You know, we all need to be paying more attention to Somalia (and, while I am at it, Bangladesh, but I will come to that another time). For example y'all saw the headlines about the recent news about a new President taking over in Somalia. And then of his coming to an agreement with "Islamist" "rebels". Okay, so there's much to be said about how "real" the presidency is and all that.
But there's talk about ministers handing over to other ministers (okay, so the VOA might not be the best place for objective news)--something that I don't think Somalia's had since a Somali classmate of mine in Freshman year at college in Karachi told me "A civil war started today in my country."
But what really struck me was why was it ONLY the CNN article that carried this paragraph:
However, Ahmed told a news conference he won't agree to a strict interpretation of the law,which forbids girls from attending school, requires veils for women and beards for men, and bans music and television.
I mean, with all that angst about deals with Islamism (yes, I use that word; take me up on it) isn't that what it's about? Shouldn't we be paying attention to this? Being supportive of this kidn of thing if that really plays out as the quote promises rather than groping at "moderate Islamists"? [Something I need to pick on, too.]
Technorati tags applicable to this post: Somalia - Islamists
[PS: Gustavo, does this qualify as post that doesn't obssess about Pakistan?]
[First published on http://blog.iFaqeer.com]
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Somali Islam, in common with much of African Islam, is most often a mystical, Sufi strain of the faith.
The recent wave of the smashing of the tombs of Sufi shaykhs by the salafi jihadi groups presently roaming the Somali power-vacuum has caused immense offence to many Somali.
The new President of Somalia - once prominent in the Islamic Courts movement of Somalia, who bought a measure of peace and stability to the country (before being driven out by the Western-backed Ethiopian invasion) - is simply expressing the quite liberal and sometimes progressive tradtional perspectives of Islam in his country.