes it is usual for a visiting chief to avoid a face to face encounterwith his equivalent and to be greeted indirectly by a representative. Conse-quent upon his special relation with God, a chief can call down blessing ormisfortune upon his people and their stock. From the structuralpoint of view,his most important function is to preside at the ceremonies which are heldat the tombs of the eponymous tribal ancestors in commemoration of them.Each tribal section celebrates its founder at his shrine, offering up its ownparticular form of sacrifice1 (Cerulli, 1923, p. 7). Where a hereditary chief isrecognized members of his family (called Gob) represent him at sacrificesperformed by the heads of subsidiary tribal fractions. In the case of tribalconfederacies with a chiefly lineage the same procedure is followed in theceremonies of component tribes. It is this duty more than any other whichestablishes the sanctity of a hereditary chief, for, when he representshis peoplein sacrifice at the eponymous ancestor's shrine, it is his own lineal ancestorwhom he commemorates before God. He, the living representative of thefounding ancestors, is the closest descendant of those whom he celebrateson behalf of his tribe. Generations later, he in his turn will be regarded asan eponymousfounder and will be commemorated n sacrificeby his descendantson behalf of their tribesmen. In the traditional accounts of war and migrationit is always the religious aspects of leadershipwhich are signalled out and heldto be responsible for the success of one group at the expense of another. Thefortunes of war are to some extent regarded as a reflection of ritual efficacy.On the political side again, there is no specifically constituted policeorganization to enforce the decisions which are arrived at by the chief incouncil, except of course in the pseudo-sultanates which have remained alegacy from earlier times, in some parts of Somalia (Cerulli,1919, pp. 46 ff.).The Somali Lineage System

The emphasis placed by Somali upon descent has already been indicated.In fact, the key to an understanding of Somali social structure lies in thefunctions exercised by genealogies (abtirsiinyo). Corresponding o the segmen-tary tribal system described is an equally highly segmented lineage system,different orders of fragmentation and aggregation in which are co-ordinatewith equivalent levels of segmentation in the tribal system. The totalgenealogical tree of the Somali nation representsthe unity of all its componentparts: tribal families, confederacies, sub-confederacies, tribes, and tribalsections. Social propinquity is expressed in terms of agnatic kinship. Therelations between groups of every order are in genealogical idiom expressedas relationships between eponymous ancestors. At a higher level than the

1 The generic word for any form of offering to God and for sacrifice in its widest sense isamongst the northern Somali Rabbibari, which Andrzejewski translates 'beseeching God';among the Hawiye of Somalia Waaqda'il ' offeringto the Sky God ' is used according to Cerulli,op. cit.

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tertiary tribal section, or, perhaps in some cases the secondary, such postulatedkinship is largely fictitious, of course. Nevertheless it is the principle whichSomali assume to underlie social relationship. The basis of political action isthe agnatic lineage system-its religious significance relates to the eponymousancestors to which it refers, and who are celebrated in the sacrificesperformedat their tombs. Such is the traditional social system associated with nomadismand preserved where nomadism still prevails. In the south, however, wheresedentary cultivation is replacing nomadism, the relations between territorialgroups cease to be always expressible in terms of descent. Here the lineagesystem is disintegrating. The process of change is gradual; at first territorialunits formhaving a mixed clan or lineage structurein which the political unit isco-ordinate with a dominant clan or lineage. With subsequent developmentand the continued settlement in the same territorial unit of increasingnumbersof immigrantsof heterogeneousclan origin,the agnatic lineagestructure becomesso distorted and confused that the segmentation of the dominant lineage nolonger represents territorial distribution and ceases to have political functions.The principle that neighbours must be agnatic kinsmen, that territorialproximity implies genealogical propinquity, no longer holds. Such disorganiza-tion is particularly characteristic of the agricultural tribes of the Sab family.It is important, however, to observe that although the characteristic socialunit of these regions is an agricultural settlement or ' mixed-village' (Lewis,1955, p. 95) with a rudimentary state-like political organization in whichlineages have no political significance, agnatic kinship may still be appliedat a higher level to describe the relations between larger territorial aggregatessuch as tribes or tribal confederacies. It is certainly still in terms of agnatickinship, for example, that the relations between tribal families are describedalthough relations among the component units within the Sab family arenot at all levels represented genealogically. There is thus a certain incon-sistency in the organization of political relations at different levels of thepolitical structure. The lineage system which is the fundamental principle issuperseded amongst the smaller units of the Sab, but retains its functionsamongst those of a higher order and referringto the tribal families knits theSomali people together as the issue of the Prophet's lineage.There are, as has been mentioned, seven tribal families-Dir, Pre-Hawiye,Hawiye, Daarood, and Ishaaq of the 'Soomaali' group; and Digil andRahanwiin of the ' Sab '. To-day there are few Dir tribes and their importancelies rather in having given rise, through the intermarriageof Dir's daughterswith immigrantArabs, to the great Ishaaq and Daarood tribal families. Ishaaqand Daarood reached the Somali coast at a date which has not yet beenhistorically established but which tradition places between the Hejira and the15th century (Lewis, 1955, pp. 15-9, 23-4).Traditions of Arabian descent are especially strong amongst the Ishaaqand Daarood, but are held independently by the Hawiye and Dir and even bymany of the Sab tribes who, as it happens, have as good claims to Arabian

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I. M. LEWISdescent as their northern Somali neighbours (the Dir, Ishaaq, Daarood, andHawiye), who hold them in such contempt. All tribal families can establishconnexion with each other without going as far back as the Prophet's lineage,but the breach between 'Soomaali' and 'Sab' is only bridged by tracingdescent to the Qurayshiticline of Mohammed. Onlyat this level of inclusivenessare the Soomaali and Sab joined as the Somali nation, and it is in this contextespecially that the Somali consider themselves the children of the Prophet.For this solidarity transcends all sectional interests and divisions, includingthat between Soomaali and Sab and representsa real consciousnessof commonnationality and religion. Individual genealogies (abtirsiinyo) trace ascentthrough the hierarchy of social units from the smallest tribal section to thetribal family, through the primary bifurcation of Soomaali/Sab, through theProphet's descendants, and culminate finally in Mohammed,although they

23 Soomaalit~~~~~~~~~~~~~LLIrir

HawiyeGurgateDameHerabIMartile

Seven generations--Sheik Saad(Tomb at Geledi)

Sheik LobogiMahadalle

Eight generations--

0 Moallem (ego)After Colucci, op. cit., p. 26.often extend beyond this to include the Prophet's ancestors and resembletypical Arabian genealogies (cf. Wiistenfeld, 1853). Usually Somali genealogiesare imperfectly Arabized (Islamized) and contain a mixture of Cushitic

andArabicnames indicative of the absorptionof Arabgenealogies. Unless, however,Somali wish to emphasize their exclusiveness with respect to other peoples,that is when only relations between Somali are in question, the genealogies givenstop at Soomaali or Sab and comprise between 22 and 30 names. At theirgreatest extension, genealogies representing political and religious connexionare drawn out to embrace the Prophet and his lineage.

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II. ISLAMRelations with Arabia: the Introductionof IslamThe historical foundations for the contemporary claim to descent fromthe Prophet lie in the existence of relations between Somaliland and Arabiafrom the earliest times. Immigration from and to Arabia has always been andstill is a constant feature of Somali life. There has always been a considerablefloating population of Arabs in various stages of absorption among the Somali.Moreover,there is little doubt that Islam reached Somaliland shortly after theHejira and its establishment is recorded by Arab writers of the 9th and 10thcenturies. The coastal commercial colonies which had been founded by theHimyarite Kingdom before Islam eventually developed into the small Muslimstates of Zeila (in its widest extension known as Adal) in British Somaliland,and of Mogadishu n Somalia. These were ruled by local dynasties of SomalizedArabs or ArabizedSomalis. The history of Zeila has been adequately describedby Trimingham(1952, pp. 58 ff.) and need be no more than summarized here.Cerulli's research (Cerulli, 1924, 1926, 1927) shows that from the beginningof the 10th until half-way through the 13th century Mogadishuwas functioningas a trading colony which comprised a federation of Arabian tribes. Persiansalso played some part in its early history. The Arab settlers had elected chiefsand acknowledgedthe religious and jural authority of one lineage, the Qahtanibn Wa'il. In the course of time Somali influence increased and from a loosefederation of Arab-Somali peoples, a sultanate with a local dynasty (theMuzaffar) emerged in the 13th century. The Muzaffar sultanate flourishedin the 13th and 14th centuries and by this time Shangani and Hamarwein,the two halves of the town of Mogadishu,werefirmlyestablishedand Hamarweinwas dominant. This dynasty survived into the 16th century when the sultanatedeclined as a commercialcentre and reverted to a hegemony of small townships.At the same time Mogadishu was under pressure from tribes of the Hawiyetribal family who were advancing southwardsthrough Somalia. By the secondhalf of the 18th century Somalis had gained control of Shangani and imposedtheir imam as ruler of Mogadishu. Portuguese and British colonization con-tributed to the final collapse of the sultanate. In the 17th century the townhad been occupied by the Imam of Oman for a short space, and remained afterhis withdrawal in vague dependence to him. With the division of the MuscatState early in the 19th century, Mogadishu was allotted to the Sultan ofZanzibar,who attempted to secure a more binding dependenceby establishingmilitary garrisonsalong the coast. Almost immediately after, these were sold toItaly and Mogadishubecame part of the former Italian colony of Somalia.Southern Ethiopia supplied Zeila with its trade and the town reached itsgreatest heights in the 14th century, but began to decline after Ahmad Granhe'scelebrated campaigns against Christian Ethiopia in the 16th century. Itshistory was from the beginning the chronicle of a series of wars against theEthiopian infidels waged in alliance with the other petty Muslim states of

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southern Eritrea and north-eastern Ethiopia. Mogadishu, as we have seen,had a shorter period of prosperity in the 14th century and then declined fairlyrapidly under the joint pressureof nomadic incursionsfrom the interior and theinfluence of external colonization. Such centres as these had an importanteffect in the development of Islam among the Somali. With the Arabiancolonies firmly entrenched in the other trading ports they provided a footholdfrom which Mohammedanismspread amongst the nomads of the interior.1Sufism among the Somali

The Somali are orthodox Sunnis and adherents of the Shafi'ite rite of theShari'a. Sufism is well developed and the remainderof this paper will deal withthe role of Sufism in Somali society. As is well known, this revitalizing currentarose in Islam between the 9th and 10th centuries, attaining in its classicalform its aesthetic and theological climax in the 12th and 13th centuries. TrueSufism is now considered by some authorities to be in decadence (Arberry,1950). In Somaliland after a period of great activity and general expansionup till the 1930's, the Dervish movement seems to be on the wane, although it isextremely difficult to assess its true importance at the present day. TribalSufism has always tended to form a conservative barrier against Europeanadministration and many of its adherents have strongly opposed the extensionof education lest it should undermine their authority. Administrative hostility,real or imagined, has reinforced the esoteric and clandestine character of Sufipractice and made it all the more difficult to estimate its true significance.However, it is not difficult to study its functional importance as a movementin the social structure of Somali society, for whatever its present number ofadherents, it has left an indelible impression as will be seen.The adherents of Sufism belong to the congregations or communities, inmany Muslim countries known as zdwiya, in Somaliland as jamda'a,of thevarious Orders (tariqa, 'The Way') into which the movement is dividedaccording to the doctrines and services (dhikr) ordained by the founders ofOrders. Tar7qameans 'path' in the sense of the Way to follow in the searchfor righteousnessand the Way to God. The end of the tar7qas ma'rifa, absorp-tion in God (gnosis). Those who have travelled furthest, through virtue, thepractice of devotion, and the grace which God has vouchsafed them are nearestHim. As the Path is traversed successive steps of the way are demarcated as' stations ' or' states '. Theseare discussedbelow. For his godlinessand virtue thefounder of each Order s held to be closerto Godand to exemplify in his teachingand life the True Path which it behoves the zealous to follow. The founderis a guide who through his particular qualities of devotion, and by his specialvirtue including the grace (baraka) bestowed upon him by God, leads hisdisciples towards God. His baraka passes to those who follow in his Pathand dedicate their lives to his example. Each Orderis distinguished by the

1 ProfessorSerjeant's study of south ArabianMSS.has shown conclusively that the' two greatcentresof diffusionof trade and the faith ' wereZeila and Mogadishu (personalcommunication).

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specific discipline which its founder has established as the True Path. Sincethere is no God but Allth and Mohammed is His Prophet, religious prestigeis a function of connexion with the Prophet's Qurayshitic lineage. Thus thosein whose blood (recordedin personal genealogies) the Prophet's grace (baraka)flows are eminently suitable for election to the office of head (khalifa) of anOrder or of a congregation (Sheik). Sheiks and khalifas, as also the foundersof the Orders themselves, have personal genealogies tracing descent fromancestors connected with Mohammed. To what extent such claims arehistorically true is in the present context irrelevant. The tradition is thatdescent from Qurayshentitles to religious office and that to be a Siifi sheik orkhalifa implies such descent. Thus in their furthest extension the personalgenealogies of the founders of Ordersand of their local representatives, sheiksand khal7fas,reach back to the Prophet's lineage. According to the lineageprinciple in terms of which relationships in Somaliland are understood eachjama'a is identified with the genealogy of its khalifaor sheik. The consequencesof this in the total genealogical structure of Somali society will shortly beseen. Within each tarTqahe authority of the incumbent of the officeof regionalkhalifa is founded upon a chain of tradition which has two branches. Unlikehis personal genealogy, these attach to the office, not to the person. Thesilsilat al-baraka(chain of benediction) traces the chain of grace which unfoldsfrom the founder of the Order through his successive disciples down to thepresent incumbent of the officeof khalifa. The silsilat al-wird, the other branch,connects the founder with the Prophet, and, through his mediation, withAllah. The silsila (lit. ' chain ') consists of a list of names throughwhich spiritualaffiliationis traced and in some ways resembles a genealogy. It is quite separate,however, from the sheik's personal genealogy although that also is regardedasendowed with power.In initiation (wird), the covenant ('ahd) of the tar;qa is administered tothe novice by the head of the community in a formal ceremony at which theservice (dhikr) pertaining to the Order is celebrated (for a description, seeRobecchi-Bricchetti, 1899, p. 423; Trimingham, 1952, p. 237). The noviceswears to accept the khalifa as his guide and spiritual director through thebaraka of the founder. He is then instructed in the performance of prayer-tasks (called variously awrad, ahzdb, and rawctib), and is provided with aprayer-mat to carry upon his shoulder, a vessel for ablution, and a rosary(tusbat) to finger as he recites his prayers. Somali tartqasare characterizedbyfewer stages in the novice's progresstowards illumination than were customaryin classical Sufism (see on this point, Arberry, 1950, pp. 74 if.). At first thenovice is styled ' aspirant' (murtd)but also referred o by his brethren('ikhw)n)as ' brother '. The majority of initiates never proceedbeyond this stage. Qutb,which is the next step, requires a certain degree of mystical perfection but isnot comparable to the qutbof literary Sufism. Each successive step becomesincreasingly difficult, and al-wasil the next grade, signifying union with Godafter long strife (i.e. the attainment of gnosis), corresponds to induction to

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the leadership of a fraternity. Al-maddid, the final goal, is attained by fewpilgrims indeed, for it is that reached usually only by the founders of theOrdersthemselves.Membership of the comYnunitydoes not imply celibacy; adherents livewith their families in the community. Women have their own tartqaswherethey participate in the services in the name of the Prophet's daughter, Fatima,whom they regard as the founder of women's Orders. Female adherents areveiled (the veil is not normallywornby womenin Somaliland),and are generallymore amply clad than other Somali women. But for them also there is noembargoon marriage. There arealways many peoplewho althoughnot formallyadmitted to an Order and not living in the community, follow the publicceremonies while ignorant of their esoteric content. Acknowledgingthe pietyandreligiouspowersof the founder whomthey venerate as a saint, they regularlycall upon his followers whom they regard as similarly endowed to act asmediators in disputes. Many of the brethren thus fulfil the functions of qdd7sand this is one of the many ways in which the sphere of interest of the Silficommunity encroaches upon that of the tribal structure. Tribesmen turn tothe head of the jamd'a for assistance and counsel, to the neglect of the tribalauthorities. This is one instance of a wide and far-reachingconflict betweenSufism on the one hand and the tribal organizationon the other which we shallconsider in some detail below.Somali TarTqas

The three most prominent tariqas in Somaliland are in the order of theirintroduction, the Qadiriya, the Ahmediya, and the Saalihiya. The Rifa'iyyatar7qa s represented amongst Arab settlers but is not widely distributed orimportant. In the south the Order's main centres are the coastal towns ofMogadishu and Merka: there are also some adherents in the BritishProtectorate. The Qadiriya, the oldest Suifi Order in Islam, was introducedinto Harar in the 15th century by Sharif Abu Bakr ibn 'Abd Allah al-'Aydarfis(knownas al-Qutbar-Rabb5n7,'TheDivine Axis '), who died in 1508-9 (A.H.914).Abf Bakr is probably the best-known Shafi'ite saint in southern Arabia wherehe is called al-'Adani1 and his mosque is the most famous in Aden.2 TheQadiriya became the official Orderof Harar and has considerableinfluence inthe surrounding country. To the south the Order does not appear to haveacquired much importance in the interior of Somalia until the beginning ofthe 19th century when the settlement of Bardera, known locally as jamdha,was founded on the Juba river. The Qadiriya has a high reputation fororthodoxy, is on the whole literary rather than propagandist, and is said tomaintain a higherstandardof Islamic instructionthan its rivals. The Ahmediya,and the derivative Saalihiya, were both introduced into southern Somalia

1 Professor R. B. Serjeant, personal communication.2 An account of his life is found in al-Shilli's al-Mashra' al-RawZ (A.H. 1319, printed in the'Amiriyah Press), II, pp. 34-41.

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towards the close of the last century, although the Ahmediya may have enteredBritish Somaliland somewhat earlier. This Order was founded by SayyidAhmad ibn Idris al-Fasi (1760-1837) of Mecca and brought to Somalia bySheik 'All Maye Durogba of Merka. Muhammadibn Salih, in 1887, foundedthe Saalihiya as an offshoot of the Rashidiya founded by Ahmad ibn Idris'spupil Ibrahim al-Rashid (Cerulli, 1923, pp. 11, 12; Trimingham, 1952,pp. 235-6). The principal Saalihiya proselytizer in Somalia was SheikMuhammad Gfiled, a former slave, who launched the Order there by thefoundation of a community among the Shidle (a Negroid people occupyingthe mid-reaches of the Shebelle river, see Lewis, 1955, p. 41). MuhammadGfiled died in 1918 and his tomb is at Misra (named after Cairo, Misra inSomali), one of the communities which he had established among the Shidle.The Order'sstrongholdis in Somalia but there are some communities in BritishSomaliland. Accordingto Cerulli(op. cit., pp. 14, 18) the Saalihiya is stronglypropagandist and inferior to the Qadiriya in mysticism and teaching. In thepast it has been closely associated with Somali nationalism and the two rebel-lions of this century have taken place under its mantle and in its name. Themore important rising was that led by Muhammad b. 'Abd Allah (born about1865) of the Habr Suleemaan Ogaadeentribe, who made several pilgrimagesto Mecca (1890-9), and joining the Saalihiya, sought to attract the northernSomali to this Order. He founded several communities and in 1895 proclaimedhimself khalifa designate in Somaliland. In 1899 he assumed the title of SunniMahd7 and initiated the jihad against all infidels. He was repudiated bythe leader of the Saalihiya in Mecca and from 1900 to 1904 British forces, withfrom time to time half-hearted Ethiopian and nominal Italian support, con-ducted four major campaigns against him. His power was continuallydiminished but the rebellion was never decisively crushedand draggedon until1920 when the Mahd; died.The Ahmediya with the smallest number of adherents of the three Ordersis said to concentrate more on teaching than the Saalihiya (Cerulli, 1923,pp. 12 ff.). Both Ordersare for the most part distributed in cultivating villagesalong the two rivers of Somalia and in the fertile land between them. Qadiriyacongregations, on the other hand, are more usually dispersed amongst tribesand do not form autonomous settlements of cultivators. This, naturally, isparticularly the case in the north where there is little arable land.Where the congregation forms a stable cultivating settlement, the land,which has been acquired through adoption into a host tribe, is the collective

property of the community and is divided among the affiliates by their sheik.Continuity of tenure depends upon the maintenance of satisfactory relationswith the tribe of adoption and the regularfulfilment of the various obligationswhich adoption imposes. Tenure is precarious and is in theory at any timerevocable by the ceding tribe. It follows that the individual holdings obtainedby affiliates are not automatically inheritable; absolute rights to land orcrops are never obtained by members of the community. If a memberleaves he

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relinquishes all rights to his holding and probably his crops also, althoughhe may sometimes be allowed a portion of the harvest. The fields are workedcollectively so that the harvest in each brother's holding represents the collec-tive labour of the community. Part of the harvest is used to maintain thefunds of the jamn'a, which also depend upon gifts made by tribesmen andpayments for ritual or religious services performed by affiliates. Liabilitiesmet from these general funds consist of aid to the poor, assistance of pilgrimsto Mecca, and expenses connected with missionary work and the various duespayable to the tribe of adoption. As far as the host tribe is concerned thejama'a acts as a tribal section subject to the same privileges and duties asare other sections of the tribe. Congregationsact as training centres for thedevouts (wadaad),lusually described as ' bush teachers' or 'bush preachers',who wander from camp to camp through the bush, stopping now and then tohold classes where at least some rudimentaryknowledgeof theology is imparted.In these transitory bush schools children are taught prayers and verses fromthe Koran and generally acquire the ability to read and write Arabic. Childrenreceive a thorough grounding in the Koran and their familiarity with Koranictexts remains with them throughout their lives. Wadaadare also important asacting in the capacity of unofficialqddts administeringthe Shari'ato the extentto which its competence is recognized by tribal authorities, i.e. in matrimonialaffairs, inheritance of property, contract, mortgage, etc., and assessment ofthe requisite compensation for injuries.2 In intertribal politics they have littleauthority to award decisions, and where their recommendations conflict withtribal interests they are normally ignored for wadaad here act as mediatorsrather than as arbitrators. It is probably through the wadaad who issue fromthe jama'a communities that Sufism exerts its greatest influence in Somalisocial structure. The parent communities themselves are essentially centres ofmystical devotion and have produced a considerable Arab-Somali religiousliterature written mainly in Arabic but in some cases in Somali transcribedin an adaptation of Arabic script.3 It is probablealso that Sufifworks are to befound in Somali oral literature and research should be directed to discoveringto what extent this is the case. Mysticism is adopted as a means to union withGod (gnosis) ; Somali Sufistic literature treats of divine ecstasy and is similarto S.ffi writing in general. An interesting example is an unpublished manu-

1 Wadaadis the Somali equivalent of the 'marabout ' or 'mullah ', sometimes described ashedge priest ', found in all Muslim countries. His functions are manifold since as well asexpounding the Koran and had th as a theologian, he assumes too all the functions of itinerantqddi. The origin of the word 'wadaad' is uncertain, it may equally be an Arabic borrowingor of Cushitic derivation.2 See Lewis, 1955, p. 154; Anderson, 1954, pp. 44 ff.3 On the subject of a suitable script for Somali see: King, J. S., 'Somali as awritten language ', Indian Antiquary, August and October, 1887; Maino, M., ' L'alfabetoOsmania in Somalia ',RSE, 10, 1951; Galaal, M. H. I., 'Arabic script for Somali', IslamicQuarterly,, 2, 1954, pp. 114-8; Maino, M., La Lingua Somala Strumento d'InsegnamenteProfessionale, 1953; Andrzejewski, B. W., 'Some problems of Somali orthography',Somaliland Journal (Hargeisa),I, 1, 1954, pp. 34-47.

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script called tawassul ash-shaikhAwe'swritten by Sheik Awes,1 which consistsof a collection of songs for dhikr. Where such works are biographical, as forexample in the autobiography of Sheik 'All Maye Durogba,2 they containan account of the author's justification to claim descent from Quraysh. Almostall such works include a section in which the author's claims to Qurayshiticdescent are set forth. Perhaps the most important of Somali Su.fi literatureis a collection of works by haaji 'Abdullahi Yusif published under the titleal-majmu'at al-mubdraka.3 Haaji 'Abdullahi of the Qadiriya tar7qawas amember of a group of sheiks (known as Asheraf),4attached to the Majeerteentribes of the Daarood tribal family; his work is analysed by Cerulli (1923,pp. 13-4, 22-5).The Cult of Saints

An important feature of the Sufl communities lies in the extent to whichtheir founders are venerated. The local founders of Orders and congregations(jama'a) are often sanctified after their death. Their veneration gives rise tocults which overshadow the devotion due to the true founder of the tarTqaand even of the Prophet Mohammed. Their tombs become shrines (gashinin Somalia), tended by a small body of followersor the descendants of the sheikand those who have inherited his baraka. To the shrines come the membersof the Orderas well as local tribesmen who are not initiates, to make sacrificeas occasion demands, and to take part in the annual pilgrimage to the shrineof the saint on the anniversary of his death. Outstanding events in his lifeare similarly celebrated. Muslim saint-days which have no connexion withindigenous saints are unpopular especially in the interior. But to the extentto which the Qadiriya Orderis followed emphasis has been given to the saint-day (mawlid) of the founder al-Jilani, although even this festival enjoys onlylimited observance. Saints are not always associated with a particular con-gregation or Order. Many are ubiquitous, and common to several Orders,sharethe same veneration within the religionof the country. They are veneratedfor particular qualities. One of the most popular in Somalia, Saint Au Hiltir(a name suggestive of non-Islamic origin) is regarded as the protector of manfrom the attacks of crocodiles; another, Saint Au Mad, is recognizedby tribesof the Rahanwiin tribal-family as the guardian of the harvest.Tombsarescattered all over Somaliland and many, certainly, commemorate

1 See Cerulli,1923,pp. 12, 22, who describes the sheik as one of the most importantproselytizersof the Qadiriyain the hinterland of Somalia, although, as indicated above, the Order had alreadyat the beginning of the 19th century assumed some prominence in the interior with the founda-tion of the community of Bardera on the Juba river. ' Awes ' is a Somalization of ' Uwais'and the sheik's full name is Uwais ibn Muhammed al-Barawi.2 See above, and Cerulli, loc. cit., p. 22.3 The niaaji's full name is Sh. 'Abd Allah ibn Yusif al-Qalanqull al-Qutbi al-Qadiri ash-Shafi'il-Ash'ari. The work was published in Cairo in A.H. 1338 (1918-19) and printed by Mustafkal-Babi al-Halabi in two vols. It constitutes a most valuable collection of the lives of the SomaliQadiriya sheiks.4 See below, p. 598.

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I. M. LEWISpre-Islamic figures who have been assimilated in Islam. Some of the familiesacting as the custodians of their ancestors' shrines have developed into smallclans, usually dispersed; others have lost all autonomy and are scattered asholy men (wadaad)proselytizing and teaching. Others again remainattachedto a particular tribe as the holders of a hereditary office of qdzl. Such, forexample, is the case with the seven lineages of the Gasar Gudda tribe of Lugh-Ferrandi in Somalia, where the office of tribal chief rotates among six lineages,while that of qdad s invested in the seventh, the Rer Dulca Mado (Ferrandi,1903, pp. 213, 262 ff.; Lewis, 1953, p. 115). This representsone of the possibleconclusions in the history of a saintly family attached initially to a tribe inclientship, where the religious group has worked its way into the lineagestructure of the tribe and established a permanent position. A good exampleof a dispersed clan venerated for their barakaare the Rer Sheik Muminwhoseancestor's shrine is at Bur Hakaba among the Elai of southern Somalia. Theirinfluence extends throughout the entire Rahanwiin tribal-family and tributeis paid to them on account of their reputation as sorcerers (Ferrandi, 1903,pp. 138-9, 242-3). Ferrandi describes them unflatteringly as a gang of robbersimplicated in cattle raiding and profitingby their ancestor's sanctity to impressand exploit ignorantpeople. A similardispersedsheikly groupare the Au Qutubof the British Protectorate whom Burton (1894, I, p. 193) described as thedescendants of Au Qutb ibn Faqih 'Umar who was then claimed to have crossedfrom the Hejaz 'ten generations ago ' and to have settled with his six sons inSomaliland. The Au Qutub are widely scattered and are found as far south asthe Ogaden. They have the title 'Shakyash' which Burton translates' reverend'. In fact, suchfamiliesof Arabianoriginarefoundall over Somalilandand are often rapidly assimilated in the Somali social structure where theirmembers enjoy high prestige (cf. Cerulli, 1926).The Role of Sufism in the Social Structure

We may now consider the position held by Sufi tartqasand congregationsor communities in the social structure. It is obvious that for the total socialstructure the fraternities provide potential channels of alliance amongstwarringtribes separated by the very nature of the tribe. For the communities,economic and political entities though they may be, and often themselves atenmity even within the same Order, are bound together through communityof religious purpose. They aim at the development and diffusion of Islam.Such were the ideals so successfully translated into a transcendentalmovementignoring the narrow bonds of tribalism by the Saalihiya Mahdi haajiMuhammadb. 'Abd Allah. His campaign is an illustration of the potentialitieswhich the tarnqaorganization offers for the extension of national unity whena sufficiently great figure emerges to inspire such feeling. Now, as elsewhere inIslam, the new urban political parties seem to have their roots in the tarnqaorganization and to be a development from it.' Trans-tribalnationalist aspira-

1 cf. Gibb, 1947, p. 55.

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SUFISM IN SOMALILAND: A STUDY IN TRIBAL ISLAM-Itions which previously found some outlet in it are now promoted by politicalassociations, the strongest of which is at the moment the Somali Youth League(S.Y.L.). Within the tribal structure individual communities exercise consider-able influence, and it is this aspect of their social functions which I wishparticularly to consider. As we have seen, among the nomads and especiallyin the north of Somaliland where there is little or no arable land, communitiescannot generally form cultivating settlements as they do in the less barrensouth. They cannot therefore so easily exist as independent autonomouslocal groups. Amongthe southerncultivating tribes (the Sab) settled cultivatingcommunities occupy an interstitial position on the ground. As social entitiesthey are accordingly in a better position to develop into units independent oftribal allegiance and to play an interstitial role in the social structure. Thisnaturally has important consequences in the lineage structure. To take anexample. The Qadiriya community of Bardera (known locally as the jamSiha)was founded on the Juba River at the beginning of the 19th century by SheikAli Kurre, a Rahanwiin tribesman. New settlements quickly sprang up roundthe mother community. The affiliates were faced with considerable hostilityfrom the surroundingtribes. They fought the Galla Boran, the Gasar Gudda(Somali Rahanwiin) who were successfully defeated and their centre Lugh-Ferrandi destroyed, and, finally, the people of Bardera extended their swayto the coast subjecting the villages of Baidoa, Molimat,and the coastal town ofBrava. Thus they established dominion over all tribes of the Rahanwiin tribalfamily. Retribution, however, was to follow. The Rahanwiin recoveredstrength under the leadership of the Sultan of the Geledi (then a powerfulRahanwiin tribe), and after a series of battles besieged and destroyed Barderain 1843. For some years Bardera lay deserted but began to rise again with thefoundation of a new community by Sheik MuhammadEden of the Elai. By1924 it was possible for Colucci (1924, p. 264) to describethe new centre in thefollowing terms: 'The settlements of Bardera constitute a truly independentterritorial group freed from all adherence to the tribes from whom the originalgrants of land were obtained'.Adoption

All communities originally enter the tribal structure through an act ofadoption. Genealogically this implies incorporation into a lineage. Colucci(1924, pp. 78 ff.) has drawn attention to the frequent occurrence in tribalgenealogies of names signifying 'holy ', 'religious ', 'saintly ', etc., whichdenote the attachment to tribal units of Sfii communities or groups of holymen celebrated for their baraka. Such titles are ' sheikal ', ' asheraf' 'faqir ''fogi ' 'faqTh ' haaji ', ' hashya', and other synonyms not noticed by Colucci.The fact that some tribal families, especially those with particularly strongtraditions of Arabian descent such as the Ishaaq and Daarood of northernSomaliland are often referred to as ' haaji ' or ' hashya' 1 indicates that they1 See Lewis, 1955, p. 17.

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are in some sense regardedas sanctified. This is an illustration of the extent towhich religion is identified with tribal structure among the northern nomads.We shall return to this point later. In the genealogiesof the southerncultivatingtribes (the Sab), however, such words tend to occur in the lower portions oftribal genealogies. Sometimes their occurrence indicates fairly feeble ties ofattachment between adopting tribe and priestly section. In other cases wherethe attachment is more tenuous these titles represent extraneous aggregatesoften of long standing. As examples of dispersed clans of holy men we havealready considered the Rer Sheik Muminamong the Rahanwiin and the Rer AuQutub of British Somaliland. Both are typical representatives of this class.The Sheikal Lobogi section of the Herab tribe of Somalia are, on the otherhand, a good example of a religious group or community firmly assimilated tothe tribeof adoption (seegenealogyabove,p. 588). SheikLobogi,the eponymousancestor of the group, is a descendant of Sheik Saad whose tomb is at Gelediin Somalia. Groupswhich have not achieved such firm integration in the tribalstructure or assimilation in the lineage structure, are the Asheraf among theSaraman tribal cluster,1 the Walamoji among the Elai,2 and the Waaqbarreamong the Dabarre tribe.The Asheraf rose to power in a manner typical of such groups, they actedas mediators in a seriesof disputes amongst the Saramantribes which concludedin the expulsion of one, the Harau, and the division of another, the Lisan,into two new tribes, the Lisan Horsi and the Lisan Barre. At Saraman, theAsheraf are known as the 'Three Feet' and take part in tribal councils asarbitratorsand peace-makers. There are many religiousclans known as Asherafin Somaliland, and no doubt some of them derive ultimately from immigrantAshrdf. In view of the importance of Mogadishuas a centre in the diffusionof Islam it may well be that the Sharifs at present living in the Shanganiquarter of Mogadishuwho are of the Ba 'Alwi clan of Hadramaut,3and whosettled in Somaliland in the 17th century, may constitute one of the originalnuclei from which Ashrdf blood has spread.The Walamoji wield considerableinfluencein Elai politics through the highprestige which they enjoy as men of religion. They claim to have accompaniedthe Elai in their wanderings before they reached their present territory, butthey only recently became the official sheiks of the Elai after they had oustedanother religious group-the 'Rer Fogi'. The founder is said to be of GallaArussi origin, but as in the case of all religious sections they have vague tradi-tions of descent from Qurayshwhich they exploit to the full. The Walamojihave considerable autonomy and are segmented into primary, secondary,and tertiary divisions (Colucci, 1924, p. 141).

1 The Saraman tribal cluster comprisesthe Lisan Horsi, Lisan Bari, the Rer Dumal, Garuale,Luwai, Hadama, Jiron, and the Maalim-wena (see Lewis, 1955, p. 35).2 For this important Rahanwiin tribe see Lewis, op. cit., pp. 36-9, 40, 121, etc.3 Cerulli, 1927, pp. 404-6. See also Moreno, M. M., ' I dialetto degli Asraf di Mogadiscio',RSE, 12, 1953, pp. 107-39.

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The Waaqbarre, who are attached to the Dabarre tribe, comprise threesections and have mixed traditions of connexion with the Galla Arussi anddescent from a 'Great Arabian Sheik'.As is clear from the foregoing many tar;qa communities degenerate intogroupsof wadaad(see above, p. 593) clustered round the shrineof their founder.Again there is the constant factor of the immigration of Arabian families ofdevouts and their Somali descendants who may have no direct affiliation witha particular tarnqa. The complete picture is intricate and complex; it is notalways possible to establish the tartqa affiliations of religious groups with aSufistic organization. Certainly it is often difficult to discover to which of thethree-tarnqa communities, sheikly families, or Arabian immigrants-particularnames in tribal genealogies actually refer. There is no doubt that in manycases all are confused. They have in common an association with baraka.It seems, however, that apart from Arabian families venerated for their nameand piety and not necessarily Sutfis in the strict sense, it may generally beinferred that the primary units are tartqa communities. This suppositionis supported by the fact that Arabian immigrants whose genealogies showconnexionwith Qurayshand consequently endowment with barakaareveneratedin the same manner as Suifisaints and their cults are absorbed in the over-riding tarnqaorganization. It is with tariqaand jama'a that we are primarilyconcerned.The land necessary for the foundation of a jamd'a is sometimes made readilyaccessible through the nomad's lack of interest in and contempt for cultivation.Often it was obtained as the result of skilful intervention in tribal disputesover land. Contested areas of arable land borderingtribal territory were cededto astute sheiks who were thereby enabled to establish jama'as. At the sametime the creation of these farming settlements contributed to the demarcationand definition of rigorous tribal boundaries (Lewis, 1955, pp. 43 ff., 143).Thus, for example, a chain of communities marking the principal watering-places and boundaries beween tribes was set up along the Shebelle Riverfrom Afgoi to Mahaddei (Cerulli,1923, p. 26). For this reason it is appropriateto describeSuifi am'as in southern Somalia as formingenclaves amongst tribesand occupying an interstitial territorial position analogous to their role ininter-tribal politics.The community's lands are acquired through adoption into a host tribe.Adoption within the tribal and lineage structure (if this is still functioning)places the head of the community and his followers in the initially inferiorstatus of clients, subservient to the tribal elders and chief. At this stage theburdenof the conflict between tribal custom (heer, tastuur)on the one hand, andthe Shari'a on the other, seems to lie against the Sufi community. For themembers of the jama'a are subject to conflicting loyalties. The Islamic codewhich should rigorously govern their internal affairs cannot always be enforcedin their relations with the tribesmen upon whom they are in dependence.Should tension between tribe and community reach a high pitch the community

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is in danger of losing its tenancy. However, such is the strength of traditionthat in the hands of a wise sheik skilful in the maintenance of good relationswith his tribe of adoption, tenancy easily lapses into ownership. Tenurehas given rise to absolute possession. Rights to land may never be challenged,and the jama'a may achieve sufficientpowerto free itself completely from tribalallegiance. Such is the case of Bardera (above, p. 597).With the high premium which the increasing adoption of agriculture hascaused to be set upon land, disputes over possessionare common. But rivalryover land for cultivation is only one among many likely points at issue betweena Sufi community and its tribe of adoption. In addition to the general dis-harmony between tribal custom and the Shari'a, the interference of sheiksin tribal politics, and the passing of religious leadership from tribe to jamd'a,tribal sanctions would seem to be weakened by the asylum offered in jamn'asto defaulters from tribal justice. At the sametime a variety of factors encouragethe growth of Sufi farming communities. The opportunities which a stableexistence in agriculturalsettlements affords,together with the greater stabilityof tribal relations among the sedentary cultivators or only part-transhumanttribes of Somalia, attracts dispossessed people, many of whom are of servileorigin, and promotesthe further development of agriculture. The soil is favour-able, there is administrative encouragement to cultivate-and many settlersare by nature cultivators-and the Sharl'a, more thoroughly applied here,provides an essentially urban code whose juridical ordinances are moreappropriate to farming settlements than they are to nomadic tribal society.All these factors are contributory to the disintegration of the lineage structureas well as to the formation of jami'a farms. It is not surprisingthen that thereis a constant drift towards the religious settlements and away from the tribes:that it is no greater must be ascribed to the nomad's contempt of cultivationand those who practise it.When these factors are considered it is clear that there are many oppor-tunities for friction between tribe and adopted community. In all disputesthe procedurefollowed is the same : the tribe claimingthe land occupied by thecommunity seeks to abrogate the mandate by which it is alleged to have beenceded. The conflicts which ensue areusually resolved by the intervention of theadministration. A typical example of the type of dispute which is likely to ariseis the following: In 1920 the Hawadle claimed the land which the communityof Burdere occupied and which it was maintained had been granted to thecommunity 38 years previously. The tribe held that the grant had been onlyprovisional and that the ground was now required for its own use, especiallysince several Hawadle families had already settled in the lands of the jamd'a.Since the head of the jamd'a continued to ignore their requests tribesmencontinued to move into the community's lands without admissionto the Order.The sheik was then moved to protest to the Italian Administration claimingthat the disputed lands had been obtained not from the Hawadle but from anadjacent tribe, the Baddi Addo. 'The case was solved by the government's

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forcing those Hawadle who had illegally joined the community to withdrawafter the harvest of their crops. Sufism triumphed and the community'srights were upheld against those of the tribe. The position ofjamd'as has furtherbeen strengthened by the administration's policy of appointing qadds rom theranks of Sufi brethren (wadaad) (Cerulli, 1923, pp. 28-9, 32-4). But govern-ment policy does not always seem to have been consistently on the side of theOrders and it has doubtless frequently turned disputes between tribes andreligious Ordersto its own advantage.'We have noted how the differencesin ecology between the northernterrainoccupied by the nomads and the southern occupied by semi-nomadic andsedentary cultivators govern the territorial disposition of jamd'as. There isnaturally a much higher proportionof permanent Siifi settlements in the souththan in the north, and consequently a higher proportion of autonomous com-munities freed from tribal allegiance. In the southjamd'as occupy an interstitialposition in the social structure parallel to their territorial distribution. It ishardly surprising hen that the communities are generallymoreclosely entwinedin the lineage structure of the northern nomads than in what remains of thatof the southern cultivators. The ecological differences between the north andsouth of Somaliland are reflected in the retention of the lineage organizationamong the nomads and the necessity for communities to maintain tribalaffiliations in the north, while in the south where the lineage structure is inactive disintegration communities tend to exist as independent settlements.GenealogicalAssimilation

We have seen how Quraysh is the symbol of divine grace and how thegenealogies of Sufi sheiks and khalifas vaunt connexion with the Prophet'slineage. We have also seen how in its client status, and thus at some pointin the history of every jama'a, the community is identified with its head andwith his genealogy. It is the incorporationof such genealogies, I believe, whichleads ultimately to the inclusive ascription of the Somali nation to theQurayshiticlineage of the Prophet. The Ordersas they to-day exist in Somali-land do not date from before the 15th century (the time of the introduction ofthe Qadiriya) but it is unlikely that they could have assumed their presentconstitution and strength without some earlier proto-tariqa organization (cf.the development of Sufism in Morocco,Drague, 1951, pp. 9-117). It appearsprobable, therefore, that the Qurayshitic pattern of Somali genealogies hasdeveloped in step with the formal emergence.of the Orders in Somaliland.As emphasized earlier, tariqasare not alone responsible for the introduction ofQurayshitic genealogies. Many of the immigrant Arabs who established

1 According to Cerulli (1923, p. 29) the policy of the Italian Administration was to admit theleaders ofjama'as as religious leaders but to allow them no political authority. The developmentof jamd'as in the fertile riverine area was actively discouraged and the foundation of new settle-ments constrained as far as possible. In the arable lands thus protected from the furtherencroachment of jama'as the government saw the possible realization of their aim to establishthe economic independence of the colony in extensive agricultural development.

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SUFISM IN SOMALILAND: A STUDY IN TRIBAL ISLAM-Ichiefly dynasties among the Somali and who naturally brought their Arabiangenealogies with them were doubtless not all Su.fis. Some of them may indeed,have been the true descendants of Quraysh. Nevertheless, it is significant thatthe Somali celebrate as the authors of their faith and venerate as they do Sufisaints, figures such as Sheiks Ishaaq and Daarood, who if not themselveshistoricalpersonagesare certainly the types of such. Sociologicallyit is apparentthat the claim of descent from Qurayshis the necessary outcome of the applica-tion of the Somali lineage principle to the part played by Islam generally,and Sufism in particular, in the social structure. This consistency is madepossible by the parallel functions of S.fi and Somali genealogies. That thenomads have stronger traditions of descent from Quraysh is to be expected,since, unlike the southern cultivators (Sab) whose arable lands facilitate theformation of autonomous independent Sufi communities, the jama'as of thenorthern nomads are seldom self-contained and are generally identified withthe tribal structure. The same is genealogically true as we have seen. Thecloser genealogical assimilation among the nomadic population seems toexplain why tribal families of the 'Soomaali' group such as the Ishaaq andDaarood, as opposed to those of the 'Sab ', are referred to genealogically asthough they represented vast Sufl communities. Such an interpretation isconsistent with the role of Sufism among the Somali.The concluding sections of this essay (Part II)1, to be published in a laternumber of the Bulletin, will examine the religious assumptions which underliethis process of assimilation.

1 This includes a bibliography of principal sources.

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Sufism in Somaliland a Study in Tribal Islam--I by: I.M. lewis

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