Ethiopian embitions are matched by Somali division by Khalid Hassan Yusuf

09:50 PM January, 26 2025

Sudanese Online
خالد حسن يوسف-الصومال
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Arab historians who wrote about the history of the Horn of Africa region in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries AD spoke about the division of Muslims before the kings of Abyssinia, and that those emirates that were called in the Islamic style were subject to the control of the kings of Abyssinia, who were forcefully taking royalties from them.

However, Sultan Gamal al-Din came and revolted against the reality of the Sultanate of Ifat’s submission to the Abyssinians, and his struggle attempt was met with the rejection of the notables of Ifat who refused to confront the Abyssinians, and decided to continue paying tribute to their opponents out of fear of them, thus aborting his attempt to obtain their freedom and assert their sovereignty over their lands.

Some of the rulers of the Emirate of Ifat, descended from the family of Omar and WelSama, became prisoners of the kings of Abyssinia, who controlled them politically. Moreover, the Abyssinians used to hold some of them close when they wanted, while they imprisoned some of them successively and released them whenever they wanted.
Somali politicians stationed with Ethiopia are similar to the princes of the Ifat Sultanate in their submission to the kings of Abyssinia.

It was mentioned in the book, Masterpiece of time ,known as the Conquests of Abyssinia, by the writer Shihab al-Din Abdul-Qadir Ahmad al-Jizani, when he dealt with the Sultanate of Awdal or Adal, that the matter reached a point with the Sultanate of Hadiya, which included a Muslim population and others, that its residents would present each year one of their most beautiful girls, and of a high social status. Between her relatives, to the King of Abyssinia, and the goal of thatThe behavior was to confirm the subjugation of the people of Hadiya to their Ethiopian opponents.
In the end, Imam Ahmed bin Ibrahim bin Osman came and saved them from that historical humiliation.

Historically, Abyssinia formed an expansionist state since the fourth century AD, when King Ezana adopted the Christian religion, expanded north towards Sudanese lands and overthrew the Kingdom of Marwa. Then the Abyssinians later moved to control the peoples located east and south of their country, and in this context they controlled during different periods the Oromo peoples. Benishangul and Gomez,Hadiya, Sidamo, Afar, Somalis and others.

Ethiopia benefited from its alliance with the European colonial powers, and its alliance with Portugal resulted in the conflict, which led to the defeat of the Awdal or Adal Sultanate in 1543 and the killing of Imam Ahmed bin Ibrahim.
Then the star of the Minister Nour bin Mujahid bin Abdullah Ali Soha rose, and he was defeated by the King of Abyssinia, but that historical event was not destined to continue, and the reality of the Sultanate of Awdal - Adal tended to decline and decline, leading to its division, and its fall severely affected Somali nationalism, which represented the pillar of that state.

Later, its alliance with European countries bore fruit, with it demanding its share of the African continent in 1884.

In 1963, I participated in dedicating the Organization of African Unity, which established the inviolability of the political borders left by colonialism between the countries it occupied, regardless of the desires of the peoples who fell into the grip of a new occupation that was no different from that of the European one, if not worse than it!
This resulted in a state of conflict between African countries.
These included the wars between Somalia and Ethiopia in 1963 and 1977, not to mention the ongoing conflict between the two countries until 1988, after their conflict was settled on the sidelines of the meetings to establish the IGAD organization in Djibouti in 1986.

The Ethiopian aggression towards Somalia began after 1991 at various levels, and reached the point where it violated the UN resolution banning weapons from this collapsed country. Thus, Addis Ababa worked to control the Somali factions fighting among themselves, and granted each party weapons in particular.

On the other hand, controlling the amount of water from the Shabelle and Juba River heading towards Somalia, after Ethiopia built its dams to reserve that water.
Despite the seriousness of this trend, the alarm was not present among the Somalis. There was no political or diplomatic objection recorded by the Somali government to that measure, which harmed the Somali presence!

The Ethiopian violations resulted in the Somali decision to fall into the grip of neighboring countries, specifically Ethiopia, and this was evident in the identification of both Presidents Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud during his first term as president, and Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, with the control of Ethiopia, which reached its influence inside Somalia, such that it was granted Part of the headquarters of the Presidency of the Republic of Somalia Federal headquarters for its embassy in the capital, Mogadishu!

The current Somali division is considered a model similar to that historical background related to the Islamic Emirates, and the Ethiopian influence towards Somalia is accepted by major countries, most notably the United States and others, against the backdrop of the issue of fighting terrorism, and Washington has not returned to the transgressions carried out by Ethiopia towards Somalia, as much asIts keenness to achieve its foreign political interests and to confront Al-Shabab exclusively.

Historically, the Abyssinians agreed to obtain an external outlet to the sea, whether in the Red Sea or the Indian Ocean, and for this reason Abyssinia worked in the past and in the present.
In this regard, their attacks historically came on the cities of Zeila and Balad to reach the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Currently, despite the state of ethnic division that Ethiopia is witnessing, there is an implicit consensus among the components of this country to obtain a sea port, despite their internal differences.
While we find a state of division in Somali circles regarding confronting the Ethiopian position, and disagreement over political sovereignty, we find skepticism on the part of the cantons of Puntland, southwest of Somalia’s Juba, which represent political forces linked to Ethiopia, especially since there is a movement that finds, in light of the new reality, an interest in connection with Addis Ababa is bigger than his relations with Federal Government in Somalia!

Also, the priorities of Somalis at the present time have become different
From this approach, Ethiopia has benefited greatly from the absence of national reconciliation and the continuation of tribal civil wars at the level of Somalia.
The result is that all these issues established Ethiopian control over Somalia.

In this context, it can be said that even the priorities of Somali political Islam have become different, and they are regional and regional, as you will find them divided between the existing cantons in Somalia, and against the backdrop of the division between unity and secession, while they echo their concern for the message of Islam, and you find them more keen on solidarity with Palestine. Of their interest With their Somali unity!
In turn, the reality of the division includes the educated Somali elite, which was supposed to be like a wall on whose sides it would break, the expansionist political discourse of the Ethiopian state, and the Somali racism associated with it.
While the religious and national necessity requires that society be mobilized from a religious perspective consistent with its legitimate national and national dimensions.

The recent statements of the advisor to the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Redwan Hussein, are a clear acknowledgment of Ethiopia’s aggression towards Somalia, and the content of his speech confirmed that there are offers by six African countries to grant his country an economic maritime outlet.
However, he explicitly confirmed that Ethiopia is looking for something beyond that offer, which is to obtain a sea port subject to the sovereignty of its state, and that Addis Ababa will work to fulfill this political desire either through agreement or through forced military takeover of the sea port!
He added that his country will not remain idle while there is a group of countries coming from across the seas, and across great distances from the region, and have dedicated military bases in Djibouti.

Also on October 15, 2023, in turn, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had declared, in the presence of the Ethiopian Parliament, his country’s desire to obtain a sea port, either by agreement or by trickery (what is meant here is force or imposition).

Addis Ababa is also betting on the state of political and security turmoil in the world, and on the focus of the forces of the international community, each of them, on the priority of its political interests, and betting on the precedent of Russia’s invasion of its neighbor, Ukraine.
Taking advantage of the destabilization of the security situation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, where Ethiopia wants to exploit the security instability in those waters, while the Ethiopian encroachment is considered an additional factor threatening the security of those sea lanes and the Horn of Africa region.

As for Somalis, it is necessary to realize that their problem is not with specific Ethiopian governments or specific nationalities, but rather with the Ethiopian state system in general, regardless of its rulers and their ethnic backgrounds. In this regard, the Somali elements who hold official positions in this state should not be excluded, as they in turn are part of From the state machine Ethiopian expansionism, and in the end, they are an extension of the rulers of the Islamic-style emirates or some of the rulers of the Sultanate of Awdal or Adal, who usually favored submission to the kings of Abyssinia.

The irony is that, in light of the reality of deterioration between the two countries, the headquarters of the Ethiopian embassy is located in the heart of the headquarters of the Presidency of the Somali Republic!

By Khalid Hassan Yusuf