If you look at Arabs, they are not really considered to be a singular ethnicity. They are pretty much an ethnicity of many ethnicities ie. supraethnicity or I've even heard the term panethnicity. Do you think this could also be true for Somalis? I think the problem is people see us all looking the same and speaking the same language and think that can't hold true for us.
For example, lets you take a Majeerteen, Hawiye, and a Rahanweyn (it's Ramadan don't turn into fkd). Now from a historical standpoint there is very little mixing or connection between the three. From a cultural perspective there are also different practices and traditions within the three. Even from a linguistic view, the Majeerteen would probably not understand the af-Maay speaker.
This is why I think modern anthropological viewpoints of Somalis are just wrong. I always hear people say we are one people yet how can we be so separated. Maybe that notion itself is the problem. It's almost unnatural when you think about it. This idea that Somalis are a singular group of people couldn't be further from the truth.
I am not saying we should hate one another or continue fighting. My point is that reinforcing these ideas will just cause more damage in the long run. By recognizing our differences is how we can become stronger, not by forcing an identity that only exists due to the modern nation state era. If someone identifies themselves by qabil nowadays you will have people call him backwards or uneducated. Yet in reality none of their ancestors were calling themselves Somali. It's the truth. We are all Muslim at the end of the day that's all that matters, but I just think we need to reframe what qabil and being Somali is. We are a nation of many nations. When you look at it like that, you will realize why we are the way we are.
For example, lets you take a Majeerteen, Hawiye, and a Rahanweyn (it's Ramadan don't turn into fkd). Now from a historical standpoint there is very little mixing or connection between the three. From a cultural perspective there are also different practices and traditions within the three. Even from a linguistic view, the Majeerteen would probably not understand the af-Maay speaker.
This is why I think modern anthropological viewpoints of Somalis are just wrong. I always hear people say we are one people yet how can we be so separated. Maybe that notion itself is the problem. It's almost unnatural when you think about it. This idea that Somalis are a singular group of people couldn't be further from the truth.
I am not saying we should hate one another or continue fighting. My point is that reinforcing these ideas will just cause more damage in the long run. By recognizing our differences is how we can become stronger, not by forcing an identity that only exists due to the modern nation state era. If someone identifies themselves by qabil nowadays you will have people call him backwards or uneducated. Yet in reality none of their ancestors were calling themselves Somali. It's the truth. We are all Muslim at the end of the day that's all that matters, but I just think we need to reframe what qabil and being Somali is. We are a nation of many nations. When you look at it like that, you will realize why we are the way we are.