Vulnerable Minority Ethnicities in Somali: Ashraf & Sheikhal

Vulnerable Minority Ethnicities in Somali: Ashraf & Sheikhal.

Thinly spread out amongst these major clans are several non-Somali ethnic (brown colour in Figure 5) communities which include Bantu, Bajuni fishermen, and Arab-Persians whose presence in the Horn of Africa

predates many of the clans. Non-ethnic minorities are easily recognisable by Somali clans as being not of Somali ethnicity, even though it is quite difficult for us as non-Somalis. Using the graphic distribution of non-Somali ethnicities in Figure 10, you can locate the historical home areas of these ethnic communities, with the caveat that the ongoing Somali civil conflict has scattered many families internally and externally to Somalia. Not all non-Somali ethnic groups had their own historical home areas. One such minority are the religious-descent groups of the Ashraf and Sheikhal clans. The Ashraf and Sheikhal can best be described as descent groups rather than ethnic clans, as the lineages over the past 1.4 millennium have intermarried into ethnic families all over Somalia and the Arabic world. Their genetic male lineage to the Prophet Mohammed is their defining boundary, together with their imputed capacity to reason out meaning from the Quaran and the Hadith, which are the basis for Muslim social order and jurisprudence. Their genetic phenotype varies with their geographical location, and their ethnic belonging and identity are based more on archetype and historical narrative than external features.

The Sheikhal (Sheekhaal, Shiqal, or Sheikhash) claim descent from Fiqi Cumar, a figure traced back to the Banu Taym sub-clan of the Quraysh tribe in Arabia. The name itself is the plural of "Sheikh," signifying a community traditionally specialized in Islamic services, conflict resolution, and education. The Sheikhal and Ashraf’s status in Somalia's clan-based political system is complex and varies by region. Historically, the Sheikhal families were often associated with the powerful Hawiye clan family for political representation, however, even the larger more powerful clans have had to look after themselves in the face of the growing jihadist threat. The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) lists both the Ashraf and the Sheikhal descent groups as being particularly vulnerable and are considered marginalized minority groups. There are some individual religious descent group families such as the Loboge, which have had strong alliances with the Hawiye Clan, possessing their own family-based militias that proved capable of protecting their families. Most of the religious descent groups, however, eschew martial tradition in favour of jurisprudence and conflict resolution. Traditionally, the Sheikhal and Ashraf were respected as "neutral" religious figures who mediated disputes between larger warring clans. However, this customary protection largely

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Ashraf & Sheikhal Families. The reality of life as a member of an outcast descent group is particularly difficult and one such example group is the Ashraf and Sheikhal communities. These descent groups’ historical role in Somali socio-religious society brings them into direct conflict with violent extremist Salafi groups using terror to secure control over a cowed population. These are hard times for the historical religious class of Somalis. Though they are Somali citizens, many have been driven out of formerly welcoming communities because of inter-tribal hostilities created and or amplified by the militant groups Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, and Islamic State. Once driven out from their tribal homes, Ashraf and Sheikhal refugees generally seek asylum in the UK or in Kenya and Tanzania. The ones that remain in Somalia live in fear of being persecuted or eliminated as a threat to Islamic Jihadists. Unlike others in Somalia, these descent groups do not have strong clans to protect their interests. Conditions in Mogadishu for an asylum returnee who is a member of the Ashraf and Sheikhal descent groups are complex. They are Somali citizens, but they are not accepted as Somalians. Al-Shabaab’s campaign against all competing claims to religious (and therefore social) authority has placed a target on the backs of most of these communities and the families within.

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collapsed during the civil war starting in 1991, leaving many Sheikhal and Ashraf members vulnerable to displacement and violence by majority clan militias. The Ashraf people are believed to be descended from the Prophet Mohamed's daughter Fatima and are attacked by violent jihadists because of religious status. As opposed to Sheikhal descent groups, all Ashraf claim descent from one or the other of Fatima's two sons: Hassan and Hussein.

The Ashraf’s religious status meant that, in pre-conflict eras, they were usually protected by those amongst whom they live, through the establishment of alliances and support networks. Sharif (the word of which Ashraf is the superlative) is a title, rather like 'Father' addressed to a priest. It is an Arabic word meaning 'noble' or 'respected'. It can be attached to one of a person's names or to more than one, and an individual may use it at one time but not at another. It can be used by all Ashraf but is not necessarily required, and many nowadays prefer to omit it in order to remain less conspicuous to the attentions of Al Shabaab. It is not generally a personal name, and hence will not necessarily appear on documents such as identity card or passport. Whilst Somali clansmen in urban centers might have a worldly grievance about an individual Ashraf, from a religious point of view, the Ashraf were considered as moral by virtue of their descent and were not generally targeted during the early 2000s. This changed, however, with the emergence of the various Islamic extremist groups. The Ashraf’s attribution of religious knowledge based on their descent from Fatimah created a competitive dilemma  for Al Shabaab and its Al Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates and supporters. For the major clans and their subclans, the value of the Ashraf was their ability to read, write, and translate the pure language of the Koran from Arabic to Somali as well as explain to them, the teachings, examples, and interpretations of the great Islamic scholars. The Ashraf’s value to the Somali clans interfered / interferes with, violent extremists’ ability to manipulate the Islamic religion as a tool to weaponize the otherwise peaceful civilian population segments. Al Shabaab denies the existence of any kind of moral hierarchy based on descent as this results in impermissible ideological competition. Al Shabaab considers the Ashraf and Sheikhal to be inherently guilty of bid'ah or an "unlawful innovation" with respect to Islam and creates an immanent risk of being killed or persecuted by Al Shabaab. From our qualitative research, we are told that, for Al Shabaab, the only thing better than a dead Ashraf or Sheikhal man is an Ashraf that defects and joins Al Shabaab, agreeing with their twisted ideology. We find that the Ashraf who live among the Digil-Mirifle have a higher likelihood of being targeted by Al Shabaab as their alliance with the Digil weakens Al Shabaab’s ability to convert and weaponize their society, given the Ashraf’s ability to help the Dirgil’s elders understand how Al Shabaab is twisting Islam as a tool for weaponizing their youth. The Digil clan lives along the coast of south Somalia just south of Mogadishu. Their home areas are flanked north and south along the coast by the Dir Clan’s Biyemaal subclan, as illustrated in Figure 10.  Even beyond the Ashraf’s interference in Al Shabaab’s capacity to twist Islam as a weaponizing tool, one of their most significant ideological obstacles is Shariff Hassan a high-ranking political figure who is an Ashraf and who played a role in the 2008 Djibouti peace agreement between the Transitional Federal Government and the opposition group Alliance for Re-liberation of Somalia. Along the coast of south Somalia between Kismayo and Mogadishu, the Ashraf families have a difficult time not only with Al Shabaab, but with a subclan of the Dir Clan that compete with the Ashraf for the respect and power that religious authority is derived from.