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Sunday, May 29, 2011

FATUHAL HABASH AXMED GUREY THE DIR GENERAL AND DAROOD CLAIMS

Fatuhal Habash bookDir People from Ahmed Gurey Ibrahim's era In the 1500's several things happened in the early struggles of Axmed Gran with the Ethiopia Christian Imperialists who where sprearheading attacks into Muslim lands.

According to Fatuh Al Habash: 1) Ahamed Gran came into the hinterlands of North Westren Somalia in order to recruit fighters amoung the Mandaluug Dir, Mahomed Xiniftire Or Mahe Dir and Madoobe. a) The fatuh al Habash mentions the Habar Magadle (Maha Dir) by name as one group which Gureey try to draw into his camp.Nevertheless, the Habar Awal and Habar Yonis joined the Gurey jihaad.

For Example, the Makaahil of the Habar Awal was the son of an Amhara princesse who was broght back to Somali by a Habar Awal worrior. The Amhara princes asked her captor one favour which to name the first son. After she bore the son she named him Makahil "Micheal" the angel. As a matter of fact many Mahe Dir like the Habar xabuush or Habar Jeclo were also named in such a case. According to the Fatuh Al Habash, "the fierce and rebellious Isaaq, Issas, and Afar clans who lived close to these groups and was know as "Oda Cali" caused Guurey many problems because as soon as the attacked the Habash enemies and gained some booty they would return to their territorie this angered Imam Ahmed who wanted a displined army. Ali and Mataan a brothers in-law of Gurey and Ahmed Nuur a knephew or Gurey, who later married Gurey's wife Batiyo Delwambero(Dawmbiro).

It is interesting to not The name Dalwambero. It is no accidental it sounds like Dombiro. The Darood Somali clans under Imam Ahmed Gurey where led by another Garad who was know as Guuray and he was married to Delwambera's sister Mardiya. It was at this period that the Madaxweyn Dir enlisted the Yabbare, Geeri, and Harla, also it was at this juncture of history that the Darood confuse history.

1) The Darood confuse to distinct persons. Namely, Imam Ahmed Ibrahim Ghazali Aragsame the proper Ahmed Guray and the Garad Gurey who led the Darood armies. After centuries they think that their Garad whose name is mentioned in the Fatuh Al Habash as Guray is the same as Ahmed Gurey. So the legacy of Axmed Gurey is not limited to the Gababuursi or Ciisa or Gurgure but as touched all Somalis.




 
 
 

Tsehai Publishers & Distributors, 2003 - History - 417 pages
Sihab ad-Din Ahmad bin 'Abd al-Qader's account of the early sixteenth century Jihad, or holywar, in Ethiopia, of Imam Ahmad bin Ibrahim, better known as Ahmad Gran, or the Left handed, is an historical classic. The Yamani author was an eyewitness of several of the battles he describes, and is an invaluable source. His book, which is full of human, and at times tragic, drama, makes a major contribution to our knowledge of a crucially important period in the hisoty of Ethiopia and Horn of Africa. 'Futuh al-Habasa, ' or 'Conquest of Abyssinia' - which undoubtedly reflects the situation as it seemed to its Yamani author at the time of its composition. The forces of Imam Ahmad bin Ibrahim had occupied the greater part of Ethiopia. The resistance of Emperor Lebna Dengel had virtually come to an end, and many Christians had chosen to convert to Islam. The victorious Imam's regime seemed there to stay. This was, however, far from the end of the story. The Imam was killed in battle on February 21, 1543, whereupon his army almost immediately disintegrated. Those of his soldiers who could do so made their way back to the East. Not a few Muslim converts reverted to their former faith. The Futuh thus refers to a relatively short, though crucially important, period in Ethiopia's long history. The book is nevertheless valuable, in that its author was an eye-witness of many of the events he describes, and writes, as far as we can judge, with a degree of objectivity rare for his time. What people say about this book: "This book is the first ever complete English translation of the Arabic account on the campaigns of Imam Ahmad b. Ibrahim al-Ghazi (popularly known as Gran) as written by the Yemeni jurist, Shihab al-din Ahmad b. Abd al-Qadir b. Salim b. Uthman (also known as Arab Faqih)... it is a welcome addition to the rich corpus of Arabic literary and historical sources relevant to the sixteenth-century Ethiopia and the Horn. It is particularly useful for English-speaking researchers and established scholars who cannot read either the Arabic text or the authoritative French translation prepared by Rene Basset...both Stenhouse and Pankhurst, and the publisher, deserve high commendation, respectively, for producing such a valuable work that represents a major contribution to the history of Ethiopia and the Horn, and for making it available to the wider English-speaking readership and scholarship." -- Hussein Ahmed is a Professor of History at Addis Ababa University. He is a leading historian of Islam in Ethiopia. * * * "In the history of conflict in Africa and beyond, "few stories of drama and human tragedy equal" Imama Ahmad's conquest of the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia (1529-1543). His short lived spectacular victories and determination to replace Christianity by Islam and the remarkable survival of Christianity in Ethiopia" is a story of epic proportions" which still generates strong emotion among both the Christian and the Muslim population of Ethiopia. In other words, Imam Ahmad's jihadic war besides being legendary was a major turning point... This is truly a wonderful work, which is destined to remain an indispensable source for the history of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa during the first half of the tumultuous sixteenth century. Anyone interested in understanding the intensity and brutality of religious war will be rewarded by reading this classic." -- Mohammed Hassen is anAssociate Professor of African history at Georgia State University in Atlanta. He is the author of The Oromo of Ethiopia: A History 1570-1860.

 

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