Somalia: Historical Phases of the Islamic Movements

Somalia: Historical Phases of the Islamic Movements

Abstract

There is very little scholarship on the history of the Islamic movements in Somalia. Available literature mainly addresses Islam from the margins of history through orientalist and secularist discourses, and security perspectives. This paper offers an overview of four phases of the development of the Islamic movements since 1800.

The first phase is the Islamic revival (1800-1950) which focuses on the Sufi brotherhoods and their interaction with the colonial powers. The second phase is the rise of the Islamic consciousness (1950-1967) where Islam and nationalism were jointly used as anti-colonial ideology.

The third phase is the Islamic awakening (1967-1978) and initiation of the early modern Islamic organizations. The fourth phase is the emergence of organizations of the Islamic movements (1978-..).

The narrative of this paper is extracted from the PhD thesis by the author on the Islamic Movement in Somalia. It provides empirically rich narrative of the development of the Islamic movements from insider’s
perspective.