Bashir Yussuf
Sheikh Bashir Yussuf (Somali: Sheekh Bashiir Yuusuf, Arabic: الشيخ بشير يوسف, born c. 1905) was a Somali religious leader famed for his anti-colonial struggles against the British.[1]
Sheikh Bashir Yusuf | |
|---|---|
الشيخ بشير يوسف | |
 Bashir leading salah | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1905 Taleh, British Somaliland (now Somaliland) |
| Died | 1945 (aged 39–40) Geela-eeg, British Somaliland (now Somaliland) |
Biography
Sheikh Bashir was born in 1905 in Taleh, British Somaliland. Taleh was known as the Dervish capital and is located in the Sool region of Somaliland. Sheikh Bashir was a nephew of Mohammed Abdullah Hassan. He hails from the Yeesif subclan of the Habar Jeclo Isaaq. Sheikh Bashir was cultivated at the Markaz (Centre) located in the village of Beer east of Burao and studied there in succession to his father. This Markaz was first established by Sheikh Bashir's grandfather Sheikh Hassan Fiqhi Abdi as an educational centre where the Quran, hadith and other Islamic sciences were taught.
In 1945, Yussuf emerged as a leader in the former British Somaliland and had a large following. He was a devoutly religious individual and a Muwahhid who focused on the Oneness of Allah in Belief and worship. Sheikh Bashir was not affiliated to any of the religious sects followed by the people at that particular time. His views were apparent and made clear in his poetry were he criticised and freed himself from the practices of the different sects. He said in some lines of poetry:
" Murshad-ka iyo xadradu
waa wax aan meher ka noolayne "
Sheikh Bashir Yussuf was killed by the British regime on the 5th of July 1945 at the age of 39 years old leaving behind eight children; Three daughters and five sons.
Anti colonial struggle
The popular impression at the time among the British colonial officials in Burao was the nationalistic teachings of Farah Omar. Conversely, Yussuf was collecting arms and men with a view to establish his authority over the northeast portion of the protectorate. It was also freely rumoured that it was his ultimate goal to drive out the British; he was strong enough to lead a religious expedition against British rule. He organized headquarters in the east of the Burao region of the former British Somaliland, and quickly attracted a following because of his genius and religious influence.
During May 1945, Yussuf's force raided the European officials and military areas like the District Commissioner's residence in Burao. Before being counterattacked, Yussuf managed to move his troops during the night and retreated to his domain. His force was greatly outnumbered, possibly by hundreds. These men held a number of hills, which rose steeply from the light bush beside the wide sandy riverbed, which is known as Togdheer. There were only a few men to cover a front of 900 yards, and most of them had never been in action before, but they were determined that no British troops should force their way in unchallenged. The fight they gave was a lesson in determination which the British troops signally failed to emulate. Yussuf himself was in his natural element when fighting in the bush, but here he was given a position to hold and had no opportunity to use his bush tactics.
The British campaign against Yussuf's troops proved abortive after several defeats as his forces kept moving from place to place and avoiding any permanent location. No sooner had the expedition left the area, than the news traveled fast among the Somali nomads across the plain. The war had exposed the British administration to humiliation. The government came to a conclusion that another expedition against him would be useless; that they must build a railway, make roads and effectively occupy the whole of the protectorate, or else abandon the interior completely. The latter course was decided upon, and during the first months of 1945, the advance posts were withdrawn and the British administration confined to the coast town of Berbera.
Yussuf settled many disputes among the tribes in the vicinity, which kept them from raiding each other. He was generally thought to settle disputes through the use of Islamic Sharia and gathered around him a strong following.
Death
The British administration recruited Indian and South African troops to fight against Yussuf and had intelligence plans to capture him alive. When he was eventually killed, Yussuf became a martyr and was held in great reverence. His family took quick action to remove his body from the place of his death at Geela-eeg mountain, about 20 miles from Burao.[2]
In popular culture
Sheikh Bashir appears as a significant figure in Somali popular culture, this is seen in references to his life and struggle in Somali poetry.[3]
Poetry
- An exchange between Sheikh Bashir and other Somali sheikhs in Burao was immortalised in a poem composed by Yassin Ahmed Haji Nur titled "Muruq Baa Dagaal Gala" (Muscle Partakes in War):
Take Sheikh Bashir
The chanting priests
Among whom he placed a can
And asked them to break it
With the religious verses they were reading
After they read everything
And failed to dent it
He took a big stick
And destroyed it with one swing
The meaning of the story is
Muscle partakes in war.[3]
- Prominent Somali poet Haji Adan Afqalooc's 1945 poem "Raqdii Bashiir" (The Corpse of Bashir), highlights the enduring legacy of Sheikh Bashir in Somali popular culture:
Sheikh Bashir was hanged in daylight, at a house near you,
His body torn out by bullets,
And still covered with wet blood,
They kicked and insulted him
Then watched him with contempt
When the unwashed body was thrown outside,
And refused burial, you were all a witness.
There were others killed playfully,
About which nothing was done
The body of Qayb-diid is still warm
Though an old man, Farah was sent to jail
And now like a beggar he roams the outside world
They refused him rights over his family and wealth
The unjust man (British) is punishing everybody.
What the English always wanted, the people of India refused
The houses of Punjab and the gold that they hoarded there
have been denied to them
Now they look back at them with nostalgia
The celebration is for Muhammad Ali (Egypt)
And the French are leaving Syria that they conquered
They withdrew from Beirut, and Lebanon.
Many ships will arrive at our ports,
They will bring here (Somaliland) those thrown out by the stream of shit,
The place where you pasture Daawad (the land), the infidels will settle,
A man who owns a car and an aeroplane will force you to work on his farms,
Few would survive such humiliation.[3]
- Another poem related to the struggle of Sheikh Bashir and composed by Afqalooc is titled "Gobonimo" (Freedom):
Freedom is never attained with ease
Nor with indifferent chit-chat
It is never bestowed without struggle
And it never recognizes the man that was not hurt for it
Fire and heat surround it
It wants you to go through that and appear somewhere on the other side
The desire and struggle are for posterity to remember
This place (jail) has been prepared for men
It hots only feared world-historical figures
A man like me never complains about it
Only children and women fear it
Haytin and Gandhi were here
The hero Nakruma and Jamal slept here
The chain and iron were not moulded for women
But for men who refuse subjection
This ugly blanket (upon which we sit) is better than the best Persian carpet
We must never complain.
References
- Abdullahi, Abdurahman (2017). Making Sense of Somali History: Volume 1. Adonis and Abbey Publishers. p. 82.
- Akyeampong, Emmanuel. K (2012). Dictionary of African Biography, Volumes 1-6. OUP USA. p. 107.
- Mohamed, J. (2002-02-01). "'The Evils of Locust Bait': Popular Nationalism During the 1945 Anti-Locust Control Rebellion in Colonial Somaliland". Past & Present. 174 (1): 184–216. doi:10.1093/past/174.1.184. ISSN 0031-2746.
- A. Ibraham Mohamed (Qorade), A Nation in Tatters: Somalia, 2008