Main article: Somali clanThe Isaaq (also Isaq, Ishaak) (Somali: Reer Sheik Isaxaaq, Arabic: اسحاق) is one of the main Somali clans. Members of the clan principally live in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia, and the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The populations of the four major cities of Somaliland – Hargeisa, Burco, Berbera, and Ceerigaabo – are predominantly Isaaq. As of the late 1980s[update], the Sacad Muuse, Habar Awal, and Jibriil Abokor sub-clans of the Isaaq were the main inhabitants of Gabiley.[1] [edit] History  The tomb of Sheikh Isaaq, the father of the Isaaq clan, in Maydh. According to tradition, the Isaaq clan was founded by the arrival in the 12th or 13th century of Shaykh Ishaq ibn Ahmad al-'Alawi from Arabia, one of the Prophet Muhammad's early followers.[2][3] He settled in the coastal town of Maydh in modern day northwestern Somalia, where he married into the local Dir clan. A similar clan mythology exists for the Darod, whom are said to have descended from one Sheikh Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, another Banu Hashim who came to Somalia around the same time.[2] As with Sheikh Darod, there are also numerous existing hagiologies in Arabic which describe Sheikh Isaaq's travels, works and overall life in northern Somalia, as well as his movements in Arabia before his arrival. Sheikh Isaaq's tomb is in Maydh, and is the scene of frequent pilgrimages.[4] [edit] Clan tree  Partial breakdown of the Isaaq clan structure. There is no clear agreement on the clan and sub-clan structures and many lineages are omitted. The following listing is taken from the World Bank's Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics from 2005 and the United Kingdom's Home Office publication, Somalia Assessment 2001.[5][6] - Isaaq
- Haber Awal
- Sa'ad Muse
- Lise Muse
- Issa Muse
- Ayub
- Haber Geelo
- Garhajis
- Habr Garhadjis
- Habr Yunis
- Aidagalla
- Arab
- Habr Jaalo (Habr Toljallo)
- Mohamed Abokor
- Ibrahim
- Muse Abokor
- Ahmad (Toljaalo)
In Puntland the World Bank shows the following:[7] - Isaaq
- Habar Yoonis
- Habar Awal
- Habar Tol Jaalo
- Habar Jaalo
- Iidagale
[edit] Notable Isaaq people - Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur, Last SNM Chairman and First President of Somaliland
- Abdillahi Suldaan Mohammed Timacade, prominent poet during the pre- and post-colonial periods (peak during 1960s)
- Ahmed M. Mahamoud Silanyo, longest serving and the 4th chairman of the SNM; current chairman of the Kulmiye Party in Somaliland
- Abdullahi Qarshe (Somali: Cabdullahi Kharshee, Arabic: عبد الله خارسهي) (1924 - 1994) was a Somali musician, poet and playwright known as the "Father of Somali music".
- Ahmed Yusuf Yasin, Vice-President of Somaliland
- Ali Abdi Farah, member of Djibouti Cabinet
- Ali Feiruz, popular musician
- Sheikh Bashir Yussuf, Somali religious leader
- Edna Adan Ismail, first female Foreign Minister of Somaliland
- Habiiba Ahmed Haaji, vice-manager of the African Educational Trust
- Hassan Ganey, poet
- Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame 'Hadrawi', poet and philosopher; author of Halkaraan; also known as the "Somali Shakespeare"
- Mohamed Mooge Liibaan, musician
- Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal, former Prime Minister of Somalia; former president of Somaliland
- Rageh Omaar, former BBC World TV correspondent; currently with Al Jazeera English
- Umar Arteh Ghalib, last prime minister of Somalia under the regime of Siad Barre
- Faysal Ali Warabe chairman of the Justice and Welfare Party of Somaliland (UCID)
- ^ Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Somalia: Information on the ethnic composition in Gabiley (Gebiley) in 1987-1988, 1 April 1996, SOM23518.E, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6ab704.html [accessed 6 October 2009]
- ^ a b Rima Berns McGown, Muslims in the diaspora, (University of Toronto Press: 1999), pp.27-28
- ^ I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), p. 22
- ^ Roland Anthony Oliver, J. D. Fage, Journal of African history, Volume 3, (Cambridge University Press.: 1962), p.45
- ^ Worldbank, Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics, January 2005, Appendix 2, Lineage Charts, p.55 Figure A-1
- ^ Country Information and Policy Unit, Home Office, Great Britain, Somalia Assessment 2001, Annex B: Somali Clan Structure, p. 43
- ^ Worldbank, Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics, January 2005, Appendix 2, Lineage Charts, p.57 Figure A-3
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