Angry in the Great White North

Islamic influence is spreading beyond the capital Mogadishu, and people are nervous:

Hundreds in central Somalia protested yesterday against the rise of Islamic militiamen who are trying to spread their influence to central Somalia after taking control of most of the south of the country.

The demonstrators in Galkayo, about 570 kilometres (354 miles) northwest of the capital, Mogadishu, demonstrated against Islamic militiamen who are expected to arrive in the town in coming days to set up an Islamic court.

"We have demonstrated that Galkayo is stable. We do not need Islamic courts here," Ali Jama, one of the demonstrators, told Associated Press by phone.

The demonstration was organised by a group of Islamic clerics who profess a moderate form of Sufi Islam that has been traditionally practised throughout Somalia. Local teachers, doctors, lawyers and the town's educated elite helped organise the protest.

Somehow I don't think the Supreme Islamic Courts Council cares much what the demonstrators think they need.

Sufi Islam is a mystical tradition that can be combined with the mainstream Islamic traditions:

Sufism encompasses a diverse range of beliefs and practises. Tariqas (Sufi orders) may be associated with Shi'a Islam, Sunni Islam, other currents of Islam, or a combination of multiple traditions.

Sufist focus on the personal religious experience and not on political activism, and that has been a historical source of tension:

The rivalry and controversies between Sufism and its legalist and conservative detractors go back to the early epochs of Muslim history. The Sufi orders that emerged in the crisis milieu of the 12th century represented a quest for gnosis, the mystical search for truth, in contrast to the disciplined legalism and conservatism of the ulama. As the guardians of the Islamic tradition and ethic, the ulama were the legitimizers of power and authoritative interpreters of the law. In terms of Weberian theory, the "traditional" and "legal-rational" authority of the ulama was undermined by the free-flowing "charismatic" authority of the Sufi shaykh.

Sufism's tradition of eschewing political entanglements has made it popular in many countries where secular leaders would prefer the religious authorities to stay out of state affairs:

The resurgence of Islamism after the 1967 war and its subsequent use by President Anwar al-Sadat of Egypt as an antidote to Nasserism brought the Muslim Brotherhood into prominence as a prelude to its emergence as a part of mainstream Islam. With the rise of the Brotherhood's militant offshoots, and its growing criticism of Sadat's policies of rapprochement with the West and Israel, the government sought to strengthen the Sufi movement, which by this time was presenting itself as an Islamically legitimate but politically quietist, tolerant, and spiritually vibrant alternative to political Islamism. This pattern of mutual accord between the state and Sufism has persisted under President Husni Mubarak. Similar policies of governmental support for Sufism have been discerned in Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Well, that isn't popular among those who want Islam and the State to be one and the same:

A dominant theme in the ideology and activities of contemporary Sunni Islamist movements is a deep-seated opposition to Sufism. Despite past instances of convergence and overlapping between Sufi and revivalist movements, their mutual antagonism has become pronounced particularly in the contemporary milieu of heightened political Islamism.

This critical stance toward Sufism and its practices can be found among the major exponents of modern Islamist thought, such as Abu al-A'la Mawdudi, Sayyid Qutb, Abd al-Salam Faraj, and Fathi Yakan. By anchoring themselves on the legalist tradition of Ibn Taymiyya, these modern-day Islamists rejected Sufi esoteric (batini) beliefs and ceremonial practices as being heretical innovations (bid'a) and superstitions (khurafa).

Indeed, the ultimate quest of the Islamists is to capture the Islamic popular mainstream by imposing a single homogenizing ideology as a means to mobilize the masses as a prelude to achieving political control. Thus, the phenomenal growth of the Islamist movement in recent decades has threatened the populist social base of the Sufi orders.

Somalia is going down the path to that imposed homogenization by those who follow a very different path:

The Somalis are primarily Sunni Muslims of the Shafi'i sect.

Don't get confused by the name. "Shafi'i" is not the same as "Sufi":

The Sha-fi‘i madhab is one of the four schools of fiqh, or religious law, within Sunni Islam.

The Sha-fi‘i school is considered one of the more conservative of the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence, but there are many adherents of the Sha-fi‘i- tradition who maintain liberal views in practicing their religion.

Those liberal Sha-fi'i are the one who incorporate Sufism. This is why I received a lot of pushback from those who insisted that Somalia did not have a tradition of honour killing when I suggested that motive for the death of Yasmin Ashareh. True enough. But traditions change, and they have been changing for some years now in Somalia:

As of 1999, the number of practitioners of radical Islam is growing. During the first half of 1999, there was an influx of foreign Muslims into Somaliland, reportedly Islamic teachers from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Sudan. Al-Islah and Al-Ittihaad are two Islamic groups which have organized within the country with a goal to establish an Islamic state. In general, groups of non-Sunni Muslims are viewed with suspicion by the Sunni majority. By March 1999 the Minister of Religion in Somaliland issued a list of instructions and definitions on religious practices. Under the new rules, religious schools and places of worship are required to obtain the Ministry's permission to operate. Entry visas for religious groups must be approved by the Ministry, and certain unspecified doctrines are prohibited.

Al-Ittihaad is a terrorist group:

Al-Ittihaad al-Islami (AIAI) is a fundamentalist organization that seeks to create an Islamic state in Somalia and Ethiopia. The group has operated as a terrorist organization primarily in Somalia, but also in Ethiopia and Kenya. While AIAI was formed in the late 1980s, it did not become a significant presence until the early 1990s.

In addition to fomenting Islamic extremism within Somalia and Ethiopia, AIAI assisted al-Qaeda in the 1998 East African embassy bombings. It is suspected that certain AIAI members maintain ties to al-Qaeda.

Al-Ittihaad was founded by Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, the current leader of the Supreme Islamic Courts Council. He is a man who will not care a jot about what people want:

Somali religious leader, Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys talked to the media about his recent meeting with the prime minister. The two leaders met yesterday before the prime minister left the country for Nairobi, Kenya. He told the media he opposed man-made laws for the past thirty-four years and he is not going to endorse the new democratic government. "Democracy is contrary to Islamic teachings and I told Mr. Geddi to fear Allah and stop working for our enemies," he said.

Mr. Aweys' philosophy is to put aside all man-made laws. He advocates for using the Koran as the supreme constitution of the nation.

Afghanistan all over again.