# Culture and Customs of Somalia (2001) by Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi: a guide to Somali daily life

> Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi's Culture and Customs of Somalia (2001): who wrote it, what each chapter covers, from faith and poetry to food, dress, camels and music, and how it was reviewed.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/books/culture-and-customs-of-somalia-abdullahi/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## The book

**Culture and Customs of Somalia** is by **Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi** (Maxamed Diriye Cabdullaahi, born 1958), a Somali-Canadian linguist who worked as a journalist in Somalia before moving to Canada, took a doctorate in linguistics at the Université de Montréal, and has taught there ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Diriye_Abdullahi)). Greenwood Press published it in 2001 as part of its Culture and Customs of Africa series, a set of introductions to African countries for students and general readers. The main text runs to about 200 pages, with a glossary, bibliography and index ([University of Southern Indiana library](https://library.usi.edu/record/309628/export/btex)).

His other books include *Fiasco in Somalia: US-UN Intervention* (1995), the French course *Parlons somali* (1996) and his thesis on Somali dialects and history, *Le somali, dialectes et histoire* (2010) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Diriye_Abdullahi)).

## What is in it

After an introduction to the land, people and history of the Somalis, the book has seven chapters ([Library Supply](https://librarysupply.co.nz/shop/history-and-archaeology/history/african-history/culture-and-customs-of-somalia_441305)):

1. **Religion and thought**. See [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).
2. **Literature, drama and media**. See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/) and [Books in the Somali language](/en/society/books-in-the-somali-language/).
3. **Art, architecture and housing**.
4. **Cuisine and traditional dress**. See [Somali food](/en/society/somali-food/).
5. **Gender roles, marriage and family**. See [Family and marriage](/en/society/family-and-marriage/) and [Women in Somali society](/en/society/women-in-somali-society/).
6. **Social customs and lifestyle**. See [Clans and lineage](/en/society/clans-and-lineage/) and [Xeer customary law](/en/society/xeer-customary-law/).
7. **Music and dance**. See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/).

The publisher's description highlights its treatment of handcrafts, architecture and nomad housing, camel culture, food and eating customs, rites of passage, leisure and economic life, education and Somali musical genres ([Library Supply](https://librarysupply.co.nz/shop/history-and-archaeology/history/african-history/culture-and-customs-of-somalia_441305)). The introduction also discusses the much-debated question of where the Somali people came from ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Diriye_Abdullahi)).

## How it was received

A review in the International Journal of African Historical Studies found the book "refreshingly original" in its description of Somali culture, but "surprisingly parochial" in its survey of Somali political history ([Library Supply](https://librarysupply.co.nz/shop/history-and-archaeology/history/african-history/culture-and-customs-of-somalia_441305)).

## Where to read it

It is available in hardback and as an ebook from Greenwood, now part of Bloomsbury, and is held by many libraries. A longer scholarly survey of the same ground is I. M. Lewis's [Understanding Somalia and Somaliland](/en/books/understanding-somalia-and-somaliland-lewis/).

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