By Abdullahi Mohamed
In every nation, there are people whose worth is belittled unfairly or whose potential is undermined unjustly. People, who do not have enough educational background or solid experience, develop myths against disabled individuals in society. Here is the story of Sheikh Salah Ahmed who overcame the challenges and barriers that disabled people faced in Somalia.
Disability as Stigma
Let us start with the definition of disability. Generally, disability could be the result of an impairment related to physical, cognitive, mental, sensory or developmental situation. Some people might have combination of two or more kinds of disabilities. Certain conditions could restrict individuals from their day-to-day activities. Disability might affect the person at birth or occur in later life. Unfortunately, disabled people are mistreated in many parts of the developing world. For instance, in Somalia, disabled individuals are labeled as worthless. Disability carries such a stigma that an individual is named for their disability. Their given name becomes completely obscure. For example, the person with vision impairment is called “the blind one;” the a person with hearing problem is called “the deaf one.”
This is the story of a man, who despite facing insurmountable hurdles and unwelcoming environment, never gave up on sharpening his educational skills. He is Sheikh Salah Ahmed. He possessed solid patience, sweet personality, and positive attitude that opened for him many gates of life. Insha Allah, he will also earn forgiveness and reward from Allah in the Hereafter.
From Childhood to Adulthood
Sheikh Salah Ahmed was born in 1893 at a time resistance movements were fighting against colonial powers occupying Africa. It was also a period of widespread epidemic disease. Smallpox was prevalent in the region where he lived. Smallpox is a disease that starts with high fever that reaches 101 degrees Fahrenheit, followed by skin rash. As a result, thousands of people lost their lives; many were disabled; other residents of the northeast area of Somalia were adversely affected. Thanks to the discovery of vaccinations, smallpox has been eradicated from the world. During Sheikh Salah’s childhood, vaccination was unknown in Somalia and most of the world. When he was six years old, hundreds of people including young Salah contracted the disease. The young boy became critically ill and smallpox severely damaged his skin. It also deprived him of his vision. Thus, from the tender age of six, the Sheikh lived with total vision impairment.
Unfortunately, Salah’s mother passed away when he was four. However, his relatives supported him so well just like his mother.
Another tragedy struck Salah at the age of eight when his father passed away. Then, his close relatives took the full responsibility of raising him. Following the Islamic principle of caring for the orphans, his relatives give him special treatment by giving him the best food, buying him the best clothes, and trying to comfort him to the point that the tragic loss of his parents did not hurt him so much.
Now he was totally blind; he was an orphan with no father to support him and no mother to nurture him.
In addition to all those obstacles, there were other challenges. The early 1900s, which coincided Salah Ahmed’s childhood, violence and killings took place in that region. Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan, considered by most Somalis as national hero, waged liberation war against the British colonial occupation. Because of that conflict, daily bloodshed and pillage were prevalent in Somalia.
One day, at morning before young Salah even had breakfast, a militant group attacked his community. As a result, a large number of his relatives and friends lost their lives. A Handful of people including young Salah survived the attack.
The militants razed the village to the ground and plundered all the property. The prosperous community suddenly turned into ghost town where security was lost and human survival became almost impossible. Young ten-year-old Salah had to flee for his life.
Accompanied by his paternal aunt and cousin, they headed southeast seeking refuge from the ravaging war. They walked through desert region. They could not find edible food but survived on leaves and wild crops. They sometimes felt severely dehydrated and almost starved to death.
After a long arduous journey, they arrived in the village of Qandala, Salah Ahmed joined Haji Muse Gudub, his maternal uncle who was a wealthy businessman. Haji Muse and his wife raised young Salah as their adopted son. The couple was frustrated with how to make the ten-year-old blind child’s life functional. Before officially enrolling in the Dugsi Islamic Schools, Salah often sat by the window of the nearby school to listen. As soon as the class was dismissed, they would see a young boy running away.
Later, the teacher called Salah and asked him if he was interested in joining the class. Surprisingly after testing Salah, the teacher found out that Salah had already memorized large portions of the Quran by just sitting at the window. Haji Muse, the maternal uncle of Salah and his wife who were pondering how to make Salah’s life better, supported the idea of Salah enrolling in the Islamic school.
Suddenly, the potential and talent of the young Salah surfaced for everyone to see. Salah had the gift of perfectly memorizing whatever he heard. Salah was exceeding expectations in learning the Quran and Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) Hadith more than anyone else in the school. Then his teacher appointed him as a tutor for a small group of students. Next, Salah became an assistant teacher by filling the responsibilities of the school whenever the senior teacher was busy. His popularity spread quickly in Qandala. Then, he became the Mua’thin caller to prayer for the town mosque. Finally, he was appointed as prayer leader Imam of one of the mosques in Qandala.
Salah Ahmed also became an authority on the interpretation of Islamic Sharia law to the level where the other religious leaders trusted his knowledge and felt comfortable with his position. Religious leaders used to ask him whenever they were not sure how to interpret questions on Islam – including the meaning or the translation of the Quran and Hadith, or solving some current religious issues in the community.
Return to Sanaag Region
When they heard the exemplary accomplishment of their son, the Sanaag region elders were longing for Salah to return to his region. By that time The Dervish freedom struggle lead by Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan against the colonial powers was over. There was peace throughout the region even though the Europeans were still occupying most of the African continent. Later, the Sheikh also wanted to visit his paternal family in Sanaag region. The Sanaag elders requested Sheikh Salah to stay with them and be one of the leading elites of the region. The people in the region loved the Sheikh that they would not let him go back to Qandala. Instead of him going back, they sent other men to bring his belongings and family from Qandala back to Sanaag. They also arranged for him to have a second wife from the local area.
From there, the Sheikh continued to spread Islamic knowledge in the Sanaag region by establishing Islamic schools, serving as the Imam of a mosque, working as a peacemaker, and problem solver in the region. Sheikh Salah Ahmed even became the right hand man and indispensable advisor to Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shire of Sanaag region.
In 1959, Sheikh Salah was one of the vanguards of United Somali Party (USP) establishment. It was a political organization that called for equity and fairness of power in northern Somalia after the British colonial power left. This organization made it possible for the southern region formerly colonized by Italy and northern region under the British rule to unite as one independent Somalia in 1960. Sheikh Salah played a major role in providing ideas and also giving advice to USP party members. He addressed USP convention held in Khaatumo in 1959, and members admired his eloquent speech.
Man of Courage
Sheikh Salah was a courageous risk-taker who never saw physical blindness as a barrier to his ability. One day before Eid Al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice), he wanted to slaughter a sheep, but it was not delivered to him. In a very dark night, which is not a different for a blind man, Sheikh Salah walked alone to his relatives about ten miles away from his village. Without company, the Sheikh brought the sheep back to his village and slaughtered it to feed his family and friends.
Sheikh Salah was also a generous man who liked to help the poor and needy. He often exhorted his followers to donate their wealth to the poor in the community.
About 400 of his descendants including his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren are presently living around world. You can also find thousands and thousands of his students or people taught by his students in most parts of the globe.
Lesson from Sheikh Salah Ahmed’s Life
- Education is a light and it was the key to Sheikh Salah’s success.
- Effort and determination lead to remarkable achievements.
- Disability may be impairment, but it is not a wall that prevents someone from using his or her talents. We must encourage our disabled people to reach their potential.
- The Islamic religious leaders deserve our respect as they pass their knowledge to us, and we must pass what we have learned from them to our future generations.
The Somali community should collect similar stories that can make us reflective and encourage us to help our community overcome the stigma of disability.
Thanks to my friend Abdisalam Adam who helped me in editing this story as well as Ahmed Sheikh Salah and Ismail sheikh Salah who shared the story of their late father , may Allah reward him for the great work he did for the communinity.
By : Abdullahi Mohamed
Email: [email protected]
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Abdullahi Mohamed is a public school teacher who lives and works in Twin cities area.
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