Arap

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Somali clan

title: "Arap" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["somali-clans", "isaaq"] description: "Somali clan" topic_path: "general/somali-clans" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arap" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Somali clan ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox ethnic group"]

FieldValue
groupArap
native_nameArap
flag[[File:Flag_of_Somaliland.svg
regionsSomaliland, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya
region1Somaliland
region2Ethiopia
region3Djibouti
region4Somalia
langsSomali
relsSunni Islam
related-cEidagale, Habr Awal, Habar Yoonis, Habr Je'lo and other Isaaq groups
::

| group = Arap | native_name = Arap | flag = [[File:Flag_of_Somaliland.svg|60px]][[File:Flag_of_Ethiopia.svg|60px]] ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Flag_of_Somalia.svg" caption="45px]][[File:Flag_of_Djibouti.svg"] ::

| regions = Somaliland, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya | region1 = Somaliland | region2 = Ethiopia | region3 = Djibouti | region4 = Somalia | langs = Somali | rels = Sunni Islam | related-c = Eidagale, Habr Awal, Habar Yoonis, Habr Je'lo and other Isaaq groups | native_name_lang = | related_groups =

Arap () is a major northern Somali clan of the wider Isaaq clan family. The Arap predominantly live on the middle and southwest side of Hargeisa. They also inhabit the Baligubadle district, with its capital Baligubadle being are an exclusively Arap territory. They also predominantly live in the Haud. The territory of the clan extends to Ethiopia, in the area of Faafan, Gursum and Dhagahle. The Abdalle Arab, a sub-clan of the Arap clan is based in the Togdheer, Sahil. The Celi Arab, a sub-clan of the Arap clan is based in Hargeisa. Another sub clan, the Muuse celi arab inhabit the Bakool region in the South West State of Somalia, specifically the districts of Rabdhure and Elbarde.

History

Lineage

Sheikh Ishaaq ibn Ahmed is a legendary mythical figure who purportedly arrived in the Horn of Africa to spread Islam around the 12th to 13th century. Hence, Sheikh Ishaaq married two local women in Somaliland that left him eight sons, one of them being Muhammad (Arap). The purported descendants of those eight sons constitute the Isaaq clan-family.

The Arap clan have historically been an important part of the Isaaq clan-family and belong to the wider Habr Magaadle confederation. They are closely associated with the Garhajis clan, with whom they are considered “twin clans” in genealogical traditions.

Traditionally, the Arap inhabited territories south and west of Hargeisa, including what is today the Baligubadle District. Oral traditions also describe their involvement in the caravan trade linking the interior of Somaliland to the coastal ports of Zeila and Berbera.

During the sixteenth century, the Arap, alongside other Habr Magaadle lineages such as the Habr Awal and Habr Je'lo, contributed fighters to the Adal Sultanate’s military campaigns against the Ethiopian Empire and were the first ones to join the call for Ahmed Gurey’s jihad, as recorded in the Arabic chronicle Futuh al-Habasha.

In the modern era, the Arap played a key role in the formation and operations of the Somali National Movement (SNM) during the 1980s. The Baligubadle area became the SNM’s headquarters, and several prominent leaders of the movement came from the Arap clan, most notably Sultan Mohamed Sultan Farah and Hassan Isse Jama.

Following Somaliland’s declaration of independence in 1991, Sultan Mohamed Sultan Farah became widely respected for spearheading the clan-based demobilisation process. His son, Sultan Umar Sultan Mohamed, succeeded him in 2003 and remained in leadership until his death in 2021.

Role in the SNM

Baligubadle, which straddles the border between Ethiopia and Somaliland, was the headquarters of the Somali National Movement (SNM) during the Somaliland War of Independence from the regime of general Siad Barre.

The Araps were heavily involved in the SNM and led the first military offensive of the SNM near Baligubadle where a small force attacked a fuel tanker supplying the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party regime's base in the town. This operation was organised by local commanders without prior planning utilizing a local force of clansmen based at the organisation's Lanqeyrta base in Hawd.

Hassan Isse Jama was also one of original founders of the SNM in London. He was also the first vice president of Somaliland and served as the deputy chairman of the SNM. Furthermore in 1983, Sultan Mohamed Sultan Farah of the Arap clan was the first sultan to leave Somalia to Ethiopia and openly cooperate with the SNM.

Familial ties

Historically, the Arap took part in the conquest of Abyssinia, and were part of the Adal Sultanate and are mentioned in the book Futuh Al-Habash (Conquest of Abyssinia) as the Habar Magaadle, along with the Ayub, Habar Yoonis, Habar Awal and Eidagalle clans. The Habar Magaadle are known for producing a historical figure known as Ahmad Gurey bin Husain who was the right-hand man of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi his clan arap. The Arap were the first clan agreed to lead the process of demobilization. This put pressure on other clans to follow suit, and, in early 1994, a well-staged ceremony was held in the Hargeysa football stadium to hand over weapons, playing an instrumental role in the Somaliland peace process.

Notable Arap people

References

References

  1. Kirk, J. W. C.. (2010-10-31). "A Grammar of the Somali Language: With Examples in Prose and Verse, and an Account of the Yibir and Midgan Dialects". Cambridge University Press.
  2. Renders, Marleen.. (2012). "Consider Somaliland : state-building with traditional leaders and institutions". BRILL.
  3. Glawion, Tim. (2016). "Somaliland's Search for Internal Recognition, SFB700 (C10 project) Research Brief 5". German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
  4. Lewis, I. M.. (March 1962). "Historical Aspects of Genealogies in Northern Somali Social Structure". The Journal of African History.
  5. Loimeier, Roman. (2013-07-17). "Muslim Societies in Africa: A Historical Anthropology". Indiana University Press.
  6. Abdullahi, Mohamed Diriye. (2001-10-30). "Culture and Customs of Somalia". Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
  7. Lewis, I. M.. (1994). "Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society". The Red Sea Press.
  8. Diop, Samba. (1995). "The Oral History and Literature of the Wolof People of Waalo, Northern Senegal: The Master of the Word (griot) in the Wolof Tradition". E. Mellen Press.
  9. I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), pp. 31 & 42
  10. Lewis, I. M. ''A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa''. Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 35.
  11. Lewis, I. M. ''Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho''. Red Sea Press, 1998, pp. 23–24.
  12. Trimingham, J. Spencer. ''Islam in Ethiopia''. London: Routledge, 1952, pp. 85–86.
  13. Bradbury, Mark. ''Becoming Somaliland''. London: Progressio, 2008, pp. 86–87.
  14. Walls, Michael. "The Emergence of a Somali State: Building Peace from Civil War in Somaliland". ''African Affairs'', Vol. 108, No. 432 (2009), pp. 371–389.
  15. "Somaliland: Sultan Umar Sultan Mohamed Passes Away". ''Somaliland Chronicle''. 2021.
  16. (2015). "Baligubadle District Conflict and Security Assessment". The Observatory of Conflict and Violence Prevention.
  17. Prunier, Gérard. (2021). "The Country that Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland". Oxford University Press.
  18. Woldemariam, Michael. (15 February 2018). "Insurgent fragmentation in the Horn of Africa : rebellion and its discontents". Cambridge University Press.
  19. Höhne, Markus V.. (2006). "Working Paper No. 82 - Traditional Authorities in Northern Somalia: transformation of positions and powers". Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology.
  20. Balthasar, Dominik. (May 2013). "Somaliland's best kept secret: shrewd politics and war projects as means of state-making". Journal of Eastern African Studies.
  21. (2019). "Locally led peacebuilding : global case studies". Rowman & Littlefield.
  22. (2025-01-23). "Madaxweyne Cirro oo magacaabay Taliyaha Ciidamada & Taliyaha Booliska Somaliland". Puntlandes.
  23. Kristof, Nicholas D.. (2009). "Half the sky : turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide". Alfred A. Knopf.
  24. Roble, Faisal. (2015). "Remembering Said S. Samatar". Northeast African Studies.

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somali-clansisaaq