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Somalia Islam in the Colonial Era and After
Because Muslims believe that their faith was revealed in its
complete form to the Prophet Muhammad, it has been difficult to
adapt Islam to the social, economic, and political changes that
began with the expansion of colonial rule in the late nineteenth
century. Some modifications have occurred, however. One response
was to stress a return to orthodox Muslim traditions and to
oppose Westernization totally. The Sufi brotherhoods were at the
forefront of this movement, personified in Somalia by Mahammad
Abdille Hasan in the early 1900s. Generally, the leaders of
Islamic orders opposed the spread of Western education.
Another response was to reform Islam by reinterpreting it.
From this perspective, early Islam was seen as a protest against
abuse, corruption, and inequality; reformers therefore attempted
to prove that Muslim scriptures contained all elements needed to
deal with modernization. To this school of thought belongs
Islamic socialism, identified particularly with Egyptian
nationalist Gamal Abdul Nasser (1918-70). His ideas appealed to a
number of Somalis, especially those who had studied in Cairo in
the 1950s and 1960s.
The 1961 constitution guaranteed freedom of religion but also
declared the newly independent republic an Islamic state. The
first two postindependence governments paid lip service to the
principles of Islamic socialism but made relatively few changes.
The coup of October 21, 1969, installed a radical regime
committed to profound change. Shortly afterward, Stella
d'Ottobre, the official newspaper of the SRC, published an
editorial about relations between Islam and socialism and the
differences between scientific and Islamic socialism. Islamic
socialism was said to have become a servant of capitalism and
neocolonialism and a tool manipulated by a privileged, rich, and
powerful class. In contrast, scientific socialism was based on
the altruistic values that inspired genuine Islam. Religious
leaders should therefore leave secular affairs to the new leaders
who were striving for goals that conformed with Islamic
principles. Soon after, the government arrested several
protesting religious leaders and accused them of
counterrevolutionary propaganda and of conniving with reactionary
elements in the Arabian Peninsula. The authorities also dismissed
several members of religious tribunals for corruption and
incompetence.
When the Three-Year Plan, 1971-73, was launched in January
1971, SRC leaders felt compelled to win the support of religious
leaders so as to transform the existing social structure
(see Scientific Socialism, 1970-75
, ch. 3). On September 4, 1971, Siad
Barre exhorted more than 100 religious teachers to participate in
building a new socialist society. He criticized their method of
teaching in Quranic schools and charged some with using religion
for personal profit.
The campaign for scientific socialism intensified in 1972. On
the occasion of Id al Adha, the major Muslim festival associated
with the pilgrimage, the president defined scientific socialism
as half practical work and half ideological belief. He declared
that work and belief were compatible with Islam because the Quran
condemned exploitation and moneylending and urged compassion,
unity, and cooperation among Muslims. But he stressed the
distinction between religion as an ideological instrument for the
manipulation of power and as a moral force. He condemned the
antireligious attitude of Marxists. Religion, Siad Barre said,
was an integral part of the Somali worldview, but it belonged in
the private sphere, whereas scientific socialism dealt with
material concerns such as poverty. Religious leaders should
exercise their moral influence but refrain from interfering in
political or economic matters.
In early January 1975, evoking the message of equality,
justice, and social progress contained in the Quran, Siad Barre
announced a new family law that gave women the right to
inheritance on an equal basis with men. Some Somalis believe the
law was proof that the SRC wanted to undermine the basic
structure of Islamic society. In Mogadishu twenty-three religious
leaders protested inside their mosques. They were arrested and
charged with acting at the instigation of a foreign power and
with violating state security; ten were executed. Most religious
leaders, however, kept silent. The government continued to
organize training courses for shaykhs in scientific socialism.
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