The African Union leads Africa’s age of boom, by Bashir Goth, Special to Gulf News

By Bashir Goth, Special to Gulf News, Published: 16:56 July 28, 2016 

The organisation symbolises the dream of the African people for freedom, integration and a sense of belonging

European colonialists claimed that they came to Africa to civilise the savages, to rescue the people from their dark dungeons of ignorance and disease and bring them into the light of civilisation. But their real motive was not lost on African wise men

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Can anyone name the enemy correctly? By Bashir Goth

Only one day after so called ISIS over ran Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, routing the Iraqi army and bringing their menace to world attention, our family cat died. “Our cat” had a name and it is painful for us to remember her just as “our cat”, particularly as she was a beloved family member for almost 17 years. 

But the reason we don’t say her name is that she was called “Isis”, a name that was given to her by our son when he was a child. He was enthralled with the history of ancient Egypt and when we asked him to give her a name, he immediately said: “Isis”. Isis was an Egyptian goddess of love, magic, and healing among others. And naturally our “Isis” brought love and magic to our lives, like all cats do. 

“Our cat” died on 11th June 2014 and the day after the terrorist group ran over large swathes of Iraq and their name “ISIS” or “ISIL”, an acronym of their longer name, had promptly become a household name, almost desecrating the memory of our cat and denying us the privilege to mourn her as we knew her. It was like we lost her twice.

Names are vehicles for evoking memories, emotions and reflection. And all of a sudden, we had become dumbstruck about how we should mention “our cat’s” name. We couldn’t say her name even in private without remembering this extremist group which has pirated her name and we couldn’t mention her name in our communications for obvious reasons. At least in our private conversation, our calamity is less as we all know who we are talking about when we mention her name. But still the bad taste of “our cat’s” name violated and vulgarized lingered in our minds before we finally took solace in the words of Rumi, the 13^th C Sufi: “She loved him so much she concealed his name in many phrases, the inner meanings known only to her.” 

Now, this is about a cat, but imagine your religion, your personal name and your whole existence robbed from you every day not only by people who commit the most heinous of crimes in your name but also by unassuming politicians and the media who just regurgitate such names as “Radical Islam” that only serve the goals of the extremist killers. The religious extremists claim to have the sole ownership of the name of Islam, a religion followed by 1.6 billion people, or 23.2 % of the world population according to Pew Forum Research Organization. This is why every extremist group who fights for a deviant goal adds the word Islam to their name to seek legitimacy and to use it as a trap to drag the whole world into their agenda of denigrating Islam and Muslims by default. 

This makes it incumbent upon politicians and people of influence to understand that language, and particularly names, is at the forefront of any war, any action, or indeed any understanding of who your real enemy is. Names and words help us in concept formation. So if someone wants to rob you of your normal way of understanding things, they will force you to accept new words and names for concept formation; meaning they will attack your language, rip your words asunder, then force feed you with a new language. Colonial powers used this method to strip the colonized of their identity. “In my view language was the most important vehicle through which that power fascinated and held the soul prisoner. The bullet was the means of the physical subjugation. Language was the means of the spiritual subjugation,” wrote the Kenyan writer Ngugi Wa Thiongo Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. (1968)

The purpose of fabricating new names is to confuse the target audience and kill their confidence in the meaning of words. And once they rob them of the meaning of things, they enforce them to accept their own meaning. This is what George Orwell called “Newspeak” in his novel Nineteen-Eighty-Four as one character describes how totalitarian parties rob people of their personal consciousness and expression, saying: “Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thought crime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten.”

Therefore, what we see today is a battle raging on between Western politicians as to how to correctly name extremist groups. Some public figures like Donald Trump insist on using the name “Radical Islam”, thus blindly falling into the language trap of extremists who love to see them entrapped by their propaganda. When politicians say “Radical Islam”, they are not only grappling with an abstract idea, but they are also accusing a religion and not specific individuals of being the perpetrator of crimes.

President Obama, however, is right in calling things by their correct names when dealing with terrorist acts whose perpetrators claim to have committed in the name of Islam. Instead of serving the agenda of the extremist groups in making a blanket accusation against a religion, he carefully picks his words to not only explain the situation with precision but also to win the hearts and minds of the 1.6 billion Muslims around the world who are the real victims of the actions of such murderers. And as Confucius pointed out in his advice of the rectification of names, there are a lot of things that could go wrong including the dispensation of justice if names were not correct. Therefore, let us pray that we all name the enemy correctly so justice can be dispensed correctly as well.

 

Picking up the pieces in Somalia by Bashir Goth, Special to Gulf News

Today, the country is on the path to recovery, and although terrorism is still a threat to the fragile peace, Al Shabab can no longer hold the country hostage as it once did

By Bashir Goth, Special to Gulf News

Published: 16:51 July 6, 2016 

 

As Somalia celebrates its 56th Independence anniversary this month, it may take a moment of reflection to understand how the country has descended from the dream of creating a Greater Somalia that unites all the territories of all Somali people spread across four countries in the Horn of Africa, to picking up the pieces of the disintegrated rump state.

 

Born on July 1, 1960, from the unification between the British-protected north and the Italian-ruled south, Somalia adopted a parliamentary democracy and became the first African nation in which its first president handed over the reins of power peacefully to his successor after being defeated in a publicly broadcast parliamentary vote in 1967. 

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Egeh Atteye: A Philospher Poet - Complied and introduced by Bashir Goth

EGEH ATTEYE (CIGE CAATEEYE): A PHILOSOPHER POET

Compiled and introduced by Bashir Goth*

Egeh Atteye was a nomad poet who lived in the Guban areas of the Awdal region, particularly in the picturesque mountainous areas of today’s Baki district such as Beysaare, Qardhiile, Dibiraweyn, and Dhuxun up to the coastal region of lughaya. A polite, well respected and low profile person who rarely mingled with people, Egeh was known for his philosophical poetry that reflected on metaphysical issues such as reality, life, death, and the relationship between soul and the cosmos. Although he sees truth to be found in Islam, his verse transcends to universal truths. He was also a social critic who lampooned what he saw as the social ills that ruined the family fabric and the welfare of the community in an entertaining and satire narrative verse.

Just like the Islamic Sufi poets such as Rumi and Hafiz, Egeh uses simple but deeply reflective language in conveying his message. But unlike the medieval Muslim Sufis, Egeh doesn’t cloud his message with esoteric metaphors but uses his metaphors and imagery skillfully with the greatest effect that makes the reader either shudder with fear or become ecstatic with hope. One cannot read any of Egeh’s poems without stopping on it and being reflective. He doesn’t preach you, but he embraces you and takes you with him to show you things and then leaves you there to contemplate and make your own mind.

In the following poems, I divided Egeh’s poems into two categories. The first category includes poems that carry theological/philosophical themes and the second category includes poems that echo his voice as a social critic. See the poems at the link below:

First Category

Poems with theological/ Philosophical themes:

 

Hadh Galabeed

 

Adduunyadan hadh galabeedka iyo, huubo la itaala

Ee ina halaag lagu mutooy, harabto doonaysa

Ee hilinka loo jiray waddada, hoos u cararaysa

Nin hoggeeda gaadhoo xasila, horeba loo waaye

Maxaa lagaga hawshoonayaa, waa habeen qudha e.

--Cige Caateeye.

 

Danfar Ma Leh Adduunyadu

 

Dayl qaafka gabay waanigii, daayey waayadane

Dambigiisa badan waanigii, duubay waayada e

Haddii la i danqaray oo masalo, la iga doonaayoo

Doondooni maayee anaa, deelka ka caddayne

Danfar ma leh adduunyadu ninkii, damacsanaayowe

Kuwa haatan daaraha dhisow, daba tun weeyaane

Dawgii raggii hore maraan, daba ordaynaaye

Dalambaabi madhan baa mijaha, loo dirdirayaaye

Dayaxa iyo cadceeddaan halkii, doorsan weligoode

Wax kale oo dushaa lagu arkaa, malaha duugowye,

Dayuuradaha nimankaa wade, samada duulaaya

Iyo nimanka daaraha dhisee, dahabka qaadaaya

Iyo nimanka doonyaha wade, diirad wada haysta

Iyo nimanka duunyada dhaqee, dibadda guuraaya

Iyo nimanka dalaggay qodeen, dunida caam yeelay

Iyo nimanka diintay dhigeen, lagu dadaalaayo

Daai’imo carruuriyo duq iyo, duni dhammaanteedba

Dadkoo idil ayaan dhow qabraa, dacalka loo geline

Ninba darajaduu leeyahaa, laga dilaayaaye

Diyaar buu u yahay malagkulmawd, ruuxa loo diraye

Sidii adhi dugaag helay mar baa, laysku keen didine

Daleed baa la wada joogsanoon, cidina diidayne

Dawdawda xumi waa intaan, dibadda joognaaye

Dacwad male dharaartaa waxay, dani ku yeeshaaye

Waa labada daarood wixii, lagu dareeraaye

Dab qiiqiyo qiyaamuhu ka kulul, duhur dharaareede

Rabbigayow dalada noo hadhee, daayin baa tahaye.

                                         --Cige caateeye.

 

Kala Soocadii Uun Baw Hadhay

 

Adduunyadan sawaabkeegu waa, saacad iyo wiige

Xumaan iyo samaan waa waxaan, sina ku roonayne

Sareediyo ladnaan waa waxaan, saakin ku ahayne

Waxa sugaya aadmiga dharaar, saancadloo kulule

Socon mayso beentaa iblays, suura galiyaaye

Subaxa iyo cishaa’igaba wuu, idinka seexshaaye

Doqon buu sabaalaynayaaye, saajac kari waaye

Nin suleexa daacaadka sida, wuu ka saakumaye

Sidii layna yidhi maalin dhaw, siidhi la afuufye

Samada iyo arlada maalin baan, siiga la arkayne

Salabaa la marin buurihiyo, suuq magaalaba e,

Sac la maalo geel iyo mar baan, adhigu soofayne

Dayuuradaha siyaaxiyo mar baan, haadku soconayne

Suurtaaba la afuufayaa, subax an dheerayne

Waa surin cidhiidhiya waxaan, cidina seegayne

Saddex maahee waa laba wixii, lagu sifeeyaaye

Kala soocadii uum baa hadhee, ha isa siinina e.

                               -Cige Caateeye

 

Surayo Dhiileed

 

Adduunyadu hadday sado lahayd, saacad baa furane

Ninkii waayo sii joog lahow, socoto weeyaane

Sahankii maqnaa baa raroo, saaka laga guurye,

Dawgii siraad baynu mari, surinkii dheeraaye

Oo wuu surmiyayaa ninkii, sahay ku waayaaye

Safarkaaba loo dhaansadaa, suraya dhiileede

Ma shantii salaad baa la dhigay, subaxna waa maadhe

Soonkii miyaa inagu qalla ah, sabankii leexeeyay

Sakadii miyaan adhiga iyo, geela laga soocin

Seeraha ilaah dhigay miyaa, laga salaateeyey

Salligii miyaa laga tegay iyo, sowdkii nabigeena

Suurtii miyaa dhaw dadkaan, saban u laabnayne

Sakaraad xanuun kulul miyaa, sugaya ruuxeena

Aakhiro su’aal iyo warbaa,  layna solonsiine

Ninkii sadar ilaahay hayaan, sina xumaanayne

Adhi suun la geeyiyo ma jiro, sac iyo weyshiiye

Sanku neefluhuba aakhiruu, saakin ku ahaane

Saaka iyo shalay geeri waa, u kala sokaynaaye

Ninba subax la qaadaba waqtigu, wuu ina sugayaaye

Su’aalaadka nimankii lahaa, kuguma seegaane

Wax salaamad baxa waa ninkii, suubanaan jiraye

Samir iyo dulqaad baa jannada, lagu salaamaaye

Samsamkaa ninkii tegay dambiga, laga sifeeyaaye

Sikhinimada iyo daacad iyo, samir ha la ogaado.

                               -Cige Caateeye

 

Macna Male Adduunyadu

 

Macna male aduunyadu ninkii, maragsanaayowe

Miridh baa ka hadhay awgayow, meheradeediiye

Ninkay maal u soofsaday la tahay, ha iska meel dhigo e

Naftan Malaga loo soo diriyo, madaxda gaalowday

Ninkii meelsan lala doonayay, murugo haysaaye

Wuu geeri moogyahay ninkii, macatab yeeshaaye

Mahalakaadka aakhirose waa, madawga naareede

Makaankiisa kii laga dhigay, midab xumaysaaye

Muska kama humaagsado ninkii, laga malaasaaye

Kolka mawjad laysugu tagee, meel la wada joogo

Miisaanka labadiisa xadhig, midaba waa cayne

Ninba magaca kii loogu dhiguu, midigta saaraaye

Moromiyo kokaasay hadhaan, ma aha kaygiiye

Waxa layna marin daw yaroon, mudac ka weyneyne

Waxa labada meelood dhex yaal, moos itaal darane

Muslinkii lilaahiya wax baa, loo malkinayaaye

Nin waliba muurdkiisa wuu, magac yaqaanaaye

Wuu magan galaayaa ninkii, Muxamad sheegtaaye

Oo waxa mabsuud noqon ninkuu, marada saaraaye

Mawkhoof waxa u dhaw kuwaa, gooyay magaciiye

Ninba meel u joogaba haddaan, malagu daynaynin

Oon laga maqnaanayn kuwaa, mootarrada raacay

Kuwa moodka gaalada cunaa, mahadin maayaane

Madarkayna soo maray jannada, midabyadeediiye

Haddaan maygu di’in xoolo way, madhan lahaayeene

Muslimiinta kayd loo dhigoon, madhanin weeyaan

Sheekhii macneeyiyo rabbay, mahadi gaadhaaye.

                               -Cige Caateeye

 

 

 

Second category: Egeh as a social critic

 

Kolka Ababe Reerahayagii

 

Kolka ababe reerahayagii, edebta weynaaye

Adhigii araaraha lahaa, oodii laga qaadye

Waa aarankiisii waxaa, oogta loo shidaye

Sida aarka waxa loola dhacay, kii orgi ahaaye

Inantii jiraysiyo duqdii, kala awaareeye

Niman baan amaahdii kal hore, Awr ka bixinayne

Immikuu in kale doonayaa, aamin laawuhuye…

                                         -Cige Caateeye

 

Daranyo Xoolaad

 

Dayl qaafka gabay waanigii, daayey waa hore e

Waxan caawa daymoonayaa, daranyo xoolaade

Dushooduba gadmee qaarse, waa inan ka diirnaaye

Daaima carruuriyo adhay, odayo doonaane

Duleedada in baa joogta oo, dumarku eegaane

Geelaa dareeraye gadmeen, cidina doonaynin

Ee inan yar loo diray kolkii, doobkii laga quustay

Ee oday duqoobiyo habraha, dani ku seetaysay

Een dooxa weyn iyo biyaha, subaxna daynaynin

Darka adhiga loo xidhay kolkuu, shalay dul joogjoogay

Ee day la yidhi maalintii, sabadii loo diiday

Ee sida dameeraha bud weyn, daanka lagu jiiday

Iyada oo la daayacay, kolkay daahir ololaysay

Een wiilasheedii la dadin, duhurka maalaayey

Ninkii hala dareershow raggaa, waad ku dagateene

Kol haddii habeenkoo dam yidhi, dumarku raadceeyey

Uu dibad ku dhalay waa waxaan, cidina doonayne

Dabool dheri la saariyo haddii, daasad lagu maalay

Dameeraha la dhaanshaana way, daraja dhaamaane

Dawladaha Soomaaliyeed, ha iska daayeene.

                               -Cige Caateeye

 

Dhogor Adhi Ku Doorsada

 

Dhawaqyada la doorshiyo dadkaa, dhoorka wada goostay

Iyo dhirahan wada qiiqayay, dhibi ka joogtaaye

Dhaqaalaha adduunyaduba waa, malaha dheeldheele

Raggaa dhiilka caana ah sitee, dhamistii loo diiday

Dhanaanka iyo listay dhaafsadeen, dhuxulo naareede

Dhallaankiina way soo qadsheen, dhabarka saarraaye

Dhalaal kuma shubaan naagihii, dhiisha hayn jiraye

Dhallinyariyo waayeel, dabkaa lagu dhamaanaayo

Kolka inu haweenkuna dhigtaa, malaha soo dhawe

Dadku dhimaye geeljire dhegxumo, way u dheertahaye

Dhudda waaga uumbay gorfaha, kala dhaqaaqaane

Dhallaankay qadsheen iyo nirgaha, dharaqda loo diiday

Fijaan dhagar qaba iyo buuri baa, dhibay naftoodiiye

Kolka dhuxusha layskugu tagay, dhudi hallawdaaye

Dhurwaagaa ku cuna kaymihii, dharabka weynaaye

Kolkaasuu dhabooskii ka tagay, dhogor xumeeyaaye

Libaaxyada haddaan laga dhabayn, kaynta dhacadiida

Waa kaa dhunkaal geel ninkii, dhaqan lahaayowe

Dhogor adhi ku doorsada raggii, loo dhalaa gabaye.

                               -Cige Caateeye

 

Qafal Xumo

 

Haddaan qaad cunaayoon sigaar, qiiqa shidanaayo

Qasharkoo agaaliban haddaan, goor waliba qaato

Qafal xumo adduunyada haddaan, qaar ku luminaayo

Qarawaan ma hooyeen kolkaan, qululo waa dhowe

Qosol baaba loo dhiman lahaa, qiiradaan dhigo e

Kuwan jaadka qaadqaadayow, waad qatalanteene

Wuu idinla qaybsaday waxaad, maanta qodateene

Qasaaraha kaluu leeyahaan, qarinayaa shawe

Qaarkood haweenkii raggii, qabay ka leexeeye.

                               -Cige Caateeye

 

Soomaali Malabkeedu

Soomaali malabkeedu waa, maanta oo kale e

Musuqmaasuqii hore haddii, meesha laga saaray

Kol haddii miskiin iyo tijaar, meel la wada joojay

Ninba meel u joogaba  haddii, macallin loo yeelay

Oo meherad waagii xumaa, meesha laga tuuray

Anaguna mabsuud inaan ka nahay, waydin maqasheene

Madaxweynaheeniyo rabbaan, mahadinaynaaye

Makaankiisa nimankii arkow, mid iga gaadhsiiya

Maadhkii adduunyada ilaah, midigta kuu saarye

Aakhiro maqaamyada jannada, meel san lagu gee dhe.

                               -Cige Caateeye

 

 

Striking a harmony between present world and world after death

 

Labadii Daarood

Adduunyada dadaalkeeda badan, laysku diriraayo

Ee kii duleed lagu arakaba, lagu dagaalaayo

Ee dumarka tii ciidan daran, lagu dalaaqaayo

Doqon iyo fariid waa waxaan, cidina daynayne

Inan daacaddii kaga tagnaa, maaha dawgeene

Waxa iga dardaarana haddaan, layska diidaynin

Midna yaan la dayn meeshu waa, labadii daaroode.

                               -Cige Caateeye

 

*N/B I wrote the poems from the poet in 1974 during the Mass Literacy Campaign (Ololihii Af Somaaliga) in Beysaare. Egeh died sometime in the 1980s.

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