Benadiri people

The Benadiri people (Somali: Reer Benaadir, Arabic: البنادر‎), also known as Reer Xamar (pronounced "Hamar") or "people of Xamar",[1] are an Arab multiracial confederation. Members largely inhabit Somalia's southern coastline.

Benadiri
البنادر
Regions with significant populations
Mogadishu, Merca, Baraawe, Kismayo, Jaziira, Gendershe and other towns in Koonfuur Galbeed
Languages
Benadiri Somali, Somali, Chimini and Mahdoonte
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Somalis, Arabians (Yemenis and Omanis in particular), South Asians, Persians, and the Swahili

Overview

Although the Benadiri are sometimes described as the founders of Mogadishu (hence, their colloquial name Reer Xamar or "People of Mogadishu",[1] though the city itself is postulated to be a successor of ancient Sarapion[2]), the Benadiris originate from a group of minorities that originates from "mercantile urban communities" established by migrants from the Arabian Peninsula who settled along the southern coast of Somalia and built stone towns for defense and trade.[3][4]

Their members also trace their origins to diverse groups. The latter primarily comprise various other Somali clans, with some additional influences from the ancient Emozeidi Arabs, Persians, and South Asians.[5][6]

Reer Xamar were instrumental in helping to consolidate the local Muslim community, especially in the coastal Benadir region.[7] During the colonial period, they were also among the founding members of the Somali Youth League, Somalia's first political party.[8]

Benadiri Confederates

The Benadiri people split up into three major confederacies, named after the towns in which its based in. Each of these confederacy is made up of clans that can also be found in other town umbrella's in the example of Asharaf, Haatim, Reer Faqi and Shanshiyo these clans can be found among all 3 groups (Shanshiyo and Reer Faqi are part of the Biido confederacy in Baraawe)

Reer Xamar
  • The Reer Xamar
    • Abakaaro (Haatim sub clan)
    • Abdi Samad
    • Ali Mohamed
    • 'Amuudi
    • Asharaf
    • Askarey
    • Aydarussi
    • Bandhaboow
    • Ba Fadal
    • Ba Hamish
    • Ba Sadiq
    • Dhabarweyn
    • Gudmane
    • Indho Weyne
    • Moorsho
    • Qalinshuub
    • Reer Faqi
    • Reer Haaji
    • Reer Manyo
    • Reer Shiikh
    • Reer Shaykh Muminow
    • Saddeh' Geedi
    • Shanshiyo
    • Shaamsi

Reer Marka

The Reer Marka group are also known as locally and politically as 12 koofi (Somali: 12 caps), however despite the name this group is no longer made up of 12 clans rather currently in the traditional elder council there's 16 clans now. With the clan group Reer Maanyo being considered one despite they themselves being a confederation of 4 different clans in the city of Marka.[9]

Reer Baraawe

Festivals

Istaqfuurow

Istaqfurow or Istaqfurlow derives form the Arabic word Astaqfuru (Arabic: أَسْتَغْفِرُ‎) which translates to "seeking forgiveness". Istighfar, seeking forgiveness from Allah is a common practice of Muslims all around the world and you'll hear in everyday conversation between Muslims. Istaqfuro is an annual Benadiri event held in the Hamar Weyne district of Mogadishu when there is high winds and high tides. The festive goers chant "Astaqfuru Rabukum, Innahu Kaana Qaffuura Yursilo Samaa calaykum Mitraaran" a passage from the Quran Surat Nur verse 10 which translates as "Ask Allah forgiveness, for He is forgiving He will send rain from the sky" (Arabic: فَقُلْتُ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا). During this Festival, animals are slaughtered and prayers are said, in search of God‟s forgiveness for transgressions, to ask for the calming of the winds so that ships can sail, and for the rains to come[10]. Despite the locals treating this festival as a festival with Islamic, many believe this festival is a pre-Islamic festival where locals on the coast of southern Somalia. As the festival is a reaction to a natural phenomenon of a particular season, which i linked to the solar calendar and not the lunar which Muslim follow.[11][12]

Shirka

The Shirka is a festival that happens annually in the Hamar Weyne district of Mogadishu. This festival is most generally known as dabshiid which translate to lighting of the fire in Somali (Neyrus in Persian), this festival occurs in Mogadishu at the same time as the Istunka in Afgooye, and is so similar as to be the same. The men gather in groups by lineage, and wear different coloured shirts with matching headbands to identify their clan affiliations, they also carry long sticks that they thrust up and down in rhythm as they chant and shuffle through the designated route of the neighbourhoods of Hamar Weyne.[13] At the start of the shir festivities, the Reer Faqi elders, in keeping with their position of neutrality in the community, are called upon to bless the occasion.[14] The festival starts and ends at Jama'a Xamar Weyne, Xamar Weyne near the Moorsho neighbourhood.

Notable Figures

Religious leaders
  • ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz alAmawī, was a scholar following the Shāfi‘ī school of jurisprudence and was also adviser to several sultans of Zanzibar
  • Shaykh Sufi, Abd Al-Rahman bin Abdullah al Shashi (Arabic: عبد الرحمن بن عبد الله الشاشي‎) (b. 1829 - 1904), popularly known as Sheikh Sufi, was a 19th-century Somali scholar, poet, reformist and astrologist. An annual festival is held for him in the Koodka neighbourhood of Hamar Weyne. [15]
  • Sheikh Abba, for the latter part of the twentieth century Sheikh Mahamed Sheikh Ahmed Sheikh Mahamud al-Shashy, popularly known as Sheikh Abba, was a leading member of the Mogadisho 'ulama, a follower of the Qadiriyya tariqa and a foremost sheikh of Hamar Weyne. [16]
  • Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Qaḥṭānī
  • Sheikh Nureini Ahmed Sabiri
  • Dada Masiti
  • Uways Al Barawi
  • Mu'alim Nuuri
  • Qasim Muḥyī al-Dīn Al Baraawi
  • Sharif Qulateyn
  • Sharif Mubidi
  • Shaykh Ali Maye, a revered Sufi saint of the Duruqbo clan, a yearly festival is held for him outside his shrine in Marka and it ends on the 5 of the islamic month of Safar. [17]
  • Sharif 'Aydarus, a famous scholar of Islamic and Somali history and pan-Islamic leader.[18]

Politics
  • Bur’i Mohamed Hamza, was a Somali-Canadian politician. From August 2012 to January 2014, he was a Member of the Federal Parliament of Somalia. He later served as the State Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Somalia from January to October 2014, and subsequently as the State Minister of Finance until December 2014. He was the State Minister of the Premier's Office for Environment at the time of his death.
  • Haji Mohamed Hussien, popular pan-Somalist, founder of the Greater Somali League (GSL) in 1958, one of the 13 founders of the Somali Youth Club in 1943 [19]
  • Jeylani Nur Ikar
  • Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed, current Petroleum minister of the Federal Government of Somalia
  • Maxamed Sheekh Jamaal Cabdulaahi, Mayor of Mogadishu from 1956 to 1960 and the first Somali mayor of the city.
  • Shariif Maxamed Imaankeey, Mayor of Mogadishu from September 1963 – 1965
  • Shariif Maxamed Caydaruus, Mayor of Mogadishu from 1966–1970

Sports
  • Ramla Ali, current African Featherweight Champion and the first boxer in history to have won a boxing title whilst representing Somalia.
  • Muhidin Abubakar, currently ranked as the number one amateur flyweight MMA fighter in the UK and Ireland.[20]

Film

See also

References
  1. Abbink, J. (1999). The total Somali clan genealogy: a preliminary sketch. African Studies Centre. p. 18.
  2. Vérin, Pierre (1986). The History of Civilisation in North Madagascar. A.A. Balkema. p. 30.
  3. Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | Somalia: The Reer Hamar and/or Benadiri, including the location of their traditional homeland, affiliated clans and risks they face from other clans". Refworld. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  4. Refworld.org, Refworld.org. "Situation in South and Central Somalia (including Mogadishu)" (PDF).
  5. Africa, Volumes 8-9. Kraus Reprint. 1975. p. 199. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  6. https://rlp.hds.harvard.edu/faq/benadiri
  7. Cassanelli, Lee V. (1973). "The Benaadir past: essays in southern Somali history". University of Wisconsin: 24. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. 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.304.
  9. As you can see the current clan elders of the town is made up 16 clans now and not 12 which was the original amount
    Marka clan list
  10. Adam, Anita. Benadiri People of Somalia with Particular Reference to the Reer Hamar of Mogadishu. p. 172.
  11. Adam, Anita. Benadiri People of Somalia with Particular Reference to the Reer Hamar of Mogadishu. p. 173.
  12. Mukhtar, Mohamed. Historical Dictionary of Somalia, New Edition. pp. 122–123.
  13. Adam, Anita. Benadiri People of Somalia with Particular Reference to the Reer Hamar of Mogadishu. p. 177.
  14. Adam, Anita. Benadiri People of Somalia with Particular Reference to the Reer Hamar of Mogadishu. p. 179.
  15. Adam, Anita. Benadiri People of Somalia with Particular Reference to the Reer Hamar of Mogadishu. p. 161.
  16. Adam, Anita. Benadiri People of Somalia with Particular Reference to the Reer Hamar of Mogadishu. p. 223.
  17. Adam, Anita. Benadiri People of Somalia with Particular Reference to the Reer Hamar of Mogadishu. p. 216.
  18. Ahmed, Ali Jimale. The Invention of Somalia. The Red Sea Press. ISBN 978-0-932415-99-8.
  19. Haji Mukhtar, Mohamed. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. p. 95.
  20. https://web.archive.org/web/20200328040904/https://www.tapology.com/rankings/regional/1782-united-kingdom-ireland-amateur-mens-flyweight

Further reading
  • Gundel, Joakim (2009). Clans in Somalia (PDF). Austrian Centre for Country of Origin & Asylum Research and Documentation (Report).


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