# Ali Feiruz (Cali Fayruus)

> Ali Feiruz (1931 to 1994): oud player and composer, Radio Hargeisa and Waaberi.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-feiruz/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who was he?

Ali Abdi Feiruz was a Somali musician ([Wikipedia, Ali Feiruz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Feiruz)). His family was Habar Awal (Isaaq) (same source).

## Life

He was born in Djibouti in 1931 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Feiruz)). He moved to Hargeisa in the late 1950s and to Mogadishu in 1973 (same source). He died in Djibouti in mid-1994 (same source). See [Somalis in Djibouti](/en/diaspora/djibouti/).

## Music

His career began at Radio Hargeisa in the late 1950s ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Feiruz)). He was one of the first popular Somali players of the kaban, or oud, in the 1950s (same source). In the 1960s he added guitar, violin and accordion to his performances (same source).

He was a member of the Walaalaha Hargeisa group and later of the Waaberi troupe (same source). Music in Africa describes Walaalaha Hargeisa as the group that "further elevated the heello genre" in those years ([Music in Africa](https://www.musicinafrica.net/node/25169)). That source does not name him.

He composed the tune "Ilaahayow waa kugu mahad" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Feiruz)). Its release coincided with the independence of the former [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) protectorate in 1960 (same source). As of 2012 it was still the opening theme of the news on Radio Mogadishu and Radio Hargeisa (same source). Wikipedia notes his influence on Somali musicians of the 1960s and 1970s (same source). See [Somali music](/en/society/somali-music/) and [Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/).

## In short

An oud player and composer from Djibouti who worked at Radio Hargeisa and with Waaberi, and composed a tune used as a radio news theme.

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