Somali People Essay

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The Somali people are an ethnological group living in the Horn of Africa, or the Somali Peninsula. The Somali people have a population of around 8.4 million, and presently, more than 60 percent of the populace are functioning pastoralists. Their way of life is characteristically nomadic and is based upon the caring of flocks or herds. The name Somali originates from the Arabic word for “wealthy”. Consequently, Somali “wealth” comes from livestock, which they care well for since they would have a hard time surviving as a society without it. As pastoralists, they rely on their livestock to increase the production of their crops in areas where it may be harder to farm. As well as pastoralists, Somalis are also followers of the Islamic faith. Islam …show more content…

Somalis believed in Muhammad as the prophet from God, or Allah. When Muhammad journeyed to Medina, he brought with him the five pillars of faith, which were later installed in the Somali society. After Islam was established, followers of the religion came under persecution of the Quraysh, a strong trading ethnic group in charge of Mecca. This army was determined to prosecute Muhammad and his followers for the teachings of Islam. The ancient oppressed Muslims ran away to differing locations in the Arabian region, including northern Somalia, to search for defense. Somalis were included in the earliest peoples in Asia to welcome …show more content…

Muhammad strongly believed that Islam should be a more prominent part of Arabia’s beliefs, morals, and laws, so he ultimately fought for it and won. Shortly after winning, he went back to his homeland and took control of Mecca, turning the once pagan temple into a Muslim house of worship. This action influenced Somali teachings and prompted politicians to travel and spread the word of the new religion. Muhammad’s religiously inspired actions changed the way the Somali people lived life. In his book The Shaping of Somalian Society, Lee V Cassanelli says,
In the early twentieth century, many Somalis responded to the call of the dervish hero Muhammad Abdullah Hassan to shed their clan loyalties and oppose the colonial invaders in the name of Islam. Somali religious leaders also figured prominently in the founding of the first modern political party, the Somali Youth League, which called for the submergence of clan and regional loyalties and for the unification of the Somalilands. (Shaping of Somali

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