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by Abdi Abdillahi Jama
Monday, March 23, 2009
“It is impossible to reach any understanding of Somali political relations without having some knowledge of the country and of the climatic conditions which limit their economy and pattern of territorial dispersion.”
I.M. Lewis. A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa
“We are used to thinking that our system of ‘democracy’ is the best – we talk about exporting democracy as if it was a generic model. But when you look at how ‘democracy’ functions in America we should feel embarrassed to recommend it to anyone else. [It is more nauseating, if not detrimental, to imitate the so-called western democracies].” (emphasis added)
Steven Hill. The head the political reform centre at the New America Foundation in Washington, DC.
There are numerous diverse and contending suggestions concerning the construction of a viable and functioning government in Somalia. These contending suggestions fall chiefly into two camps: some propose an Islamic state ruled by Sharia Law and others a democratic state (a third camp attempts to combine the two but could not realize how. That is why I am interesting in this group). The former camp asserts that an Islamic state is the only viable government system that we ought to construct but it fails to examine and explicate the ways in which an Islamic state is to be structured. They assume naively that what Somalia needs is religious leaders (or Shura, which is foreign to Somali social organizations) while it does not provide any kind of government institutions or what kind of constitution should be established. Their failure stems primarily from the lack of any evidence or supporting suggestions from either the Quran or the Hadiths. That is, neither the Quran nor the Hadiths proposes any system of governance. Rather, it is up to the community in question to construct its own system of governance according to their own particular way of life (e.g., their custom, culture, environment) provided it does not permit what is prohibited by the religion. Reconsider
Since it is up to the community to construct its own particular system of governance, the community should strive to study itself and, then, create a system of governance which reflects its features and characteristic. This is the primary reason that there are innumerable varied political theories proposed by both the Muslim scholars as well as the secular scholars within each Muslim society. The essence of each proposed political theory, if one reads closely, reflects its author’s particular culture, custom, environment, history, and so forth. Therefore, it is unfeasible, if not detrimental, to borrow from these proposed systems of governance and introduce into our political system due to its nature. That is, these political theorists from afar do not face the same ecological challenges that we do, neither do they have the same social organizations, nor the same history, culture, custom, clan relations, and so forth. If there are some communities whom we have same similarities and attempt to imitate, we should study them first in-depth.
The latter camp suggests a democratic government. They contend that democratic government/institutions are the only means through which Somalia can thrive and realize its potentials. However, when one reads closely, one realizes that their proposal is appallingly an imitation. That is, they are attempting to imitate primarily the government institutions of the Western countries without mastering, scrutinizing and studying it in-depth. They assume erroneously that western political institutions are somehow “universal” and, therefore, Somalis ought to imitate and adopt them. It is appropriate to propose a democratic government/institutions that reflects the features and characteristics of Somalis, but it is detrimental to assume that there is somehow a ready-made how-to-do-it manual that we can easily memorize and implement (as in this case; imitating the western countries). There is no such a thing. It simply reflects our intellectual laziness of avoiding the painful long-term journey of challenging not only our intellect, but also our preconceived notion as well as conventional wisdom. Their failure stems from their ignorance of mastering and appreciating of not only the history of the Western political institutions, but also its significance: why it is constructed the way it is? Who/what do these institutions serve? Is it what the elite scholars as well as their media cronies are purporting? Or is there something deeper? If they study and master what they are attempting to propose, they would rebuff it in no uncertain terms or, as Steven Hill puts it, would “feel embarrassed to recommend it.”
Thought these two suggestions are diametrically opposing, they share one thing: imitation. Both endeavor to duplicate a system of government from other- and distance cultures that contain unrelated characteristics with our culture and way of life. That is not to say, however, that we cannot learn and imitate certain aspects and features from other cultures. Historically, people from diverse cultures as well as distance places were and still are interacting and learning from each other’s mistakes, successes and experiences Nevertheless, each culture cannot learn from every other culture (Note: here I am strictly talking about a governing system. I am not interesting the medicine, engineering, technologies…etc). If, for instance, culture A shares similar characteristics with culture B, it is feasible that culture A learns from culture B and vice versa, provided that each studies the other in-depth. However, when culture A interacts with culture C which contains little if any related characteristics, it is unfeasible, if not destructive, for culture A to learn or imitate from culture C, and vice versa, as history attests. But how, one may ask, a particular culture can realize from which culture to imitate and which culture to disregard? This is the nucleus of my argument in short peace.
Before attempting to learn from and imitate other cultures or governing systems, two conditions ought to be met: first, we should learn and study ourselves and, second, we should learn and study other culture(s) and governing system(s) from which we are attempting to imitate, if at all. First, we should learn our history, culture, environment, economic system, clan relations/history and so forth staring from as far back as possible, usefully in pre-Islamic Somalia. Starting from pre-Islamic Somalia would assist us appreciate not only the changes that took place, but also why did it take place? how? when? And where? For instance, what kind of culture, religion, and economic system did we have before Islam? When did our contemporary diverse clan identities emerge? Why did it emerge? How? Where? There are countless similar questions that we should endeavor to raise and answer. Through the answers of these questions, we would be in a better position to construct our own particular and unique system of governance within, rather than imitating others.
It is impossible, as we all know, for one single person to master every aforementioned discipline, but it is useful if each one of us concentrates his/her own particular field of interest. For instance, some are interesting in political science others environment sill some others religion, or culture, or gender relations, law and so forth. Some of these diverse disciplines, if not all, are interrelated and force one to glance other fields in order to appreciate his/her own particular field. Studying these diverse disciplines does not mean that one watches TVs or reads newspaper and, then, claims to be an “expert,” which we embarrassingly encounter frequently. Rather, it requires an academic and in-depth study, which is not an easy task. It takes several years, if not decades, to master in any particular discipline. Second, when these diverse groups of scholars each of which has its own particular expertise emerge, we can realize and appreciate not only what kind of governing system we ought to construct within, but also which culture or governing system we can learn from or imitate, if at all.
Erroneously (and I believe this is our biggest and troubling mistake), most if not all of us assume that we know our history, culture, environment, economic system, religion and so forth. But we do not. And let me say it again clearly and loudly, WE DO NOT. I am not claiming that I do know, but knowing that I do not know is the affirmation of my ignorance and the first step and attitude of a student. Most of us are amateurs claiming and thinking that we know our culture/religion/environment/economic system, but as soon as you corner these “experts” and pose the question: what is culture/religion/environment/economic system? Or where does it come from? You would realize that these individuals are clueless about what they are attempting to convey and explicate. Let us restrain ourselves from this intellectual laziness that we are trapped for so long and start the painful long-term journey of unearthing our ignorance.
Abdi Abdillahi Jama is a Political Science/Global Studies student at the University of Minnesota.
He can be reached at [email protected]