Early Life and Education
Sharif Ahmed was born on 25 July 1964 in the southern Shabeellaha Dhexe region of Somalia. He is a member of the Abgaal clan.
Sharif began his education at the Sheikh Sufi Institute, which was associated with Al-Azhar University in Egypt. He then went to Sudan and entered University of Kordofan in late 1992, where he pursued a bachelor's degree in the Arabic language (major) and geography (minor) in the city of Aldalanj. In 1994, the university was renamed to the Dalanj University, and Sheikh Sharif left for Tripoli, the capital of Libya, after having completed only two out of the required four years. In Libya, he entered the Open University where he earned a bachelor's degree in Law and Islamic Shariah, graduating in 1998. He worked as a secondary school teacher of geography, Arabic, and religious studies.
A hafiz, Ahmed had memorized the Qur'an as a child and spoke only standard Arabic, shunning slang and local dialects. Thus, his religious upbringing and education allowed him to succeed his father as the spiritual leader of the Idriseeyah sect of Sufi Islam in Somalia.
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