Scholars and religious figures
Sheikh Madar (Sheekh Madar Axmed Shirwac)
Sheikh Madar Ahmed Shirwa (1825–1918) was a Somali religious scholar and reformer known as the founder of Hargeisa. After about 20 years of study in Harar, he set up a Qadiriyya religious community at Hargeisa in the 1860s, encouraged farming and settled homes, built the town's grand mosque in 1883, and worked to reconcile feuding communities.
Sheikh MadarSheekh Madar · Madar Ahmed Shirwac
- Lived
- 1825 to 1918
- Known as one of
- Scholars and religious figures
- Era
- 1500 to 1884; Partition and the Dervishes, 1884 to 1920
- Sources
- 2 sources
Who was he?
Sheikh Madar was a Somali religious leader, jurist, merchant and social reformer (Wikipedia, Sheikh Madar). He is known as the founder of Hargeisa (same source). The historian Abdurahman Baadiyow also calls him the city's founder (Abdurahman Baadiyow, WardheerNews, 2024).
Early life and study
He was born in 1825 near Berbera (Baadiyow 2024). 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).
Founding a community
His teacher in Harar, Sheikh Kabir Khalil, advised him to set up a Qadiriyya community at Hargeisa (Wikipedia). In the 1860s he founded a centre of learning there, the "big congregation" (Baadiyow 2024). Wikipedia names it the Jama'a Weyn (Wikipedia).
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). Baadiyow writes that he moved people toward farming for food security (Baadiyow 2024). He built his grand mosque in 1883, and it still stands (same source). He also led the prayers for rain, called roobdoon (Wikipedia).
Peacemaker
The community united people by shared faith rather than by lineage alone (Wikipedia). He mediated disputes that were blocking trade between Berbera and Harar (Baadiyow 2024). The religious leaders also cared for disabled people of the region (Wikipedia).
Scholar in debate
In 1897 he took part in religious debates in Berbera between the Qadiriyya and the Salihiyya orders (Wikipedia). See Islam in Somalia.
Death and memory
He died in 1918 (Wikipedia). 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.
In short
A religious leader who founded a settlement at Hargeisa in the 1800s.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Sheikh Madar · en.wikipedia.org
- Abdurahman Baadiyow, WardheerNews, 2024 · wardheernews.com
Sheikh MadarSheekh Madar · Madar Ahmed Shirwac
- Lived
- 1825 to 1918
- Known as one of
- Scholars and religious figures
- Era
- 1500 to 1884; Partition and the Dervishes, 1884 to 1920
- Sources
- 2 sources
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