Waaq (also Waq or Waaqa) is the name for the sky

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

in several

Cushitic The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As of 2 ...

languages, including the Oromo and Somali languages.Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, ''Culture and Customs of Somalia'', (Greenwood Publishing Group: 2001), p.65.

History

''Waaqa'' () still means 'God' in the present

Oromo language Oromo, historically also called Galla, is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch, primarily spoken by the Oromo people, native to the Ethiopian state of Oromia; and northern Kenya. It is used as a lingua franca in Oromia an ...

. Other Cushitic languages where the word is still found include

Konso Karat is a town in south-western Ethiopia and the capital of the Konso Zone in the new South Ethiopia Regional State. Situated 20 km north of the Sagan River at an elevation of , it is also called Pakawle by some of the neighboring inhabita ...

''Waaqa''; Rendille ''Wax''; Bayso ''Wah'' or ''Waa''; Daasanach ''Waag''; Hadiyya ''Waaʔa''; Burji ''Waacʼi''. ''Waaq'' is also a word in Arabic for protector ( واق ) and occurs in the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

. Some traditions indicate ''Waaq'' to be associated with the

Harari region The Harari Region (; ; Harari: ሀረሪ ሑስኒ), officially the Harari People's National Regional State (; ; Harari: ዚሀረሪ ኡምመት ሑስኒ ሑኩማ), is a regional state in eastern Ethiopia, covering the homeland of the Har ...

. The Sufi mystic

Ibn Arabi Ibn Arabi (July 1165–November 1240) was an Andalusian Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest com ...

mentions in his Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya that ''Waaq'' used to be a generic name for God, in comparison to the Turkic people’s tenets of

Tengri Tengri (; Old Uyghur: ; Middle Turkic: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; Proto-Turkic: / ; Mongolian script: , ; , ; , ) is the all-encompassing God of Heaven in the traditional Turkic, Yeniseian, Mongolic, and various other nomadic religious beliefs. So ...

. In Oromo and Somali culture, ''Waaq, Waaqa'' or ''Waaqo'' was the name of God in their pre-Christian and pre-Muslim

monotheistic Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

faith believed to have been adhered to by Cushitic groups. It was likely brought to the Horn by speakers of the Proto-Cushitic language who arrived from North Sudan in the Neolithic era. In more recent times, the usage of the term has mostly declined since the arrival of

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 ...

and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

to the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

Modern

In the present-day Somali language, the primary name of God is a somali word 'Eebe' or Rabbi. The Arabic-derived ''Allaah'' used by muslims is now a synonym for God. Present Somalis know very little of Waaq and the term ''Waaq'' survives in proper names and placenames. The Somali clan Jidwaaq (meaning ‘Path of God’) have derived their name from ''Waaq''. Jid is path or road and added Waaq. Names of towns and villages in Somalia that involve the word ''Waaq'' include Ceelwaaq, ceel meaning a water well added waaq. Caabudwaaq, or cabduwaaq, Caabud meaning Worshipper added Waaq and Caabdu, meaning servant added waaq. and Barwaaqo.Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, ''Culture and Customs of Somalia'', (Greenwood Publishing Group: 2001), p.65. as in Bar, a sign in somali added waaq and still Barwaaqo meaning plenty. The insistence added shows that, the term Waaq, in itself has no meaning in Somali language unless you add a noun to make a meaning. For example, Bar, sign Ceel being a waterwell or Jid, a road/path will stand alone but waaq alone will not make a meaning.

History

Modern

See also

References

Further reading