The Horn Of Africa States: The Tragedy Of Non-Application Of Somali Xeer – OpEd
The Somali Traditional Law, the Xeer (Pronounced “Heer” with the ‘H’ sound deeply aspirated from the throat) is a law that defines the Somali nation as a people. It is as old as the people and covers every aspect of Somali life systems wherever they are, in nomadic settings, farming or fishing communities, in trading and urban centers and even beyond Somali shores and lands.
The Somali Xeer is used for maintaining peace or making peace. It is also used for cooperation, clan and Somali coordination, marriages and mourning, festivals, dances, and folklore. It is, indeed, the fabric that ties a Somali society together like the web of a spider, despite competition and even warfare among clans at times and with others.
As the lands and seas of the Somali are vast and practically cover the Horn of Africa, to which it has lent its name as the Somali Peninsula, there may be at times region specific or industry specific laws, which can be called as case laws in addition to the Pan-Somali law or Xeer.
The Somali Xeer is not static but evolves with the times, situations, and conditions, when new rules are adapted to match new realities. There is a misconception that the Somali Xeer is only used for peace making in conflict situations. Far from that, the Somali Xeer handles complex human interactions on daily life systems in the country and this has been the case throughout Somali history, which goes back into the myths of time.
The Ancient Egyptians referred to Somalia as the land of their forefathers or “Punt” and considered it as the “Land of the Gods.” Basically, the Egyptians were probably or related to Somalis who moved into the Nile Valley region long ago. In an article published at Pennsylvania State University and entitled “Intro to Contemporary Africa: Land of Punt: Ancient Somalia and posted on September 24, 2014, by Chucky Sosinski” it is noted that “…genetic research has proven that the Somalia DNA originates from Egypt.”
This can be interpreted to mean that ancient Egyptians and Somalis are of the same stock of people and evidences that contrary to some Somali clan claims that they are originally from Arabia, that Arabs, indeed, are of Somali origin as Prophet Abraham married Hajira, an Egyptian Princess, who gave birth to Prophet Ismael, the father of the Qureshi Arabs, whom many of these Somalis claim they descend from. Hajira, who is said to have been Egyptian could also be considered Somali as Egyptians claim they came from the Land of the Gods which is the Land of Punt, Somalia.
Somali Xeer or traditional law was handled through a juridical system of Xeerbeegti and Guurti (lawyers and judges) and it was usually conducted under the Tree, the traditional Somali court. Like the Europeans, environment played a major part in determining where people meet to discuss issues. In Europe, as forested as it is, people could only meet in courtyards or places empty of trees and hence the development of the word “court”. In the Somali case, as the sun is always in the sky and hot, people could only meet under the shades of the umbrella trees that dot the landscape and hence the “Tree”.
The Somali Xeer was and still is the basis of order and public etiquette, despite the arrival of European law early in the 20th century and even earlier, the Islamic law in the lands of the Somali during the seventh century. Certainly both have influenced life systems in the Somai lands, but the Somali Xeer still carries a heavy weight in Somali affairs.
From family disputes to marriages to clan disputes and to national discussions, the Somali Xeer plays a pivotal role in managing the Somali affairs and way of life, unless politicians with twisted goals and agendas, interfere or a situation is driven by hidden non-Somali forces. It is the case with present day Somalia, which appears to have been in the wrong hands over the past three to four decades.
The current sudden rise of violence over the Somali landscape from Western Somalia in Ethiopia to northeast Somalia in Puntland to Jubaland in southern Somalia to Hirshabelle in central Somalia, there appears to be foreign hands, stirring trouble. They all appear to mark the country ungovernable and unprepared to manage its security, simply because there is a transition from ATMIS to a new AUSSOM, foreign forces that have been imposed on the country over the past two decades, through manipulation of some unscrupulous politicians of the country. The African soldiers are overpaid when a Somali soldier doing the same job is underpaid at some 12% or even less than their African counterpart in the country. Most of the work of fighting terrorism in the country is done by the Somali soldiers, while the overpaid AU forces stay in camps, without going into any fight.
It is true that they did some fighting in the beginning, but the taste of money is a dangerous thing. They no longer want to fight the introduced religious terror groups, and they enjoy their lives in camps. From time to time, just as is going on in these turbulent days, some flare ups happen and when the transition passes, we would not hear of violence for some time.
This is all because the Somali Xeer was not given a chance to play its rightful role in the country’s governing system. The current administration perhaps believes that they run a country, but they don’t. They do not even run the capital which is full of the terror groups who tax the population under their noses. No wonder the trust of the people is being slowly eroded, perhaps until the end of the AUSSOM term.
The Somali Xeer always kept peace among the people but new laws which the people hardly understand are being imposed and hence the continuous disagreements among the ruling elite and opposition parties. They themselves hardly understand the import of these laws on society and on themselves for down the road every current leader would either die in the process of fighting to rule or become a normal citizen. The pseudo politicians must learn to prepare themselves when they are out of office and must live under the harsh laws they currently impose on the people.
The way of the Somali was to love for the other what one loves for oneself. It was why there was less crime in the past and more crimes today as this involves now earning as much as is possible through any means including corruption, stealing, nepotism, and murdering. The Somali Xeer was designed by the ancient Somalis to handle conflict management, without force and without costly infrastructures. It was based on compromise and forgiving and consensus on controversial matters, which is being ignored by the usage of dry foreign rules that the Somali people hardly understand.
An offender was always rehabilitated into the society so that he or she repents and becomes a useful member of society. An offender was never punished and punishment, if any, was tying the person to a tree full of biting ants for a day or until the offender repents. It was a compassionate system that allowed healing the community and society in general, where vengeance and revenge were abhorred and suppressed. The Somali Xeer is a system which is different from the values of imported laws which castrate individuals for many years or even a lifetime.
The continuing attempts by the current administration to mold the constitution to make it fit or suit itself, like a shirt is outrightly wrong and misguided. The Somali Xeer is basically based on consensus to maintain peace and tranquility among the people. A constitution cannot be designed to keep some parties permanently in control and the others as subjects. It should be designed to enable a society to live in peace and comfort with decisions being made on consensus through elected Guurti and Xeerbeegti representing elders and technocrats. The Somali Xeer should be molded to fit a modern governing architecture, and it is quite capable of being molded. It was never static. The only issue would probably be that a new training on the Somali Xeer would be required and collecting many of the clauses known only to a few people. It was never written as a body of laws but was kept by the elders through word of mouth. Somalia was for a long time an oral society, when they lost its original writing systems of the past.
The Somali Xeer is accepted by the totality of the Somali people across the Horn of Africa and beyond, wherever Somalis live. It should, therefore, be clearly understood that it remains to be the only viable legal infrastructure that most Somalis would abide by and should, therefore, be adopted for the modern ways of life including governance. It is part of the Somali family system as Putman and Noor put it: “The Somali family is the ultimate source of both personal security and identity. The family is deeply valued and serves as a safety net—a sort of social welfare—for many Somalis; thus, it is important to protect family honor” (The Somalis: Their History and Culture. CAL Refugee Fact Sheet Series, No. 9. Diana Briton Putman; Mohamoud Cabdi Noor, Oct. 1993, p.112).
It is, indeed, a system where elders play a pivotal role as the ultimate power and authority. They make and take decisions, which are generally based on consensus/compromise. These may include forgiveness and, when necessary, arrangements with respect to restitution. It was the way of life in the Somali Peninsula and was only interrupted through the introduction of European laws in the early twentieth century. These European legal systems are hardly understood by the Somali society and, therefore, the country’s political system, which could have been settled through the Somali Xeer, still remains unsettled. A perfect example of the application of the Somali Xeer is how Somaliland first and later Puntland were molded and created. Both are the most peaceful parts of the country today compared to the southern regions where chaos and the human instinct of brutal survival still rein at any cost.
