Asharaf

Somali clan

The Asharaf, also spelled Ashraf (from the Arabic: أشراف, romanized: ashrāf, lit. 'nobles'), is a Somali clan. Their name is the plural of sharīf, an originally Arabic term designating those who claim descent from the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[1]

Belonging to the larger group of Somali clans living in the southern parts of the country called the Benadiri, they fall outside of the traditional Somali clan structures and are often marginalized within Somalia.[2] As a minority, they have been the target of violent Islamist groups such as the al-Shabaab.[3]

Contrary to most other Somali clans, who trace their ancestry to Muhammad's cousin and Ali's older brother Aqil ibn Abi Talib,[4] the Asharaf claim descent from Hasan and Husayn, the sons of Ali and Muhammad's daughter Fatima.[5] Like the claims of other Somali clans in this regard, this alleged genealogy is historically untenable.[6]

Clan structure

The claimed genealogical structure of the Asharaf clan is as follows:[7]

  • Hasan ibn Ali
    • Mohamed Sharif
    • Sharif Ali
    • Sharif Ahmed
    • Ashraf Sarman
    • Unnamed others
  • Husayn ibn Ali
    • Reer Sharif Magbuul
    • Sharif Ahmed
    • Sharif Balaaw
    • Unnamed others

Notable figures

  • Sharif Hassan[8]
  • Dada Masiti, Mana Sitti Habib Jamaladdin (Arabic: مانا ستي حبيب جمال الدين) (c. 1810s – 15 July 1919), commonly known as Dada Masiti ("Grandmother Masiti"), was an Ashraf poet, mystic and Islamic scholar. She composed her poetry in the Bravanese dialect spoken in Barawa.[9]
  • Sharif Aydurus, a famous scholar of Islamic and Somali history and pan-Islamic leader[10]
  • Shariif Imaankeey, Mayor of Mogadishu from September 1963–1965
  • Shariif Caydaruus, Mayor of Mogadishu from 1966–1970

See also

  • Demographics of Somalia
  • Samaale, legendary forefather of many other Somali clans, also claimed to be descended from the (wider) family of Muhammad
  • Sharif, the Arabic word from which the clan derives its name

References

  1. ^ Lewis 2008, p. 5; Mukhtar 2003, pp. 11, 68. On the two spellings, cf. also Anon. A 2010, p. 1.
  2. ^ Abbink 2009, pp. 36–37.
  3. ^ Yoshimura 2009, pp. 19–20. Cf. Anon. A 2010; Anon. B 2010.
  4. ^ Lewis 1961, pp. 11–13; cf. Mukhtar 2003, p. 62.
  5. ^ Abbink 2009, p. 37.
  6. ^ Lewis 1994, pp. 102–106, esp. p. 105.
  7. ^ Abbink 2009, p. 37.
  8. ^ June 2012 The Galgale In Somalia: Third-class citizens in their homeland Sharif Hassan from the Asharaf clan, page 12 Sharif Salah http://allafrica.com/download/resource/main/main/idatcs/00040315:40b8440c1c8a08b8c79febe8120327f9.pdf Archived 2016-11-07 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Declich, Francesca. Sources on Islam Composed in the Vernacular: Somali Women's Religious Poetry". Islam in East Africa: New Sources. Rome: Herder. pp. 297–330.
  10. ^ Ahmed, Ali Jimale. The Invention of Somalia.

Sources cited

  • Abbink, G. J. (2009). The Total Somali Clan Genealogy (second edition). Asc Working Paper Series. Vol. 84. Leiden: African Studies Centre. hdl:1887/14007.
  • Anon. A (9 July 2010). "Australian Government – Refugee Review Tribunal – Country Advice: Somalia" (PDF).
  • Anon. B (23 November 2010). "Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada: Responses to Information Requests: SOM103613.E" (PDF).
  • Lewis, Ioan M. (1961). A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780852552803.
  • Lewis, Ioan M. (1994). Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society. Lawrencewill, NJ: The Red Sea Press. ISBN 0-932415-93-8.
  • Lewis, Ioan M. (2008). Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History, Society. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-70084-9.
  • Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji (2003). Historical Dictionary of Somalia. African Historical Dictionary Series. Vol. 87. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810866041.
  • Yoshimura, Daisuke (2009). Clans in Somalia: Report on a Lecture by Joakim Gundel, COI Workshop Vienna, 15 May 2009 (Revised Edition) (PDF). Vienna: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin & Asylum Research and Documentation.