by Ali Osman
Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Regarding the issue of asabiyah or Qabaliyah the Messenger of Allah (saaw) said, "He who calls for `Asabiyyah is as if he bit his father's genitals" - recorded in Mishkat al-Masabith

In another Hadith the Messenger of Allah (saaw) said “Leave it, it is rotten". Recorded in Muslim and Bukhari

Have you ever reflected deeply the meaning and symbolism of these two Hadiths? Just think about it! The mind refuses to even think about someone biting his or her father’s genitals or messing with dead rotting animals.  But just think about what this entails because it so relevant to our Somali situation.

Biting is painful as it is but it even so when someone bites your genitals because it is naturally a sensitive area and it is even more painful because it is a private area that usually no one likes to discuss or show. It is embarrassing, shameful and worse when it is like biting your own parent.

People don’t like to look or smell rotten things, when we see or smell we harry to avoid it or if we are driving we avoid running over it. We don’t sit around rotten things, we do not discuss rotten things, we do not smell rotten things and we do not like people who pick up rotten things. We do not like to do anything with rotten things.

Compare this situation to Somalia. It does not matter whether you are northern Somali, southern Somali or central Somali. Imagine you are Somali in Addis Ababa Bole International Airport catching a flight to Johannesburg, the attendant at the counter asks passport. While you hand your Somali passport, you notice the daily paper laying there with a headline that says: Carnage in Mogadishu: Suicide Bomber Struck in Graduation Ceremony. Keep in mind there are French, South African, American, Angolan and other nationals standing behind you, waiting their turn to be served. The young Ethiopian looks your passport and pointing to the newspaper says: What a terrible tragedy? How is Somalia now? You are alone, there is no “OTHER” tribe with you and there is no “OTHER” Somali northerner or Somali southerner with you, there is no “AL-SHABAB” or “HISBUL-ISLAM” with you. You are familiar that Ethiopia is over 70 tribes and languages and at least three religions Muslims, Christians and Judaism. You know that Ethiopia is 80 million and Somalia is roughly 8 million.

Further imagine you are familiar the rampant piracy, suicide bombings, and regionalism, tribalism and daily shelling of the capital. You are also familiar the poverty, diseases, and ignorance that saturated the TV channels. You are familiar the Hotel Shamow University graduation bombing and the fact that we are calling ourselves “Murtad” after exiting the same Mosque.

What a terrible tragedy? How is Somalia now?  No matter how you spin the answer or what excuse you provide, it is unquestionably stinking, rotten, biting and embarrassing answer. The answer is as painful as someone biting you at the genitals and as embarrassing as telling your doctor that your own child has bitten you.  When was the last time you saw something that made you proud of being a Somali on a TV channel? What would your child think of Somalia when he grows up watching these images?

Tribalism alone or mixed with religion or region is purely rotten. As our prophet Muhammad (SAAW) said “Leave it, it is rotten". Nothing good will ever come out of rotten thing.

Ali Osman
ccusmaan@gmail.com