Warsangali Sultanate - Civilization, Society and Islam

Civilization, Society and Islam

Islam was introduced into the Sanaag region as early as the 7th century, with most of the area's inhabitants following the Shafi`i madh'hab of Sunni Islam. Thus, it appears that Sufism and saint veneration, the mystical movement and ecstasy in Islam, was embraced amongst the Warsangali clans of Sanaag and spread to other areas of Somalia. For instance, Haylaan, a small town located 20 km south of Badhan, houses the sepulchre of Darod Ismaiil, the founder of the Darod clan. The Somali scholar Said Ali Nur indicates that regions such as Zeila, Sanaag and Harar became centers of dispersal for the founders of many Muslim communities in the Horn. In fact, the founder of the Darod clan is venerated as a saint by many members of said clan. This sort of veneration is internalized in the customs of all Somalis, and these figures are known as "ancestor saints". They are means by which man's appeal to the mercy and blessings of God through the saints is strengthened. These saints, however, are not worshipped, but venerated, and the respect shown to them is clearly based upon their intermediary role. The structure of the Elaayo mosque where, among other masjids, actual worship took place, is still of remarkable strength; almost marble.

Initially, due to their many ancient settlements, the northeastern cities of Las Khorey and Elaayo formed a growing international hub and served as important destinations. The Sultan's revolt against the British, however, led to the ultimate decline of these coastal areas, as the British then shifted their administration to the western side of northern Somalia. The erstwhile commercial centers of Las Khorey and Elaayo consequently diminished in importance.

However, the ascendancy of Somali society in terms of trade, civilization and contact with ancient pharaohs continued for many centuries. In northern Somalia, which is believed to have been the location of the famous Land of Punt, existed numerous notable examples of sophisticated architecture, agricultural innovation and civil engineering. Irrefutable evidence is the existence of 15 storey towers in Las Khorey that were built during the Gerad dynasty. Materials used in the local Somali architecture included, among other things, a specific type of wood:

The gum-producing trees grow on the sterile hills near the coast in the Sanaag and Bari regions. In this districts there also grows a tree known in Somali as 'damask', a species of willow which is valuable for house- and boat-building purposes. It grows along the banks of the 'tugs' or dry water-courses which in the rainy season drain the interior. (Burale).

Moreover, according to historical testimony by the British Lieutenant John Hanning Speke in his journal What led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile, published some 31 years before the Somali-British treaty of 1886 wherein the English agreed to provide military and logistical support to the Isaaq near Aden in Yemen, the decline in power of the Warsangali Sultanate began thus:

Speke also discussed the relative strength of the Sultanate's administration, opining that Gerad Mohamoud Ali was a capable leader: