Abokor Muuse (Abokor Musa, Ciidagale)

Name and family tree

The Abokor Muuse are a sub-clan of the Ciidagale, a clan of the Isaaq family. Somali Wikipedia gives the full line as "Abokor Musa Da'ud Sheekh Ishaaq". It says the group is also traditionally called Saleebaan (Somali Wikipedia, Abokor Muuse, backup).

The ACLED 2025 coding list has no separate entry for the Abokor Muuse. It codes the Ciidagale as one group (ACLED clan actor list, September 2025). See the Somali clan tree.

Main branches

Somali Wikipedia names four main branches: Maxamed Dhimbil, Axmed Dhimbil, Aadan Abokor and Muuse Dhimbil (Somali Wikipedia, backup). Abbink's two lines under Abokor, Hassan and Adan, match the Xasan Abokor and Aadan Abokor in that list (Abbink 2009, p. 32).

The Somali Wikipedia tree runs from Daa'uud through Abokor (Saleebaan) down to Xasan Abokor. It gives his sons as Muuse, Laqshe, Basiralle and Dhimbil. Under Dhimbil it gives two large lines (same source):

• Maxamed Dhimbil: Reer Mucaawiye, Reer Fatax, Reer Guuleed and Muuse Maxamed.
• Muuse Dhimbil: through Cabdalle Muuse to lines including Reer Aadan, Reer Nuur, Reer Beniin, Reer Gallab and Reer Ciye.

Every group here is also on the Somali clan tree.

Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" (ACCORD, Clans in Somalia, 2009, p. 11).

All the places below come from Somali Wikipedia, a backup source (Somali Wikipedia, backup).

For the wider Ciidagale, the EUAA records the Garxajis in parts of Hargeisa and the Ciidagale west of Burco. See Ciidagale and Woqooyi Galbeed.

History on record

Somali Wikipedia gives this history, mostly without citations (Somali Wikipedia, backup):

• 1500s. It says the Abokor Muuse took part in the wars of Ahmad Gurey and the Adal Sultanate against Abyssinia. It names Basiralle and Dhimbil as ugaas of that time and says Basiralle died of wounds near Harar.
• 1800s. It says Abokor Muuse traders were active on the Hargeisa, Berbera and Harar caravan routes. It describes close ties with Emir Ahmad III bin Abu Bakr of Harar, who ruled from 1856 to 1875.
• Hargeisa. It says they took part in founding Hargeisa as a caravan stop built by Ciidagale traders.

English Wikipedia records the wider Ciidagale role in the caravan trade and in Somali poetry. See Ciidagale and Somali poetry.

Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as suldaan, ugaas or issim. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" (UK Home Office, CPIN Somalia: clans, 2019, quoting EASO 2014).

Somali Wikipedia says Abokor Muuse elders were respected for leading oaths and settlements at the shrine of Aw Barkhadle. The shrine lies between Hargeisa and Berbera (Somali Wikipedia, backup). It says the group had its own customary leaders, sultans and ugaas, drawn from its branches. See xeer, Somali customary law.

In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Abokor Muuse separately. It names the wider Ciidagale in two electoral rivalries in Hargeisa that "did not lead to armed violence" (EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1). See Ciidagale and clan conflicts, district by district.

Where sources differ

• Rank. Somali Wikipedia calls the Abokor Muuse "a large clan". English Wikipedia lists them as one of four Ciidagale sub-clans. Abbink places Abokor as a lineage under Musa.
• Branches. Abbink lists Hassan and Adan under Abokor. Somali Wikipedia names four branches, three of them through Dhimbil son of Xasan.
• The name Saleebaan. Somali Wikipedia gives Saleebaan as a traditional name for the group. Its own tree also lists a Saleebaan Abokor line.

Read more

• Ciidagale, the clan the Abokor Muuse belong to
• Isaaq
• Muuse Abokor, a different Habar Jeclo group with a similar name
• The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan