# Musa Haji Ismail Galaal (Muuse Xaaji Ismaaciil Galaal)

> Musa Galaal (1917–1980): scholar of Somali language, poetry and weather lore, and a maker of the Somali alphabet.

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

## Who was he?

Musa Haji Ismail Galaal was a Somali scholar, writer, poet and historian. Castagno's dictionary calls him "an authority on Somali customs, language, and literature" ([Castagno, *Historical Dictionary of Somalia*, 1975, "Musa Galaal"](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). He also studied Somali astronomy and weather lore ([Wikipedia, Musa Haji Ismail Galal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Haji_Ismail_Galal)).

## Early life and career

He was born in [Burao](/en/regions/togdheer/) in 1917. His family is Habar Jeclo (Isaaq) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Haji_Ismail_Galal)). In the early 1940s he served in the army under the [British Military Administration](/en/history/british-military-administration-1941-1950/), reaching the highest rank open to a Somali. From 1946 he worked in the protectorate's education department, and spent four years at the School of Oriental and African Studies in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)).

## A script of his own

In the 1950s he devised a new way to write Somali in Arabic letters. He added new symbols for Somali vowels, unlike any existing Arabic letter ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Haji_Ismail_Galal)). The anthropologist I. M. Lewis judged it the most accurate Arabic script made for Somali. Many felt it went too far from Arabic, and it was not adopted (same source).

## The 1960 committee and the Latin alphabet

In 1960 he headed a government committee on the best way to write Somali. It recommended a Latin-based system ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). The choice was only made in October 1972 (same source). He worked on the alphabet with the British scholar B. W. Andrzejewski and with [Shire Jama Ahmed](/en/people/shire-jama-ahmed/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Haji_Ismail_Galal)). See [the Somali language written in 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/).

## Poetry and Somali science

He recorded and wrote down a great deal of Somali poetry, including the poems of [Salaan Carrabey](/en/people/salaan-carrabey/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Haji_Ismail_Galal)). He wrote two major works on the traditional Somali calendar, stars and weather, still seen as classics of Somali studies (same source). Castagno lists his writing on literature, language, traditional medicine and weather lore ([Castagno 1975](https://archive.org/details/historical-dictionary-of-somalia-1)). In 1974 he worked in the Ministry of Higher Education (same source).

## His legacy

He died in 1980. The Somali Studies Association gives the Musa Galaal Award to scholars whose work on Somali history and culture stands out ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Haji_Ismail_Galal)).

## In short

A scholar who recorded Somali poetry and traditional knowledge and worked on the Somali alphabet.

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