THE HISTORY OF ONE OF SOMALI HERO-Mohammed Abdullah Hassan

Sayid Maxamad Cabdulle Xassan (born 1856 - died 1921)

Waxaa Qormadan isku soo duba riday, mahadi ha ka gaadhee, Mudane Axmed F. Cali "Idaajaa":

Sayid Maxamad waxa uu dhashay 1856 Gu'gii la magac baxay "Gobaysane". Gu'gaas waxa uu ahaa Gu' Barwaaqo ah oo dad iyo duunoba wixii dhashay Hano Qaad noqdeen. Sayid ku waxa uu ku dhashay Baliga la yiraahdo "Sacmadeeqo" oo Todobo mayl (7miles) u jirta Buuhoodle, kana xiga dhanka waqooyi. Hooyadiis waxaa la oran jiray Carraseed Magan. Qur'aanka Kariimka ah waxa uu ku bartay gurigooda. Cilmiga Diinta waxa uu ka bartay xer daganayd Nugaal;oo xaruntoodu ahayd dooxada Casuura iyo Yaaheed. 1892 waxa uu u kacay Maka iyo Madiina waxayna is raaceen saddex iyo toban wadaad oo ay isku xer ahaayeen. Saddex sano ama labo Gu iyo dhowr xagaa ayay ku maqnaayeen kobtaas oo ay diinta ka baranayeen. 1895 ayuu Sayid Maxammad ku ka soo dagay Magaalada xeebta ah ee Berbera, oo markaas Ingiriisku gumaysanayay. Markuu sayidku ka soo degay doontii uu saarnaa ayaa Ingiriiskii waydiiyeen canshuur. Sayidku waxa uu ugu jawaabay adiga yaa kaa qaadey canshuurtii kolkaad timid halkan.

Intaasi aan ku soo koobno taariikhda Sayid Maxamed Abdulle Xassan dhalashadiisa ku saabsan.

Markana aynu u guda galno Taariikhda Soomaalidii uu Ingiriisku ku adeegan jiray & Sayid Maxamed cabdulle Xassan:

Ingiriiska iyo Soomaalidii uu ku adeegan jirey ee uu dagaalka Sayidka u soo kaxaysatay waxay in badan ku eedeeyeen inuu wadaadku dhiigyacab ahaa oo aan sokeeye iyo shisheeye u kala soocnayn. Ilaa maantana waxaa la helayaa dad badan oo soomaali ah oo ay weli maskaxdooda ku dambayso raadkii dacaayadda shisheeyaha iyo wadaaddadii Soomaalida ahaa ee sida tooska ah Sayidka ula muransanaa.

Maamulkii gumeysiga iyo Soomaalidii ay isbahaysteeni markay eedda caynkaas ah Sayidka iyo Daraawiishta saarayeen ma xusi jirin duullaammadii iyo weerarradii colka iyo gaadahaba lahaa ee madax iyo minjo toona aan loo kala sooci jirin, xarumaha Daraawiishtana lagu soo qaadi jirey. Ma ay xusi jirin raggii talada Sayidka la wadey ee maagga iyo sida gardarrada ah Fardhiddin iyo Jidbaale xabbadda loogu leefsiiyey, mana xusi jirin wixii ay xoolo dhaqeen ee Ingiriiska iyo dadkii ay wada socdeeni ay dhaca kula meeri jireen. Ma ay xusi jirin inta jeer ee ay Sayid Maxamed kaga oohiyeen, markay dhegta dhiigga u dareen boqollaal nin-door wada ah oo ay daraawiishi ku dhisnayd. Bal si ka-fiirsi leh u akhri meerisyadan kugu qasbaya inaad Sayidka la oydo oo aad dhankiisa ka soo jeesato:

Eebbow geyiga oo dhan waa nalaga guulaaye
Waa noo gedleeyaan dadkii gaalada ahaay
Eebbow Giriig kolay ku tahay nala gamuunneeye!
Go'na lagama qaadine dulmay nagu gelaayaane
Gabbaad kale hadday noo helaan waa gam'i lahayne
Eebbow waxay nagu gabreen diinta soo gala e!
Eebbow garka haddaan qabsaday gaaxshe nabaddiiye
Eebbow gammaan iyo waxaan gini-cas dhiibaayey
Eebbow garow kagama helin goolashadaan wadaye!
Ganbalaaligii bay warmaha nagu garraaxeene
Eebow waa gumaadeen raggii gaanaha ahaaye
Eebbow waxay gebawareen Gaaguf iyo Xayde!
Xirsigii garaaraha lahaa Gaarrufkii dile e
Geydhaale Aw-Aadan bay galawga taabteene
Eebow geesigii Ina-Dherey ugu guduudsheene
Guxushaaga Baynaxa ilmadu waa tan gabaxlayne
Gorroska Muuse-taaganaa wadnuhu ila gariiraaye
Eebbow ways gamaamaa markuu gaarka soo maro e!

Meerisyadaas aannu soo sheegnay waxay ku jiraan gabayada Sayidka kuwa loogu jecel yahay mid ka mid ah. Waa gabayga 'Gudban' amase 'Gaalo-leged' lagu magacaabo ee, aftahanimmada suugaaneed ka sokow, in badan inoo muujin karaya waayihii Daraawiishta iyo, xilligii isaga la tiriyey, welwelkii iyo hammigii hoggaamiyahooda. Waa meerisyo tusaale kaa siin kara dhibaatooyinkii Ingiriis iyo Soomaalidii horkacaysey ay Daraawiish u geysteen, rag wixii ay ka laayeen, gardarradii ay hadba ula iman jireen Soomaalidii uu had iyo goor xoolaha iyo lacagta ku miisi jirey siday ugu gacan-sayreen. Qalbi murugeysan isagoo wada ah oo Eebbe-weyne u cabanaya ayuu kuu tawaawacayaa:

"Eebbow, dhulkii aannu lahayn meel aan ka degno nalooga dhaarey. Eebbow gaalo iyo cawaankeed waa noo gooddiyaan. Eebbow, Giriigga aan aad u kala fog nahayba ha ku ahaatee, nin waliba birta naga aslay. Eebbow, eed kama aannu geline, waa gardarro waxa ay noo gumaadayaan. Eebbow, dhibaatooyinka ay nagu hayaan waan ka seexan kari lahayn, haddii utun aan ka qabnaa ay jiri lahayd. Eebbow, waa diinta ha la taageero oo jahaadka ha loo soo baxo. Eebbow, nabaddii iyo waanwaantii aan la ag-taagnaa la iga hoos-qaadi waa'.

"Eebbow, waxay ciriidda jiifiyeen Darwiishkii Xasan-Gaarruf Axmed iyo Xayd Aadan Gallaydh. Eebbow, Xirsi-waal Maxamuud ayay Jidbaale gaalo iyo cawaankeed ku mawtiyeen. Eebbow, Aw-Aadan Seed iyo Xaaji Maxamuud dheri ayay ugu shubeen. Eebbow, garcaddaaga gaboobey ee Baynaxa Aadan Gallaydh waa taa ay ilmadu dhabannadiisa qoysey, markii ay god-aakhiro u direen saddexdii Darwiish ee uu dhalay, goobtii Jidbaalena ruuxda lagu weysiiyey. Eebbow wadnahaygu waa gariiraa, markaan arko Muuse-taagane Jaamac oo keligii kolba murugo meel la taagan. Eebbow, ma eego e, wejiga ayaan ka dadbaa, markaan arko isaga oo naxdin la dalanbaabbiyaaya oo gocanaaya afartii Darwiish ee uu dhalay, Jidbaalena gaalo iyo Soomaalidii waddey ay ku makaleen'.

Wuxuu Ilaah u cawdo iyo wuxuu u ashtakoodaba, wuxuu dhibaatadii la soo gaarsiiyey tusaaleeyo oo waxa lagu falay gocdaba, ugu dambaystii wuxuu rabbi ka durraamanayaa inuu libinta u soo meeriyo oo laga gacan-sarraysiiyo dadka gaalada taabacay ee xaqii Daraawiisheed lagu ogaa, godobta badanna ka haya:

Eebbow goonji weyn iyo xaq bay naga gullaafteene
Guullow ma helayaan waxay nagu gubaayaane
Eebbow waxay naga gogtaan waa galoof-olole!
Eebbow sidii guun haween 'gii'du waa aniye
Eebbow nin goba baan ahoy guni rifaysaaye
Eebbow waxaa noo gurmaday gaayo-alifleeye!
Ma gereysni Eebbow waxaa guufanneyska ahe
Eebbow gabooddii dorraad waa ka gar-allayne
Eebbow markaan geyllamey guulmiyoo baqane!
Eebbow guddoonkii sharciga gooye nimankiiye
Eebbow kufriga gedeftaley gacanta haystaane
Eebbow anaa kugu gar lehe guusha ha i seejin!

Sida ay cadawyadiisii ka faafin jireen, Sayid Maxamad ma ahayn nin dhiigga dadka u oomman, dhaca xoolahoodana u jeelqaba. Wuxuu ahaa nin ay waddaniyad kululi beer-qaadday, hase ahaayee dadkii uu u danaynaayey ay la garan waayeen. Wuxuu ahaa nin isaga iyo xarunta Daraawiishtaba in badan sidii ifka looga tirtiri lahaa loo guulay, naftiisa la dooni jiray, hagar daamooyin badanna loo geystey.

Markuu fekarey oo habeenno aan tiro yarayn aayo-xumada Soomaalida lala maaggan yahay naftiisa kala dooday, dadkiina ay waanadiisii badnayd wax ku qaadan waayeen, weerar joogto ahina uu xagga Soomaalida kaga socdo ayay la ahaatay dadku laba qaybood uun inuu yahay: Qaybta hore oo ah Daraawiishta uu madaxda u yahay, dantooduna tahay Ingiriis, Talyaani iyo Xabashi inay dhulka Soomaaliyeed ka bedbaadiyaan oo dagaal hubaysan kaga saaraan. Qaybta labaadina waxay ahayd Soomaalida xoogaggaas shisheeyaha ah la soo safatay ee soo hormari jirtey, ceelasha tusi jirtey, dhabbeyaasha la qaado u kala tilmaami jirtey, awrta ka iibin jirtey ama ka ijaari jirtey, dabadeedna xarumaha Daraawiishta soo hor-dhoobi jirtay.

Labadaas qaybood inay Soomaalidu tahay markii uu ka badin waayey ayuu u qaatay, Daraawiishna dhacsiiyey murtida ah, "cadawgaa jaallihiis waa cadawgaa", sida uu Qamaan Bulxan ku gabyey markuu lahaa:

Daabaca ninkii kugu dhufta ee daabku kuu celiyey
iyo kii 'duleedshaay' ku yiri wax isma doorshaane!

Sayid Maxamad, aragtidaas iyada ah siyaasad qarsoon kama uu dhigin. Wax badan ayuu gabay ahaan iyo qoraal ahaanba ummadda u bandhigay, 'gaalada aan la dagaallamayno ninkii taageero u fidiyaa isna waa gaal' ayuu in door ah ku celceliyey. Masafo gaaban waa kii ku lahaa:

Nin aqdaamo Ferenjiya, maantiyo abuurriin
Ama aaladduu sida, ama awrta buu rara
Ama adhiga buu qada, ama laba ugaadhsada
Ama uba ilaalaa, ama uurka kala jira
Ashahaado beeniyo, islaamnimo ha lagu dhaqo
Ilaahayna nama oran, anna ma oggolaan karo!

Waa siyaasad cad oo uu degsaday, digniinna u ahayd nin kasta oo xagga gumeysiga u janjeerasada amaba taageero u fidiya, xilli dagaal iyo xilli nabadeed intaba. Hayeeshee, in kasta oo uu waranka Daraawiishtu si toos ah ugu jeeday ninkaas gaalo-raaca ah ee uu sayidku tilmaamay, haddana waxaa dhici jirtey dar aan dagaalkaba war ka haynini inay haasahaasaha iyo gulufka jidbaysan ee ciidammada sayidka ku le'an jireen, hantidoodana ku waayi jireen. Waxaad mooddaa inay Daraawiishtu marar badan ka ilduufi jireen tusaalaha iyo dardaaranka Sayidka, taas oo sabab u noqon jirtey kooxo badan oo xarunta u han-weynaa in ay ka fogaadaan.

Gefaf dhowr ah oo ay Daraawiishi gashay ayaa maanta la tiriyaa, hase ahaatee way yar yihiin markii la barbar-dhigo guulihii ay soo hooyeen iyo sidii ay magaca dalka iyo dadka Soomaalida ahba sare ugu qaadeen, in kasta oo, ciidan ahaan, ugu dambaystii looga adkaaday.

ENGLISH.

Sayyīd Muhammad `Abd Allāh al-Hasan (somali: Sayid Maxamed Cabdille Xasan or Sayyid Mahammad Abdille Hasan) April 7, 1856 in the north of somalia – December 21,1920 in imi, ogaden) was a somali religious and nationalist leader (called The Mad Mullah by the British) who for 20 years led an armed resistance against British, Italianm, and ethiopia forces in Somalia.

Youth

Hassan, who belonged to the ogaden sub-clan of the Darod clan family, was born in 1856 in the valley of Sa'Madeeq. Some say he was born in Kirrit in northern Somalia. At the time, this part of Somalia was a protectorate of the United Kingdom. Between 1884 and 1960, the area was known as British somaliland .

Hassan was the eldest son of sheikh Abdille, an Ogaden somali. His mother, also a Somali, belonged to the dhulbahante clan. His great grandfather, Sheikh Ismaan of Bardee, was a pious man of great repute who left his homeland slightly north of qalaafo along the shebelle River valley in what is now the Ogaden and migrated southwards to settle with the religious Somali community at Barder along the Jubba river Jubba River. Hassan's grandfather, Hasan Nur, in turn left his home and moved closer to the Dhulbahante stronghold in north-eastern Somalia. There, he founded religious centres and devoted himself to the worship of God. Following the footsteps of Hasan Nur, Hassan's father Abdille also led a the religious life. Abdille married several Dhulbahante women by whom he had about 30 children of which Hassan was the eldest. Hassan's mother, Timiro Sade, came from the Ali Geri sublineage of the Dhulbahante clan, which was allied with the Ogaden.

Hassan grew up among the Dhulbahante pastoralists who were good herdsmen and warriors and who tended and used camels as well as horses. Young Hassan's hero was his maternal grandfather, Sade Mogan, who was a great warrior chief. In addition to being a good horseman, by the age of eleven, Hassan had learned the entire Qur'an by heart (he was a hafiz), and displayed all the qualities of a promising leader. He continued his religious education. In 1875, his grandfather died. Hassan was shocked by this loss. After 1875, he worked as a Qur'anic teacher for two years. His thirst for Islamic learning was so intense that he left his job and devoted about ten years to visiting many famous centres of Islamic learning including Harar and Mogadishu and even some centres in Sudan.

Hassan received education from as many as seventy-two Somali and Arab religious teachers. In 1891, returning to his home, he married an Ogadeni woman. Three years later, along with two of his uncles and eleven other companions some of whom were his maternal kin, he went to Mecca to perform Hajj. The party stayed there for a year and half and came under the charismatic influence of the newly developing Saalihiya order under the leadership of the great mystic Mohammed Salih who was a Sudanese. Hassan received initiation and very rigorous spiritual training under Salih.

Hassan emerged a changed man — a spiritually transformed man 'shaken and over-awed' but determined to spread the teachings of the Saalihiya order in Somalia.

Religion Mission

In 1895, Hassan returned to Berbera which was then considered by the British merely as 'Aden's butcher's shop', since they were interested only in getting regular supplies of meat from Somalia through this port for their British India outpost of Aden.

Taking advantage of British complacency and arrogance, Emperor Menelek II of Ethiopia asked Ras Makonnen, the Governor of his newly conquered Hararghe Province, to send armed bands to plunder and occupy Ogaden politically. The British withdrew from this area of their territory in Somalia.

In Berbera, Hassan could not succeed in spreading the teaching of the Saalihiya order due to the hostility of the local Qadiriyyah inhabitants who did not like him criticising their eating khat and gorging on the fat of sheep's tail and for following their traditional Qadiriyyah order. In 1897, he left Berbera to be with his Dulbahante kinsmen. On the way, at a place called Daymoole, he met some Somalis who were being looked after by a Catholic Mission. When he asked them about their tribe and parents, the Somali orphans replied that they belonged to the "clan of the (Catholic) Fathers." This reply shook his conscience, for he felt that the "Christian Overlordship in his country was tantamount to the destruction of his people's faith."

In 1899, an unfortunate event took place. Some soldiers of the British armed forces met Hassan and sold him an official gun. When questioned about the loss of the gun, they told their superiors that Hassan had stolen the gun from them. On 29 March 1899, the British Vice Consul wrote a very insulting and stern letter to him asking him to return the gun immediately, which someone in Hassan's camp had reported stolen. This enraged Hassan and he sent a very brief and curt reply refuting the allegation.

While Hassan had really been against the Ethiopian imperialist plunderers of Somalia, this small incident made him clash with the British. The British and Ethiopian Emperor Menelek II joined together to crush the Dervish movement of Hassan and some antagonistic Somalis also cooperated with Menelek II against him.

Armed struggle

In several of his poems and speeches, Hassan emphasized that the British infidels "have destroyed our religion and made our children their children" and that the Christian Ethiopians in league with the British were bent upon plundering the political and religious freedom of the Somali nation. He soon emerged as "a champion of his country's political and religious freedom, defending it against all Christian invaders." He issued a religious ordinance that any Somali national who did not accept the goal of unity of Somalia and would not fight under his leadership would be considered as kafir or gaal. He acquired weapons from Turkey, Sudan, and other Islamic and/or Arabian countries. He appointed his ministers and advisers in charges of different areas or sectors of Somalia. He gave a clarion call for Somali unity and independence.

Hassan organized his follower-warriors. His 'Dervish' movement had essentially a military character and the Dervish state was fashioned on the model of a Saalihiya brotherhood. It had rigid hierarchy and rigid centralization.

Though Hassan threatened to drive the Christians into the sea, he committed the first attack by launching his first major military offensive with his 1500 Dervish equipped with 20 modem rifles on the British soldiers stationed in the region.

Hassan sent one of his men to Yemen in disguise for reconnaissance activities to report the new aeroplanes preparedness for attack. He sent his emissaries all over the country appealing for Somali people to join his movement and many responded to him enthusiastically.

Against Ethiopia, Britain and Italy

In 1900, an Ethiopian expedition which had been sent to arrest or kill Hassan, looted a large number of camels of the Mohammed Subeer tribe of Ogaden. In answer to his appeal, Hassan attacked the Ethiopian garrison at Jijiga on 4 March of that year and successfully recovered all the looted animals. This success emboldened Hassan and also enhanced his reputation.

In June, three months later, Hassan raided the British protected northern Somali clans of Eidagale and Isaaq and looted about 2,000 camels. He gained great prestige in recovering the looted stock from the Ethiopians and he used it along with his charisma and powers of oratory to improve his undisputed authority on the Ogaden. To harness Ogaden enthusiasm into final commitment, Hassan married the daughter of a prominent Ogaden chieftain and in return gave his own sister, Toohyar Sheikh Adbile, to Abdi Mohammed Waale, a notable Mohammed Subeer elder.

However, soon angered by his autocratic rule, Hussen Hirsi Dala Iljech' - a Mohammed Subeer chieftain plotted to kill him. The news of the plot leaked to Hassan. He escaped but his prime minister and friend, Aw 'Abbas, was killed in the plot. Some weeks later, Mohammed Subeer sent a peace delegation of 32 men to Hassan, but he had all the members of the delegation arrested and killed. Shocked by this heinous crime, Mohammed Subeer sought the help of the Ethiopians and the Dervish withdrew to Nugaal.

Hassan (by now better known by his honorific title of "Sayyid") patched up with the Dulbahante temporarily by paying huge blood monies. This frightened the British protected North Somali pastorals. Towards the end of 1900, Ethiopian Emperor Menelik proposed a joint action with the British against the Dervish. Accordingly, British Lt. Col. E.J. Swayne assembled a force of 1,500 Somali soldiers led by 21 European officers and started from Burco on 22 May 1901, while an Ethiopian army of 15,000 soldiers started from Harar to join the British forces, to crush the Dervish movement of about 20,000 Dervish (of whom 40 percent were cavalry).

During 1901 and 1904, the Dervish army inflicted heavy losses to their enemies - the Ethiopians and the British as well as the Italian forces. "His successes attracted to his banner even Somalis who did not follow his religious beliefs." On 9 January 1904 at the Jidaale (Jidballi) plain the British Commander, General Charles Egerton killed 7,000 Dervish. This defeat forced Sayyid and his remaining men to flee to Majeerteen country.

Around 1910, about 600 Dervish followers decided to stop follow Sayyid due to his high-handedness, in a secret meeting under a big tree later nicknamed "Anjeel-tale-waa" (The tree-of-Bad-Counsel). Their departure weakened, demoralized and angered Sayyid, and at this juncture he composed his most famous poem entitled. "The Tree of Bad Counsel".

Sayyid Mohamed's Push To The South

Marehan forces from the Hinterland in Northern Somalia to the length of the entire Jubba inside Somalia, from Serinley, near Bardera, to the coast, Sayyed Mohamed received enormous support from Marehan population for his push to gather fighting men in the south of Somalia.

Sayyid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan's own Ogaden clansmen weren't entirely on his side when the Marehan saw the importance of siding with nationalist leader on the mission of getting rid the colonial power. From Serinley onwards to Dolow, the second arm of the Marehan wasn't happy with new dynamics of giving the British a second front for confrontation. The peaceful communities between Bardera and Dolow to the Tana River in East Africa were long established before the late 19th century uprising of Sayyed Mohamed Abdulle Hassan.

The Marehan Rer Guri were content and basically wanted to herd their livestock from the grasslands of Jubba to Tana River peacefully, where they had settled at the time. The Marehan Galti from the north and central Somalia was in the struggle mood. Northern Gedo Sheikh of Ali Dheere, who was at the time in concert with the rer Guri, was content with the status quo in terms of not wanting to be part of armed struggle against the British and their proxy fighters, the East Africa Riflery.

Consolidation

Mohammed Abdullah Hassan's fort Taleh.

During 1910-1914, Sayyid's capital moved from Illig to Taleex in the heart of Nugaal where he built three garrison forts of massive stone work and a number of houses. He built a luxurious palace for himself and kept new guards for his palace drawn from outcast clans. By 1913, he had dominated the entire hinterland of the Somali peninsula by building forts at Jildali and Mirashi in Warsangali country, at Werder and Qorahy in the Ogaden and Belet-Weyn in southern Somalia. On 9 August 1913, at the Battle of Dul Madoba, a Dervish force raided the Habar Yoonis tribe near Burco and killed or wounded 57 members of the 110-man "Somaliland Camel Constabulary." The dead included the British officer who commanded the constabulary, Colonel Richard Corfield. Hassan memorialized this action in his poem simply entitled "The Death of Richard Corfield." In the same year, the Dervish attacked Berbera and looted and destroyed it. In 1914, the "Somaliland Camel Corps" was founded as an expanded and improved version of the constabulary.

By 1919, despite the British having built large stone forts to guard the passes to the hills, Hassan and his armed bands were at large, robbing and killing.

The Sayyed and his followers in Jubba vision was similar to that of people in Sudan and Egypt when Ottoman Sultanate was retreating from North and East Africa territories.

Defeat

Main article: 1920 conflict between British forces and Somaliland dervishes

In the beginning of 1920, the British struck the Dervish settlements with a well-coordinated air and land attack and inflicted a stunning defeat. The forts of Hassan were damaged and his army suffered great losses. They hastily fled to Ogaden. Here, again with the help of his patriotic poetry and charisma, he tried to rebuild his army and accomplish the coalition of Ogadeen clans which made him a power in the land once again. The British sent a peace delegation to him offering to give a government subsidy and a land grant in the west of the British Somaliland where he could settle with his followers, but he spurned the proposal. He even raided the returning delegation. Then smallpox and rinderpest broke out in Ogaden and about half of the Dervish died therefrom. Soon thereafter, a tribal raid under the leadership of Haaji Waraabe ("Haji the Hyena") armed and organized by the British killed the remaining Dervish and took away about 60,000 animals in loot but failed to catch Hassan. Along with some of his followers, he escaped to the Arsi Oromo in Ethiopia where he tried to contract marriages to stabilize his position.

Death

On 21 December 1920, Hassan died of influenza at the age of 64.

more information go to http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=62591873872&topic=7480#/group.php?gid=62591873872

or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Abdullah_Hassan