Issa (clan) - Lineage

Lineage

The Issa traditionally traces its Arabian connexions through its Dir affiliations to Aqeel ibn Abi Talib. However, by 1962 it had become the practice to regard the clan founder as a sheikh or even saint in much the same way (and no doubt at least partly in response to their claims) as the eponyms of the Darod and Isaaq clans. Although I.M. Lewis knows of no printed hagiologies in honor of the Issa ancestor, by the time of Lewis's writing a number of hymns (or qasiidas) have been composed for him, and there is a shrine in Djibouti City where he is said to have appeared miraculously. His actual grave lies close to that of Sheikh Ishaq ibn Ahmad al-Hashimi, in northeastern Somalia.