Aw Jama Omar Issa (, ) (c.1922 – 6 January 2014) commonly known as Aw Jaamac, was a Somali scholar, historian and collector of oral literature of Somalia. He wrote the first authoritative study of Dervishes, the polity of monarch Diiriye Guure.

Biography

A recorder and collector of oral history and poetry. The title ''aw'' or

sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

generally indicates a man of religion; Aw Jama is therefore called Sheikh Jama as well. Jamaac is from Buuhoodle, Somalia. His formal education was Arabic and Islamic and he became a certified teacher in

Hargeisa Hargeisa ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland, a ''List of states with limited recognition, de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still considered internationally to be part of Somalia. It is also th ...

in Somalia in 1957. In the early 1960s, Aw Jama moved to

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

to teach and continue to collect the poems of

Mohammed Abdullah Hassan Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...

, known in the West as the "Mad Mullah". Aw Jamac Cuumar Ciise has 14 children and 74 grandchildren. Jama has spent some twenty years collecting and transcribing orally transmitted

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

before publishing it in ''Diiwaanka Sayid Maxamed'', edited by Madbacadda Qaranka, Xamar, 1974. The name "Sayid Maxamed" refers to Sayyid Mohammed Abdulle Hasan. This collection of poetry served as material for interpretation and analysis in his next book, ''Taariikhdii Daraawiishta iyo Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan, (1895-1921), Wasaaradda Hiddaha iyo Tacliinta Sare'', edited by Akadeemiyaha Dhaqanka, Mogadishu, 1976. Before the Somali script was formally adopted, Aw Jama published in Arabic: ''Tarikh al-Sumal fi al-'Usur al-Wusta waal-Haditha'' (The modern and Middle Ages of Somali history) and ''Zu’ama al- Harakah al-Siyasiyya fi al-Sumal'' (The leaders of political movements in Somalia), both in 1965. In 1966, he published in Arabic ''Tarikh al-Liwa Da'ud'' (The life of General Daud Abdulla Hirsi) a book on the biography of the first Commander-in-Chief of the Somali army. As a member of the Academy of Culture, Aw Jama researched the history of the towns of the Banadir coast. In 1979, he published, in Arabic, ''Muqdishu Madhiha wa Hadhiriha'' (Mogadishu: Past and present). In collaboration with Somali historians Mohamed Haji Omar and Ahmed Jimale "Castro", he wrote ''Speared from the Spear:Traditional Somali Behaviour in Warfare,'' published by the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1997.

Death

Nur Hedik wearing the emblematic Kuuk Darawiish prayer bead on his left wrist and the duubcad turban on his head

On 6 January 2014, Jama Omar Isse died in the neighboring country of

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

at the age of 91. He had been living in Djibouti since the collapse of Somalia's central government in 1991 after which the Djibouti government hosted him following widespread of insecurity in Somalia.

References

Somalian non-fiction writers Ethnic Somali people 1920s births 2014 deaths {{Somalia-writer-stub