Somali Sufis Take on Shebab Militants

Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa is a national Sufi movement which had recently took up arms against the Shabab. NAIROBI – Somalia's main Sufi movement, Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa, decided to declare war on Al Qaeda-inspired Al-Shabab militant group which is fighting the UN-supported interim government and African peacekeepers. "The Shabab are misguided people who have misunderstood the true values of Islam," Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Muhieddin, the overall chairman of Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa group, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Thursday, November 5. "Now the Shebab are killing Somalis because they are not with them." Dozens of the usually quiet religious movement's leaders have in recent days converged on Nairobi from Somalia and from Western exile for a "war council" to close ranks against what they see as an existential threat. Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa is a national Sufi movement which had not been known to engage in armed action in recent years. But this changed after Shebab group started targeting Sufis and their mosques in recent months, killing many Sufi scholars and destroying several mosques. A year ago, the group took up arms after the Shebab started hunting down Sufi faithful and desecrating their holy sites, notably in and around the southern city of Kismayo. "The Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa fighters are defending themselves and the lives of other Somalis whose way of life is threatened by the Shebab's madness," said Sheikh Muhieddin. Shebab, who control southern Somalia, has been waging relentless battles against transitional government in the capital Mogadishu. Power While the group's military strength remains unclear, its grassroots nature gives it a popular legitimacy and territorial reach that no other movement can boast in fractious Somalia. It is described by its leaders -- and indeed seen by many Somalis -- as a non-partisan religious group, only fighting to defend the country's Islamic identity against extremists. "In my region for example, Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa never used to be a political affiliation," noted Mohamed Ahmed Alin, who was recently appointed president of the semi-autonomous central state of Galmudug with the group's blessing. "Everybody is Ahlu Sunna, that's all." Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa was reportedly founded in 1991 to protect the local Sufi brand of Islam. Fighting alongside government troops in several areas of central and southern Somalia, it has inflicted serious defeats on the Shebab and shown itself to be one of the most credible military forces in the lawless country. However, the group's top leaders insist they have no further ambitions. "We are not after power," said Abdulkadir Mohamed Somow, a senior leader from Mogadishu. "Our movement is fighting the Shabab forces of anarchy but we will lay down our weapons as soon as they have been eliminated." But Abdullahi Mohamoud Hassan, the senior Ahlu Sunna figure based in Garowe, the administrative capital of the northern state of Puntland, hinted otherwise. "If it is God's will we may one day have a role to play in running the country," he said. "But it is too early to say more, there are consultations going on in Nairobi and elsewhere."