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Somalia: The profile of Islamic courts leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed
Wed. June 14, 2006 01:00 pm.
Mohamed Abdi Farah - Somalia correspondent
Sheik Sharif |
(SomaliNet) Mogadishu courts surprised the world past few weeks when they challenged and defeated much feared Mogadishu warlords and expanded their turf many folds into nearby towns. Every new Somalia conflict comes with new names and Sheik Sharif Ahmed has been introduced to us by the current one. We have been asked about this new kid on the block and what made his formerly unknown faction so powerful. The answer to the later is very simple, Mogadishu residents lived in a hell for so long and they wanted a change which the Islamic courts promised to deliver. However, the swiftness of the change is attributed to a bunch of warlords backed by the US who declared war on the Islamic courts after receiving a lot of money allegedly from the United States. The public, armed and unarmed sided with the courts and contributed to the demise of Mogadishu warlords. Islamic courts officials thank the public on every occasion they talk to the media. Many people thank the US and the warlords for starting the war at the right time for the courts which may lead to to law and order in the city.
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the leader of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) recently became unexpectedly one of the youngest popular Somali leaders and joins the movers and shakers of Somali politics after he rooted out the cursed warlords of the US backed Alliance for Restoration of Peace and Counter Terrorism (ARPCT) and ended 15 years of gun-rule in the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu. His religion based ICU is now the most powerful and popular faction in Somalia, winning every battle they encountered and capturing every city they set their eyes on.
Let’s have a quick look at background of Sheikh Sharif who is now 42 years old, the youngest religious leader.
Sheik Abdirahman Mohamud |
Mr. Sharif was born on 25 July in 1964 in rural area of Mahaday district of Middle Shabelle region, where he went to Koran School. Mahaday district is 110 miles northeast of the capital. He had finished his intermediate and secondary study in Egyptian administered Sheikh Sufi School in Mogadishu. After graduation from Kordafan University in Sudan where he majored in geography and Arabic language, he returned back to Somalia in 1998. He has also learnt in Libya.
What’s so amazing about him is that he lives in a very simple life in a $50 per month rented house in Yaqshid district with his wife and two children. Unlike the warlords his alliance chased out of Mogadishu, Sheik Sharif doesn’t have a lavish lifestyle.
He was elected in 2002 as the chairman of an Islamic court in Jowhar, 90km northeast of Mogadishu. His court dealt with small cases relating to light crimes and conflicts among business people and families. When militia led by Mohamed Omar Habeb ‘Mohamed Dhere’ invaded and took over the control of Jowhar, Sheik Sharif fled to Mogadishu and started teaching geography in Juba High School in Yaqshid district. For the record, his army rolled into and captured Jowhar today as we prepare this article about his profile.
He decided to join the Islamic movement in the capital after a 12-year-old boy was kidnapped from his school by gunmen. The kidnappers demanded ransom money which prompted Sheikh Sharif to stand up against armed thugs in the area. He began campaigning for Islamic courts in the capital to restore peace and some sort of order. “I want to fight against robbers in the capital and also unify the Islamic courts in the city,” Sharif said.
Heavy weapons captured from walords |
In 2004, Sheikh Sharif became one the leading figures in the Islamic courts in the capital. His closest friends and allies include Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, one of the founders of Islamic courts in Somalia and Adan Hashi Ayrow whom Washington blames for having connection with Al-Qaeda network and fought in Afghanistan in 2001.
In 2005, Sheikh Sharif was elected as the chairman of joint Islamic courts, 11 semi-independent courts in Mogadishu. His leadership of the Islamic courts led to today’s almost surreal series of victories over Mogadishu warlords who kept Somalia as hostage for so long. He usually declines to tell the number of Islamic courts’ troops but it is said that union of Islamic courts has approximately 5,000 fighters.
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a black-complexion religious man with short black beard and white turban on his head, is from Agon-yare sub-clan of Abgal clan, one of the dominant clans in Hawiye tribe who inhabit many regions of southern Somalia. He is moderate and speaks Somali, Arabic and English. His openness and respect for the media gave him the advantage of conveying his messages through local and international media. He always welcomes reporters and gives interviews with detailed answers.
Sheik Sharif says he accomplished his ultimate dream of freeing Mogadishu from warlords and he’s ready to handover the throne anytime he’s asked to step aside. He loves his career in teaching and says he may go back to teaching one day. He sees himself as a simple man who, like many others took arms to free his people from warlords, a goal that finally came and changed Somalia forever. Whatever happens in Somalia, Sheik Sharif will go into history books as the man whose underdog faction surprised the world by changing Somalia’s political map in a few weeks.
News Category: Somalia
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