SUFI POETRY IN SOMALI

the famous order founded by cABD AL-QADIR AL-JILANI who

died in Baghdad in A.D. 1166 and the Af.:{tvIADIYYAE founded

by AI;iMAD B .. IDRIS AL-FASI (1760-1837 ) at Mecca. 1 The
A~~ADIYYAH gave rise to two branches, the ~ALIBIYYAH
founded by MUI;iAMMA.D $ALIf.:{, a pupil of AI;1MAD B. IDRls, and

31.

the DANDARAWIYYAH which was founded by MUI;IAMMAD AL-DANDARAWl.^2

Although the spread of Sufism in Somalia and other parts

of the Horn of Africa may have occurred during the heyday

of Islamic cultural diffusion in the 12th and 13th centuries,

there are some sources which suggest that the celebrated

saint of southern Yemen, SHAIKH SHARIF ABU BAKR AL-cAYDARUS

AL_cADANI was the first to introduce the QADIRIYYAH Sufi

order in the Horn of Africa in 1503.^3 The Af.:{MADIYYAH and

its related branches, the $ALHIIYYAH and the DANDARA1HYYAH

were introduced to Somalia in the 19th century.4 From

the beginning, these three affined orders established

permanent settlements (ZAWIYAT, JAMACAT) in various parts

of the country and taught their adherents within their

centres. Moreover, the $ALIf.:{IYYAH, the most numerous of

the three, took an interest in·po1itic~. The resistance

move~ent led by Sayid Maxamed Cabdille Xasan against the

foreign occupation of Somalia was inspired by the teaching

of SHAIKH MUI;iAMMAD $ALII;I. The QADIRRIYYAH, however,

turned its attention to teaching and founded its roots in

Harar which it used as its training centre while spreading

Islam to the rural population of the interior. Besides

Harar, the order founded flourishing centres of Muslim

learning in the coastal cities of the Red Sea and the

Indian Ocean, such as Zeila and Mogadish~. These centres,

which became the permanent seats of Islamic education and