Khalil
خليل
TitleKabir, Sheikh
Personal
Died
Harar, Emirate of Harar
Resting placeHarar
ReligionIslam
EraModern Islamic period
RegionEmirate of Harar
DenominationSunni
JurisprudenceShafi'i
CreedAsh'ari
Main interest(s)Sufism, Fiqh
TariqaQadiriyya order
Muslim leader
Influenced by
Influenced

Kabir Khalil or scholar Khalil was a 19th-century scholar and one of the three head Ulama in the Emirate of Harar. He was a member of the Qadiriyya order which was prominent in the Horn of Africa at the time.[1]

Biography

Kabir Khalil was fluent in both Harari, and Arabic.[2] During the reign of Emir Ahmad Ibn Abu Bakr the European explorer Richard Burton would visit Harar in 1855 and described Khalil as the leading religious figure in the city. The other Harari scholar being Kabir Yonis and Shaykh Jami of Somali descent were also highly regarded.[3]

Khalil advised his pupil Sheikh Madar to establish a Qadiriyya tariqa commune in present-day Hargeisa and spread the tariqa and its values. One of which being to try and reduce the tribal conflict along the trade route between Harar and Berbera which was damaging livelihoods and causing unnecessary death.[4] This led Sheikh Madar and his companions to found the Big Commune (Jama’a weyne) of Little Harar (Hargeisa) in circa 1860. Sheikh Madar also started sorghum plantations in the vicinity of the town to maintain self-sufficiency as well as taking care of the sick and elderly inhabitants of the growing settlement. This cultivation soon spread and was taken up eagerly across the region by Somalis.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Burton. F., Richard (1856). First Footsteps in East Africa. p. 360.
  2. ↑ Abubaker, Abdulmalik. The relevance of Harari values (PDF). University of Alabama. p. 151.
  3. ↑ Burton, Richard. First footsteps in East Africa (PDF). "The chief Ulema are the Kabir Khalil, the Kabir Yunis, and the Shaykh Jami: the two former scarcely ever quit their houses, devoting all their time to study and tuition: the latter is a Somali who takes an active part in politics. These professors teach Moslem literature through the medium of Harari, a peculiar dialect confined within the walls"
  4. ↑ Abdullahi, Abdurahman (2017-09-18). Making Sense of Somali History: Volume 1. p. 80. ISBN 9781909112797.
  5. ↑ "Leadership in Eastern Africa". African Research Studies (9): 70. 1968.
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