Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Can Somalia survive without music?

Somali radio broadcastAlmost all radio stations in southern and central Somalia have stopped broadcasting music in order to comply with demands from Islamic militants. As of today, only two of 16 stations in the capital Mogadishu are playing music.
The call for a ban on music in Somalia was issued by Hizbul Islam on 3 April. The radical militant group is one of two main insurgent forces in the country; the other is the infamous al-Shabaab. Together the two militias control large swaths of the country and have been attempting to institute a strict form of Islamic Sharia law. Hizbul Islam gave Somalia's radio stations ten days to comply with the ban or be shut down. And the only two stations in who have defied the order are Radio Mogadishu, which is protected by African Union peacekeepers, and Radio Bar-Kulan, which is broadcast from Nairobi, Kenya.
Music is evil
Somalia Islamic groups have previously attempted to ban music in some areas under their control, but this new prohibition seems to be the most widely applied to date. Instead of songs, some stations are now broadcasting poems and other spoken texts. Even jingles have been taken off-air. In some cases they have been replaced by animal noises and even the sounds of gunfire. According to the militants, music and other forms of entertainment violate Islamic principles, and negatively influence people. But the International Crisis Group's Somalia analyst Rashid Abdi, says these beliefs are extreme to say the least:
"The Islamist groups... espouse an extremist theology which holds that music and other forms of entertainment... are actually a distraction from worship... [but] the majority of mainstream Muslims will see this as actually a crazy idea, that there could be a theological basis for banning music."
Perhaps mainstream Muslims will balk at the music ban but this has not stopped Somali Islamic groups from attempting to ban other things that seem quite ordinary in the Western world. Football, films, bras and even beauty salons have also fallen afoul of their highly restrictive interpretation of Islam.

A form of escape

Somalia has been in the midst of civil unrest for the past 20 years. In that time a famine killed 300,000 people and inter-clan fighting has further divided the country. And on top of this, Islamic insurgents have gradually taken control of large regions. Kassim Mohamed is a Somali journalist who works in neighbouring Kenya. He says that music is an essential part of Somali culture and that the ban may well have a crippling effect on his homeland:
"Considering Somalia is a war torn country, and many people living in Mogadishu are now depressed because of listening to gunfire everyday, so I think without music they are not going to survive. And it will be really very hard for people to cope with that kind of trauma."
And according to Kassim Mohamed, it's not just Somalia's psychological well-being that's stake; not having access to music may well increase social unrest within the country:
"The youth are now busy watching films and listening to music, but when they have nothing to do they will be pouring themselves onto the streets of Mogadishu and other parts... So I think there is a reason to say there will be a kind of chaos expected in the near future."
By Davion Ford

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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