Hiiraan Online

by A.Hashi
Saturday, June 11, 2011

My Dear Somali Brothers and Sisters.

With your permission, I wish to share a few thoughts; I am not an important person or person of Authority but an average Somali living & working overseas. I have prayed for peace & security to return to Somalia, I have prayed and touched the Kabbah and prayed that the mistrust, hate and anger that divides us to be removed and may Allah bless us and show us the way to become a good, honest, united, hardworking Muslim nation. That honor and integrity to be restored to our country.

As I sit here in the shade of the Harem and the Kabbah is only a few steps away, Tens of thousands of Muslims from all over the world are performing tawaf (circling the Kabbah), thousands more are praying, it is very peaceful and beautiful feeling. There are people from everywhere, turkey, Iran, Indonesia, china, India, Africa countries, middle east countries, central Asian countries , Europe and others that I cannot recognize where they come from, regardless of the color or nationality. Some of the groups here have a label of their national flag pinned to them, since they are traveling as a group, this is a beautiful sight but also from myself, a bit of lonely feeling since our homeland is held hostage to violence and disorder.

Before I proceed with the intent of this letter, permit me to transmit a message to the young Somali generations especially those growing up in non-Muslim countries, to consider making this Pilgrimage/trip of Umrah or in the future the Haji. Umrah will cost you a two way ticket to Jeddah Saudi Arabia + 3 day stay in Mecca and Medina, the average total cost for these 3 days ( hotel + local transport to Medina + food) is between $500 to $900. For example, if you are traveling from Chicago, the cost will be your ticket + $500. this is on a budget for a young person, so plan for $1500, this  will cover your gift purchases. Haji is more expensive about 75% more  for accommodation. Come and a lot of your problems, confusion and worries will be washed away and get a second chance.

Brothers and Sisters, we know the situation our country is in and for a long time we have stood by looking and waiting for someone to do something to get the country back on its feet. There are others who will be better at conducting a political analysis of why Somalia is in this state but I wish to share with you these thoughts today in this holy place. Every prayer requires action on our part, we cannot wish or pray to be rich without working hard to achieve the objective, we cannot wish or pray to be educated with out putting in the time and effort to study and endure the long race to the finish line and getting that degree, similarly we need to take action to carry out our duty for Somalia, our homeland. We cannot run away from our duty, our obligation, you cannot run away from your identity regardless which part of Somalia you come from or how far away you are  from Somalia.  We share the same identity/brand name and if we don't take action today, our children will pay a heavy price and our women are paying a heavy price today and everyday you hear about a fellow Somali is being killed ( i.e. South Africa) or jailed or mistreated because there is no  government to fight for him & we have been labeled, as a people who have sold their country/land for a better life in Europe or other places.

We need to become the instruments of change, the agents of change and change means revolution. The first step of any revolution is the "personal or internal revolution". when a belief system or a way of life no long can meet your needs today, we need to obsolete or abandon those tribal belief systems. Tribal belief system, is one of the core reasons we are victims & helpless to change our country. We must reject, abolish and outgrow tribalism as a Somali way of life, it CANNOT  meet our needs today in the modern world, it’s a belief system that belongs to the 18^th century, the time when there were no nation states, and a tribesman was expected to be loyal and protect the interest of the tribe and its territory.

Somalia is a Nation State, a Republic, it needs citizens that are loyal to it, defend its interest and sacrifice to build it and  restore its honor and power.

Our weakness is tribalism, it’s the reason why we are stuck and are being left behind by the entire world, while our beautiful country is eaten way by vultures and criminals and special interest groups who have their own agenda.

With your permission, I would like to make the following suggestion, strategy and plan of action.

1. First step, you as the reader, please commit to abolish tribalism, transfer your  loyalty from tribe to the Somali Nation, some will be able to do this quickly others will gradually change sides as results of the action becomes evident on the ground in Somalia. Our loyalty is to Islam and the Somali Nation
2. Before committing to take action, pray 2 Rukhs (when possible) and seek Allah's Protection and Guidance, to open your heart to help restore our nation, to remove doubt from your heart, to remove tribalism from your heart and veins and to give you strength, determination and courage to take action ( there will be many that will say things to make you doubt or discourage you)
3. Let us forgive each other, forgive other Somalis you have had issues with for decades ( political differences, loss of property, even murder of  family members). A process of forgiveness and reconciliation, it worked very well in Rwanda (it is one of the shining stars of Africa today).
4. Taking Action: Take one small step to start your journey to rebuild the Somali Nation. I recommend, we chose Education rebuilding as that special vehicle. It is a achievable task, which we can all agree on and converge on. To build a Somali education system or network inside Somalia and to support the existing schools in all the districts of the country.

-  Select two regions in Somalia, one region where you come from and another region far away from yours.

-  In these regions select a town or district( there is usually several villages in each district). In these towns and districts there are small primary schools and sometimes the big city of the region will have a high school. Select one school from each region to support ( Pls go to Facebook: Somalia Education Network, for a list of districts and maps).

-  Form a education group , collect a few friends ( regardless of tribe) and explain that you wish form a group to support education in these two schools ( most probable there will be disagreement as to why the selection was made, but you work it out).

-  Each group member to contribute a minimum of $10/mth. At this stage all funds MUST come from Somali individuals, don't seek external assistance yet. We need to take responsibility for our homeland first and feel the weight of this responsibility and develop the organization skills and grass roots activism skills.

-  Make contact with these districts or schools  by contacting other Somalis in your city who would know someone from that district. Get the name of the school, the head masters name and send the money through  the Hawaala. Let the head master determine how best to use the money and ask for monthly progress reports of school activity. At this stage, financial accountability will not be easy to enforce, you want to get the ball rolling and if some of the money is diverted, a system will be put in place later ( district education committee).

-  If possible create a website or facebook account for your group, since we wish to create many groups, please try using  the name Somali  Education Network_123… or SomaliNation123,SomaliNation 124…125… for your face book accounts. This way we will all be pushing in the same direction and can coordinate better. school pictures can also be sent and uploaded. Let there be " 10,000 Facebook sites for the Somali Nation".

-  Learning and gaining experience from this small operation means that , next we will be ready to create a network, organize, coordinate activity, create awareness, inject a new way of thinking at the grassroots level in Somalia. WE WANT TO EMPOWER THE SOMALI YOUTH AT THE GRASSROOTS LEVEL, they know the situation at the ground first hand, by injecting funds into schools, and having computers and access to internet, the new Somali generation can quickly leverage the power of the internet to assist them to bring change to Somalia. Our role is to assist, the youth of Somalia since they are the future of the nation.

-  After a while we can include new programs into the Education Network, like introducing School Lunch Programs, Clean Water filtration units at each school, increasing the number of classrooms, some of the schools will need toilets to be built in the school ( all these activities have direct positive economic impact on the village or town the school is located )

-  Develop sports programs, football, athletics ( all uniforms are locally made). Again  the youth and the schools need funding and they will do the rest of the organizing of their sports activity.

-  The Somalia Education Network is both a instrument to improve education in Somalia and also a vehicle to bring resources directly to the grassroots in each district in the country.

5. For the Somali's overseas, let us start forming  Somali Business Councils to help each other compete and share resources/information. Let us create Employment websites/ Facebook websites for Employment on a global scale ( which means the person who graduates from Malaysia can  drop their CV into the website and maybe they  can get a lead or connection through a global network of somali colleagues and friends). This is a Global work place and there is stiff competition for the high paying jobs, so networking will be a critical tool for the young  job seekers.  We need to start having serious community discussions of what we need to do as a Somali People and stop having small exclusive tribal meetings to collect money and still be stuck on a tribal agenda.. We need the young generation to lead & create a new brand-image for the SomaliNation and with a revolutionary spirit. 

6. Vision; What is our Vision for the Somali People and Nation. I would like to contribute/ submit my opinion of what the vision for our people and Nation should be. It should be a Democratic Muslim Republic, maybe some will disagree strongly at the Islamic component but having a strong Nation state where your rights are protected and your freedom is guaranteed in line with international standards but under a Islamic belief system.

Let me explain, our greatest weakness and enemy is Tribalism (Qabil), we  believe in it, like it was a parallel religion, it has caused us great harm, it has brought us shame, humiliation, homeless(refugee), hopelessness and no control over our country. But Islam is the most powerful force in the world, there is no other power that has the ability to command billions of people around the world everyday, 5 times a day to bow down in the direction of Mecca and offer their prayers in the same way and at the appointed times. There is no power that is this great that can do the same for thousands of years. This power has the strength to bury tribalism and ignorance from us, it is the power we need. Imagine if Somalia was a big Mosque, from north to south, would there be any bloodshed inside this Mosque, would there be any hate, distrust, corruption…No because we would all be in a "State of Islam". The rules & spirit that govern the mosque would be greater then the Evil one who has brought us this defeat.

7. The Strategy & Plan.  The strategy is to build a grassroots movement ( even though Somalia has limited democratic experience),  build at the district level, district councils that are funded by you, these district councils will hire the required policemen to protect the community from the criminals. The local village chiefs and tribal leaders will no longer be dependent of corrupt warlord politicians. The people at the district level know what they want and they shall force the National agenda. The Strategy continues to support  the collabration of districts to determine /influence who runs the Regional Government.  The plan is to build the new Somali Nation from the ground (grassroots) upward up to the selection of the national leadership. We need leadership that will promote the national agenda and interest and not the Imperialism by-proxy agenda.

8. The Expected Outcome:  Based on History and the past experience of other countries, when the power vacuum is filled and such action is with the peoples blessings, nations that where in crises have the ability to bounce back. i.e. Vietnam after the Americans left , Rwanda after the Genocide, Angola after 22years of civil war and many more. If we build a strong grassroots network that is based on national interest and Islamic principals, such an environment will give a chance to new young leaders inside Somalia to rise up and lead and hopefully become the new leaders.

In closing, I apologize if I have offended anyone( it was not the intention). If a few of you who have read this letter take action( in the form of creating your own education groups to connect with schools), Then please know that many hundreds of young Somali children inside Somalia will be happier and feel their big brothers overseas are looking out for them.

Please note, there are those who wish to discourage us and if some of the comments posted below are negative and distracting, then please disregard the negativity and continue on your journey. We have the ability, determination & talent to be a Championship Nation, the Somali Nation, beautiful Somalia.

I hope, we will be blessed with an opportunity to meet here in Makkah, with smiling faces and contented hearts. Salaam Alykum