Arap
Arap
أرب
Regions with significant populations
Somaliland, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, Yemen, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom
Languages
Somali, Arabic
Religion
Islam (Sunni)
Related ethnic groups
Habr Garhajis, Awal, Ayup, Isamusa, Habr Je'lo and other Isaaq groups

The Arap or Arab (Somali: Arab, Arabic: أرب, Full Name: Muḥammad ibn ash-Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad bin al-Ḥusayn al-Hāshimīy ) clan is a major Northern Somali clan of the wider Isaaq clan family.[1] The Arap predominantly live on the middle and southwest side of Hargeisa and in the Baligubadle district Hawd region) of Somaliland, with its capital Baligubadle being an exclusively Arap territory.[2] The territory of the clan extends to Ethiopia, in the area of Faafan, gursum, dhagahle.[3] The Abdalle Arab, a sub-clan of the Arap clan is based in the Togdheer, Sahil. The Celi Arab, a sub-clan of the Arap clan is based in Maroodi Jeex Hargeisa Muuse celi arab living also Bakool South West State of Somalia Rabdhure Elbarde, They also live Fafan Zone Gursum, Somali Sheekh cismaan Arab based in Nogob Zone Jarar Zone regions.[4][5]

History

Map of Somaliland showing distribution Arap Tribe in the central and south central Somaliland

Lineage

Sheikh Ishaaq ibn Ahmed was one of the Arabian travellers who according to legend crossed the sea from Arabia to the Horn of Africa to spread Islam around 12th to 13th century. Hence,the sheikh Ishaaq married two local women in Somaliland that left him eight sons, one of them being Muhammad (Arap). The purported descendants of those eight sons constitute the Isaaq clan-family.[6]

Role in the SNM

Sultan Farah of the Arap and Garaad Abdiqani of the Dhulbahante in Baligubadle during the Somaliland peace process

Baligubadle, which straddles the border between Ethiopia and Somaliland, was the headquarters of the Somali National Movement (SNM) during the Somaliland War of Independence from the regime of general Siad Barre.[7]

The Araps were heavily involved in the SNM and led the first military offensive of the SNM near Baligubadle where a small force attacked a fuel tanker supplying the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party regime's base in the town. This operation was organised by local commanders without prior planning utilizing a local force of clansmen based at the organisation's Lanqeyrta base in Hawd.[8]

Hassan Isse Jama was also one of original founders of the SNM in London.[9] He was also the first vice president of Somaliland and served as the deputy chairman of the SNM.[9] Furthermore in 1983, Sultan Mohamed Sultan Farah of the Arap clan was the first sultan to leave Somalia to Ethiopia and openly cooperate with the SNM.[10]

Familial ties

Historically, the Arap took part in the conquest of Abyssinia, and were part of the Adal Sultanate and are mentioned in the book Futuh Al-Habash (Conquest of Abyssinia) as the Habar Magaadle, along with the Ayub, Habar Yoonis, Habar Awal and Eidagalle clans. The Habar Magaadle are known for producing a historical figure known as Ahmad Gurey bin Husain who was the right-hand man of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi his clan arap . The Arap were the first clan agreed to lead the process of demobilization. This put pressure on other clans to follow suit, and, in early 1994, a well-staged ceremony was held in the Hargeysa football stadium to hand over weapons, playing an instrumental role in the Somaliland peace process.[11][12]

Arap Clan tree

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Arap" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Arap clan is divided into the following sub-clans:[13][verification needed]































Notable Arap people

References

  1. ^ Kirk, J. W. C. (2010-10-31). A Grammar of the Somali Language: With Examples in Prose and Verse, and an Account of the Yibir and Midgan Dialects. Cambridge University Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-108-01326-0.
  2. ^ Renders, Marleen. (2012). Consider Somaliland : state-building with traditional leaders and institutions. Leiden: BRILL. pp. xxi. ISBN 978-90-04-22254-0. OCLC 775301944.
  3. ^ Glawion, Tim (2016). Somaliland's Search for Internal Recognition, SFB700 (C10 project) Research Brief 5. Hamburg: German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
  4. ^ Somaliland: The Strains of Success. International Crisis Group. 2015.
  5. ^ Ghani, Mohamed Hassan; Abdi, Suad Ibrahim; Duale, Ali Ege; Hersi, Mohamed Farah (2010-11-30). "Democracy in Somaliland: Challenges and Opportunities" (PDF). Academy of Peace and Development. p. 76. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-11-26. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  6. ^ I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), pp. 31 & 42
  7. ^ Musa, Ahmed; De Giuli, Akusua; Yusuf, Ayan; Ibrahim, Mustafa (2015). Baligubadle District Conflict and Security Assessment (PDF). Hargeisa: The Observatory of Conflict and Violence Prevention.
  8. ^ Prunier, Gérard (2021). The Country that Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1-78738-203-9.
  9. ^ a b c Woldemariam, Michael (15 February 2018). Insurgent fragmentation in the Horn of Africa : rebellion and its discontents. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cabridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-42325-0. OCLC 1000445166.
  10. ^ Höhne, Markus V. (2006). "Working Paper No. 82 - Traditional Authorities in Northern Somalia: transformation of positions and powers" (PDF). Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology Working Papers. Halle / Saale: Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. ISSN 1615-4568.
  11. ^ Balthasar, Dominik (May 2013). "Somaliland's best kept secret: shrewd politics and war projects as means of state-making". Journal of Eastern African Studies. 7 (2): 218–238. doi:10.1080/17531055.2013.777217. ISSN 1753-1055. S2CID 143973420.
  12. ^ Connaughton, Stacey L.; Berns, Jessica (2019). Locally led peacebuilding : global case studies. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-5381-1411-7. OCLC 1099545093.
  13. ^ Abbink, G.J. (2009). "The Total Somali Clan Genealogy (second edition)". ASC Working Papers (84): 32. hdl:1887/14007.
  14. ^ Kristof, Nicholas D. (2009). Half the sky : turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide. WuDunn, Sheryl, 1959- (1st ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-307-26714-6. OCLC 290466888.
  15. ^ Roble, Faisal (2015). "Remembering Said S. Samatar". Northeast African Studies. 15 (2): 141–148. doi:10.14321/nortafristud.15.2.0141. ISSN 0740-9133. JSTOR 10.14321/nortafristud.15.2.0141. S2CID 146172236.
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