Sheikh Uways Al-Barawi (; 1847–1909) was a
Somali scholar credited with reviving
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
in 19th century
East Africa
East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...
.
Biography
Early life
Sheikh Uways was born in
Barawa during the
Geledi Sultanate period on the
Benadir of
Somalia
Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...
coast, the son of a local religious teacher, al-Hajj Muhammad b. Bashiir, and Fatima b. Bahra. He was of the
Tunni sub-group of the
Rahanweyn. He obtained a simple elementary education in basic
theological sciences, and only later furthered his studies with eminent scholars. Sheikh Uways studied the
Qur'an
The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
, Qur'anic
exegesis
Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...
, syntax and grammar, legal principles and basic
Sufism
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
under the tutelage of one
Sheikh al-Shashi in his local vicinity.
[Samatar, p. 52]
Studies in Iraq
Being a devout student of Islam and excelling in piety, the young Sheikh Uways caught the attention of his teacher who then introduced him to the
Qadiriyya doctrines and, circa 1870, took him to the birthplace of that
tariqah in
Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
. This journey had a profound impact on Sheikh Uways' spiritual search and religious credibility. He studied with the eminent Qadiri, Sayyid Mustafa b. Salman al-Jilani and later claimed to have received an
ijazah
An ''ijazah'' (, "permission", "authorization", "license"; plural: ''ijazahs'' or ''ijazat'') is a license authorizing its holder to transmit a certain text or subject, which is issued by someone already possessing such authority. It is particul ...
from his teacher, thus boosting his reputation.
Uways also made
Hajj
Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
to
Madinah and
Makkah during this spell, which normally marks a spiritual milestone for
Muslims
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
. And truly so, his life took a drastic turnaround.
Return and Teachings
In 1883, Sheikh Uways made his way back to his hometown to settle there for good. A very important journey in enhancing his reputation as a scholar was when he passed through the
Hejaz
Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...
,
Yemen
Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
and Somaliland. While in Somaliland in particular, Choi Ahmed claimed through
oral tradition
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...
that Shaykh Uways met the renowned Somali Qadiri
Shaykh Abd al Rahman al-Zayla'i near Qolonqol right before his death and was at that time granted complete control of the Qadiriyya in Somaliland. On the other hand, the Somali scholar
Said Sheikh Samatar claims that Shaykh Uways merely visited al-Zayla'i's tomb and received a symbolic ijazah to preach.
Whether or not the former or the latter claims are correct, both Choi Ahmed and Samatar imply that Shaykh Uways successfully established himself as the successor to the much revered
Shaykh Abd Al-Rahman bin Ahmad al-Zayla'i.
Sheikh Uways' reputation and renown preceded him by the time of his arrival back in his hometown of Barawa. He was subsequently elevated as leader of the Qadiriyya in Somalia (which later became a sub-branch named after him, the Uwaysiyya), and began missionary works throughout East Africa. According to B.G. Martin, this newly earned prominence was met with envy by the rival brotherhoods of Ahmadiya and Saalihiya, and even by some family members, according to Samatar. This intense competition for influence led Sheikh Uways to seek greener pastures, perhaps in emulation of
Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
's
hijra from Makkah to Madinah.
Reception in Mogadishu
Following Uways return he would visit Mogadishu and this famous story of his meeting with the
Abgal Imam Mahmud and
Asharaf leaders in the city recorded by Scott Reese.
When Shaykh Uways al-Qadiri came from Bagdhad he stayed in the house of Imam Mahmud Binyamin Al-Ya'qubi, who received him and honoured him, he was initiated into the Qadiriyya y Shaykh Uways There was in that time in Mogadishu a heinous practice called ''hiku'' that was practiced by two groups; one was called the '' 'almugh'' and the other the ''shabili''. Each was a powerful party being composed of people from Hamarweyn and Shangani he two principal quarters of the town The members of each faction aided each other with their assets. Among them were the Asharaaf, merchants, notables, clan elders, rulers, patrons and people of the ships. All of them assisted and participated in this abominable practice until the hearts of the ''ulama
In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam.
"Ulama ...
'' contracted ith anguishbut they were incapable of stopping the custom ... owever when he participants in this practiceheard of his arrival in Mogadishu and his presence in the house of the Imam they took counsel in their meeting place and said: Tomorrow, God willing, we will meet in the Friday mosque in Shangani and face Shaykh Uways al-Qadiri so that we may repent before him this abomination. They met in front of the mosque, performed ritual ablutions and went before Shaykh Uways. They greeted each other, and their leaders said, 'O Sheikh Uways al-Qadiri, we repentof this abomination and fraud and abandon it. May God grant us victory and guidance...' And...they abandoned this repulsive practice and other abominations with his blessing.
Struggle Against Salihiyya and Death
This decision made room for further
proselytizing, which in turn increased his influence. Sheikh Uways moved inland and founded Beled al-Amin (translated as "Town of Peace"), which flourished into an agricultural town. Bearing testament to his mass appeal, Samatar mentions that "nomad and farmer flocked to his community, bringing with them gifts in vast amounts of livestock and farm produce". Freed from external pressure from the
Salihiyya of Sayyid
Mohammed Abdullah Hassan in northern Somalia, the Sahiliyya led by Sayyid Muhammad Maaruf from the Comoros Islands, and Christian missionaries from inland Ethiopia, Uways and his followers were able to focus on proselytizing the Qadariyya. The struggle of Shaykh Uways against the
Salihiyya was so intense that he was resolute to being a
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...
(''martin''). Moving north to curb the influence of radical
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
and puritanical teachings of Salihiya neo-
Sufi
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
s, Heated poems would be exchanged between the Sayyid and Sheikh Uways.
Uways recited this poem criticizing the Sayyid
With a long response the Sayyid ended with these sharp words
:''A word from the backsliding apostates (Qadiriyya)''
:''Who have gone astray from the Prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...
's way, the straight path''
:''Why is the truth so plain, hidden from you?''
This exchange would lead to
takfir
''Takfir'' () is an Arabic language, Arabic and Glossary of Islam, Islamic term which denotes excommunication from Islam of one Muslim by another, i.e. accusing another Muslim of being an Apostasy in Islam, apostate. The word is found neither ...
or accusations of apostasy from both men and the murder of Uways by the Dervish in 1909. This ironically proved Sheikh Uways' accusation that the Sayyid deemed it lawful to spill the blood of the learned. The Sayyid would mock Sheikh Uways death with a final poem ''Behold, at last, when we slew the old wizard, the rains began to come!"''.
The tragic ending of the Uwaysiyya leader was compounded with the death of all but one of his disciples, a person who later carried on the Uwaysiyya legacy. This remaining disciple composed a moving qasida that eventually became a
liturgy
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...
of the Uwaysiyya order. Uways's house was later bought by
Shaykh Sufi and turned into the main headquarters of the Uwaysiyya.
Poetry
Sheikh Uways composed numerous religious poems and they were included in the ''Majumuʿa Qasaʿid fi Madh Sayyid Al-Anbiya'' (A Collection of
Qasidas in praise of the
Master of Prophets). Uways' teacher
Shaykh Sufi and
Al-Zayla'i's poems also feature in the text.
This Qasida entitled ''Hadiyat al-ʿAnam ila Qabr al-Nabi'' (Guidance of Humanity to the tomb of the Prophet) extols the Prophet Muhammad. Uways' brother and student Muhammad Al Barawi would accompany him to
Makkah and recited the poem to Sayyid Abu Bakr who was an
Imam
Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...
of
Masjid Al Haram and many other notables. After the recitation they applauded them and marveled at Uways and Muhammad.
Influence
Though various Somali wadaads and scholars had used the Arabic script to write in Somali for centuries, it would not be until the 19th century when Sheikh Uways would improve the
wadaad's script. He applied it to the
Maay dialect of southern Somalia, which at the time was the closest to standardizing Somali with the Arabic script. Al-Barawi modeled his alphabet after the Arabic transcription adopted by the Amrani of
Barawa (Brava) to write their
Swahili dialect,
Bravanese.
[Lewis, p.139][Martin, p.163]
Sheikh Uways' influence can be felt throughout East Africa: From the islands surrounding
Zanzibar
Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...
to as far west as the
Eastern Congo and as far south as the
Tanganyika. His influence in Zanzibar alone was attributed to his close relationship with
the Sultanate, two of whom he took as his
Khalifah. This close relationship was established as a result of the Sultan of Zanzibar encouragement. Uways' widespread appeal is also attributed to the present circumstances of the Benadir coast, where foreign migration undermined local economic domination. The locals thought their calamity correlated with their lack of spiritual strength rather than external circumstances. Sufi orders then "provided a context for exploring these failings and proposing solutions by means of a renewed moral framework" (Reese). This phenomenon elevates the status of wadaads, where merchants subsidized activities of the wadaads. Due to the Qadiriyya's popularity (which Uways spearheaded), the Sheikh's elevated status was most felt.
See also
*
Abd Al-Rahman bin Ahmad al-Zayla'i an influential Qadiriya member and influence of nearly all subsequent Somali sufis
*
Shaykh Sufi the teacher of Uways al Barawi
*
Mohammed Abdullah Hassan rival of Sheikh Uways and his
Dervish adherents would kill Uways
*
Sheikh Madar Somali leader of the Qadiriyya tariqa and enemy of Mohammed Abdullah Hassan
References
*Choi Ahmed, Christine, 1993. God, Anti-Colonialism and Dance: Sheekh Uways and the Uwaysiyya, in : Gregory Maddox (ed.), Conquest and Resistance to Colonialism in Africa. New York: Garland Publishing, 145–67.
*Martin, Bradford G., 1993. Shaykh Uways bin Muhammad al-Barawi, a Traditional Somali Sufi, in: G. M. Smith and Carl Ernst (eds.), Manifestations of Sainthood in Islam. Istanbul: ISIS, 225-37.
*Reese, Scott S., 1999. Urban Woes and Pious Remedies: Sufism in Nineteenth-Century Benaadir (Somalia). Indiana University Press.
*Samatar, Said S., 1992. Sheikh Uways Muhammad of Baraawe, 1847–1909. Mystic and Reformer in East Africa, in: Said S. Samatar (ed.), In the Shadows of Conquest. Islam in Colonial Northeast Africa. Trenton, NJ: The Red Sea Press, 48–74.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Al-Barawi, Uways
1847 births
1909 deaths
Somalian Sufis
Sufi mystics
Somalian religious leaders
19th-century Somali writers
Somalian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Shafi'is