Hiiraan Online

But sometimes even the vilest of movements does something good; something that goes against the grain of all their other acts; something that does not reflect their true sinful nature. These acts are often incidental byproducts of sinister aims. The Mongols commissioned the Maragheh observatory because they wanted Al-Tusi to consult the stars about the best times to launch rape and pillaging; Hitler built the autobahns to Schnell up his blitzkrieg and Mussolini famously made the trains run on time so he could ferry his fascists to Libya and Abyssinia.

Al-Shabab’s ban on khat falls in that category. Shabab are stopping Khat because they are instinctively against anything that smacks of joy and happiness and fun. They view Khat same way they view music and dancing and fornication. They are not concerned about the health or the welfare of the citizens under their control; they are worried they maybe indulging in decadence by chewing this narcotic shrub.

Nonetheless the ban on Khat will have a gargantuan impact on the health and the well-being of the people lucky enough to live under Al-Shabab rule. It will save money, families, minds, teeth and lives. It will increase productivity and decrease corruption and criminality. Countless wives will not be beaten and hundreds of children will no longer be raped by men drugged up to eyeballs with this most evil of all drugs.  

Western `experts’ routinely characterize Khat as `mild’ and `cultural’ and even depict it as having some sort of social benefit. As usual they have no idea what they are talking about. They do not chew it and have not lived in societies that do. They are not aware of the harrowing mental illnesses this monstrous drug causes. Visit any major urban centre in Somalia today and you will soon discover that most of the male population have mental health issues of varying degrees.

Al-Shabab’s decisive action against this killer weed shames not only the secular regimes that run various parts of the country it contrasts sharply with inaction of other Islamist groups who never seem to do anything tangible or helpful despite being enormously influential in all spheres of life across Somalia.

Take the issue of female genital mutilation. All Islamist groups consider it unislamic. It is not practised anywhere in the Middle East where Somalis Islamists look up to and often imitate. They know it causes so much pain and suffering to innocent little children and forever blights the lives of our grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters and lovers. Islamist leaders have so much power and influence they could stop this un-Islamic and barbaric practice in one day. All they have to do is issue an official fatwa against it calling it un-islamic.  They say they do not talk about such `girl… things’.

The opposite is true. Islamists, like all religious men the world over are obsessed with `girl things’. They never cease talking about their dress, behaviour, duties and the ins and outs of every aspect of their intimate lives. Yet they shy away from saving the women they so love to control from this cruelty.

Not using their moral and social power to better the lot of their society is tantamount to criminal negligence. Al-Shabab have demonstrated what could be done with absolute power, good and bad.

The ball is now in the court of the so-called moderates to follow Al-Shabab’s lead and for once do something good.

But I got a feeling Al-Shabab will beat them to that glory too. If they do history will judge them differently. I for one will not loath them any longer.  

Cabdi Yusuf
E-mail: [email protected]