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Somalia The Tenets of Islam
Founded in A.D. 622 when the Prophet Muhammad migrated with
his followers from Mecca to Medina, Islam was probably brought to
Somalia by early followers of the Prophet who sought refuge from
persecution in Mecca. It is also possible that Islam came to
Somalia through contacts with Persian and Arab merchants and
seamen who founded settlements along the Somali coast 1,000 or
more years ago
(see Coastal Towns
, ch. 1). Before Islam reached
the Somalis, quarrels over the succession to leadership had led
to a split of the Islamic community into the Sunni (orthodox) and
the Shia (from Shiat Ali, or partisans of Ali as the legitimate
successor to Muhammad). The overwhelming majority of Somalis are
Sunni Muslims.
The word islam means "submission to God," and a Muslim
is one who has submitted. The religion's basic tenet is stated in
its creed: "There is no god but God (Allah) and Muhammad is His
prophet." Recitation of the creed, daily prayers performed
according to prescribed rules, fasting during the lunar month of
Ramadan (when Muhammad received his initial revelations),
almsgiving, and the pilgrimage to Mecca constitute the five
pillars of the faith. Four of these duties may be modified by the
situation in which believers find themselves. If they are ill,
they may pray without prostrations and reduce the number of times
they pray from the obligatory five to three. Muslims may be
excused from fasting (going without food, drink, tobacco, and
sexual relations from dawn until sunset) during a journey, but
should compensate at a later time. Participation in almsgiving
and the pilgrimage depend upon one's ability to afford them.
The basic teaching of Islam is embodied in the Quran,
believed to have been given to Muhammad by God through the angel
Gabriel. After Muhammad's death, his followers sought to regulate
their lives by his divinely inspired works; if the Quran did not
cover a specific situation, they turned to the hadith (tradition,
remembered actions, and sayings of the Prophet). Together, the
Quran and the hadith form the sunna (custom or usage), a
comprehensive guide to the spiritual, ethical, and social life of
Muslims.
Islamic sharia or religious law derives from the Quran, the
hadith, and from a large body of interpretive commentary that
developed in the early Islamic period. Several schools of legal
thought arose, among them the Shafii school (named for Muhammad
ibn Idris ash Shafii, 767-820), which is represented in Somalia.
The sharia covers several categories of behavior: obligatory
actions, desirable or recommended actions, indifferent actions,
objectionable but not forbidden actions, and prohibited actions.
The five pillars of the faith fall in the first category; nightlong prayer in the second, and many ordinary secular activities
in the third. Divorce is in the objectionable but permitted
category, whereas adultery and other sinful acts are prohibited.
Settled and nomadic Somalis conformed to Muslim requirements
for ritual purity, such as washing after contact with unclean
things. Some settled Somalis, particularly in communities founded
by religious orders, are more likely to observe Islamic
requirements than are nomads. By the 1960s, ordinary settled
Somalis were likely to pay less attention to religious
observance. Devout Somalis, and others who valued the title of
hajj (pilgrim) for its prestige, might make the pilgrimage
to Mecca, but many more would visit the tombs of the local saints
(see Religious Orders and the Cult of the Saints
, this ch.).
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