- Haji Abdulkarim Husen
Yusuf (better known as Haji Abdi Warabe) – may Allah bless his soul-
passed away on Friday the 10th of May 2019 coinciding with 5th of
Ramadan 1440 of the Islamic calendar. A lot is being written on the
ocassion of his death in Somali mainly over the social media. Panel
doscussions might also be organized on the Somali speaking TV channels.
My intention here is to convey a mesagge about him to the non-Somali
speaking world regarding his peace making efforts and how he earned the
respect that he commanded in Somaliland and beyond. He was recognized
as peace icon in all the Somali territories in general and in Somaliland
in particular. He died on a friday which is the blessed day of the week
according to Islamic Sharia in the holy month of Ramadan.
Prayers for him poured
almost instantly from thousands of supporters around the world when his
death was officially announced by the Hargeisa International Hospital
where he was being nursed for in the last days of his life. He was
buried the next day in his small town named Toon located about 12KMs
south of Hargeisa. Tens of thousands of people from a cross-section of
Hargeisa residents joined Somaliland’s president HE Muse Bihi, cabinet
ministers and members of parliament to bury him. Haji Abdi was member of
Somaliland’s upper house of parliament till his death. One of his sons
will automatically occupy his parliamentary seat as per the existing
rules for succession in the upper house, better known as the Guurti
Council.
He was born in the
outskirts of the then small growing town of Hargeisa sometime in 1898 as
per his account, thereby becoming the eldest Somalilander who lived
over three centuries. Haji Abdi grew up as camel-herder. He was named
Abdi Warabe when camel looters attacked and drove away his herd of
camel. Armed with old rifle, he went after the looters killing one of
them and wounding another. Convinced that he will not give up till he
gets back all his camel, the looters named him “the hyena (warabe in
Somali)” and decided to release the whole of his camel.
When he was in his
twenties in the early 1920s, his father was killed by a man from a
neighboring clan. As per tradition, he devised a revenge plan to
eliminate his fathers killer. Along with one of his relatives, they
proceeded to the location of the killer and after sometime, they found
him. The killer had no idea, that his visitor is the son of the man he
murdered earlier. Abdi Warabe and his relative identified themselves as
going after some lost camel. The former assassin was by then a changed
man and he invited them for dinner. His house was not enough and he
entertained his guests in the open air by making small fire as per the
custom of the Somali nomads. Abdi Warabe and his friend ate their dinner
but it started to rain soon afterwards. The host invited his guests
into his small traditional hut. Soon they realised that their host was
only with his wife and a little daughter.
The rainfall grew more
intense and drops of water started to drop from the roof. The host went
out of his way held a leather mat over Abdi Warabe to keep him dry.
After sometime, it stopped raining and the host had to release his
animals to drink from the fresh rainwater collected outside. At that
point, Abdi Warabe’s friend wispered to him by saying it is now the
right time to shoot him. Abdi Warabe responded by saying, “how can I
shoot the guy who went out of his way to even prevent drops of water
from the roof to wet my clothe”?.
That was the end of the
revenge plan and from that point onwards, Abdiwarabe was recognized as a
peace-loving gentleman both by his own clan as well as by the rival
clan. Due to this reason, an arrangement was made by the rival clan to
wed the assassin’s young daughter to Abdi Warabe in order to ceal a
peace and reconcilation pact between the two rival clans. At that time,
Abdi Warabe’s brother was the chief, or traditional leader, of his clan.
The leader brother died afterwards, and Abdi Warabe was elected to
replace him as the new chief in 1940. Later, he travelled to Mecca to
carry out his Hajj obligations and he got the Haji title after that.
Haji Abdi’s clan inhabits
along the territory between Hargeisa and Aware town in the south
covering a distance of about 140KMs. Aware was part of the area called
“the Hawd and Reserve Area” that was administered by the British but was
latter handed over to the Ethiopian Empire in 1954. Haji Abdi Warabe
worked with the British colonial administration till 26th June 1960 when
Somaliland got its independence and soon joined Italian Somaliland on
1st July 1960. Haji Abdi Warabe was a gifted leader with outstanding
wisdom and eloquent skills. He was also sincere and peace loving leader.
That is why he was always close to the successive governments in
Somalia.
Due to the fact that a
large percentage of his clan is spread over several districts in the
HAWD AND RESERVE AREA in West Somali Region in Ethiopia, he also worked
with successive Ethiopian governments from Emperor Haile Selassie to the
current EPRDF government.
He was intrumental in the
setting up of state institutions after Somaliland declared its indepence
from Somalia in May 1991. He became founding member of the Guurti
Council which is Somaliland’s upper house of parliament. He was elected
as the chairman of the permanent standing committee in the upper house; a
position je held till his death on 10th May 2019. Haji Abdi Warabe
played a key role in the resolution of devastating clan conflicts in
Somaliland from 1994 to 1995. He was both member of the Guurti Council
and the chief of his clan and was recognized as eldest and the most
outstanding statesman in Somaliland. He is credited with many peace
related proverbial sayings over the years; many are recorded in his
biography written in Somali with the title translated as “The Peace
Advisor”. He was once quoted as having defined statesmanship to mean
“foregoing your due share (over disputed matters) in favour of your
opponent for the sake of the general good”.
Haji Abdi Warabe witnessed
tumultus and violent times in the Horn of Africa both within the Somali
communities and between rival countries like the Ethio-Somali war of
1977. For over a century, he struggled to put out conflicts and grow the
seeds of peace. By and large, he succeeded in his mission. He died in
his peaceful Somaliland. Over the last several months, he was
incapacitated in bed, but I am sure he was informed about the change in
Ethiopia and the coming to power of the young dynamic Dr Abiy who is
trying to build sustainable peace in the Horn in particular and in the
whole of Africa in general.
Somalilander’s are urged
to nourish his legacy by nurturing the culture of reconcilation and
foregivess. I would propose to HE president Muse Bihi to recognize 10th
May 2019 as the national day of reconcilation and forgiveness in
Somaliland.
May Allah bless Haji Abdi’s soul and reward him with paradise.
Prof. Abdirashiid Ahmed Guled
Hargeisa, Somaliland
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