| Sheikh Hussein | |
|---|---|
 Sheikh Hussein's shrine in the town of Sheikh Hussein. | |
| Born | Merca, Somalia |
| Died | Sheikh Hussein, Ethiopia |
| Occupation | Scholar |
| Title | Sheikh |
Sheikh Hussein was a 13th-century Somali Muslim proselytizer who lived in Ethiopia and was from the famous port town of Merca in Somalia, one of the power jurisdictions and cultural centers of the Ajuran Sultanate. He is now honored as a saint.
History
Hussein was born in merca, and was Somali from the Daauud sub-clan of the ABGAAL sub-clan of the Hawiye. His descendants are known as Dawwee and are part of the Arsi Oromo today, however they still know their lineage. He is credited for introducing Islam to the Sidamo people living in Ethiopia. He is also credited for founding and establishing the Sultanate of Bale and is said to have performed many miracles. A number of these feats have been recorded in a hagiography published in Cairo in the 1920s, entitled Rabi` al-Qulub. He gave his name to the town of Sheikh Hussein, which is now within the homelands of the Oromo people. The city is a popular destination for approximately 50,000 Muslim pilgrims from various parts of Ethiopia, who congregate there twice a year during the Islamic months of Hajj and Rabi' al-Awwal. The first pilgrimage in February–March is to celebrate Sheikh Hussein's birth; the second in August–September is to commemorate his death. The pilgrims traditionally carry cleft sticks known as "Oulle Sheikh Hussein", which are too small to serve as walking sticks and are not utilized for any practical purpose. Once they arrive at the shrine, the pilgrims take their turn entering the saint's tomb by crawling through a small doorway.
References
- Gish, Steven; Thay, Winnie; Latif, Zawiah Abdul (April 2007). Ethiopia. Marshall Cavendish. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-7614-2025-5. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
- Reese, Scott S. (2000). "Review of Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-Based Society". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 63 (2): 324–325. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00007606. ISSN 0041-977X. JSTOR 1559579. S2CID 231794703.
- Keeping the Birds at Bay in the Bay Area of Somalia (I.M. Lewis 1988)|quote=The Haran Madare are represented in old Somali oral traditions as a branch of the saintly Walamogge lineage, descended according to the same sources, from the famous Sheikh Huseen Baliale, the patron saint of the Islamic Population of Ethiopia (Andredrewzji 1975; Braukamper 1977; Lewis 1980)
- Saints and Somalis Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society (I.M. Lewis 1998)|quote=According to sources, the Haran Madare Walamogge are direct lineal descendants (rather than affines) of the Ajuran.
- Braukamper, Ulrich; Braukämper, Ulrich (2002). Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays. LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 9783825856717.
- Østebø, Terje (October 2020). Islam, Ethnicity, and Conflict in Ethiopia. Cambridge University Press. p. 52. ISBN 9781108839686.
- J. Spencer Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), pp. 253-256.
- Beckingham and Huntingford, Some Records, p. lxxxix. Trimingham offers the date of 1780 for Nur Husain's departure from Mogadishu.
- "Local History in Ethiopia" Archived 2011-05-28 at the Wayback Machine The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 2 November 2011)