# Sheikh Madar (Sheekh Madar Axmed Shirwac)

> Sheikh Madar (1825–1918): Qadiriyya scholar and reformer remembered as the founder of Hargeisa.

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

## Who was he?

Sheikh Madar was a Somali religious leader, jurist, merchant and social reformer ([Wikipedia, Sheikh Madar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)). He is known as the founder of Hargeisa (same source). The historian [Abdurahman Baadiyow](/en/people/abdurahman-baadiyow/) also calls him the city's founder ([Abdurahman Baadiyow, WardheerNews, 2024](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-madar-ahmed-shirwa-1825-1918-the-qadiriyya-sufi-a-founder-of-hargeisa-and-a-societal-reformer)).

## Early life and study

He was born in 1825 near Berbera ([Baadiyow 2024](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-madar-ahmed-shirwa-1825-1918-the-qadiriyya-sufi-a-founder-of-hargeisa-and-a-societal-reformer)). He learned the Qur'an at a school that moved with the herders (same source). His father, a trader, paid for him to study in Harar for about 20 years (same source). His family is Habar Awal (Isaaq) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)).

## Founding a community

His teacher in Harar, [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Kabir Khalil, advised him to set up a Qadiriyya community at Hargeisa ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)). In the 1860s he founded a centre of learning there, the "big congregation" ([Baadiyow 2024](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-madar-ahmed-shirwa-1825-1918-the-qadiriyya-sufi-a-founder-of-hargeisa-and-a-societal-reformer)). Wikipedia names it the Jama'a Weyn ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)).

## Farming and settled life

The land around Hargeisa had good soil and water (same source). He and other leaders brought in sorghum farming and permanent houses ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)). Baadiyow writes that he moved people toward farming for food security ([Baadiyow 2024](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-madar-ahmed-shirwa-1825-1918-the-qadiriyya-sufi-a-founder-of-hargeisa-and-a-societal-reformer)). He built his grand mosque in 1883, and it still stands (same source). He also led the prayers for rain, called roobdoon ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)).

## Peacemaker

The community united people by shared faith rather than by lineage alone ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)). He mediated disputes that were blocking trade between Berbera and Harar ([Baadiyow 2024](https://wardheernews.com/sheikh-madar-ahmed-shirwa-1825-1918-the-qadiriyya-sufi-a-founder-of-hargeisa-and-a-societal-reformer)). The religious leaders also cared for disabled people of the region ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)).

## Scholar in debate

In 1897 he took part in religious debates in Berbera between the Qadiriyya and the Salihiyya orders ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)). See [Islam in Somalia](/en/society/islam-in-somalia/).

## Death and memory

He died in 1918 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Madar)). His tomb in Hargeisa is a place of visits and prayer (same source). Hargeisa grew into the largest city of the north. See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## In short

A religious leader who founded a settlement at Hargeisa in the 1800s.

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