Walking through the heart of the old city, one may find its cobblestoned streets lead them to a compound accentuated by a gleaming white wall and a tall graceful tree that rises from within. The compound is a maqam, and once one walks past the green chambers of the prayer-room, they are introduced to the resting place of Shaykh Abadir – the foremost saint of the city of Harar.
Harar is a city that is located in modern-day Ethiopia, around 520km east of the capital Addis Ababa and 260km west of Hargeisa in Somaliland. The city is thought to be more than a thousand years old and according to some sources, Islam has been present in the region since the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Harari people have a culture and heritage that is strongly intertwined with Islamic tradition.
Due to the large number of Saints that are thought to have either lived, died or frequented the city, Harar is known in Arabic as Madinatul-Awliya’– The City of Saints. There are 102 maqams in Harar. Saints, and other respected figures, are given the titles of ‘Aw‘ or ‘Ay/Inay‘ to symbolise their patriarchal and matriarchal places, respectively, in Harari tradition.
Aw Abadir is said to have come to the city in the year 405AH. It is related in both written and oral tradition that in decades prior to his arrival, the city was inhabited by warring tribes. The ruler of the time, Amir Haboba, requested that the elders of the city seek a scholarly man from the blessed lands of Hijaz to bring peace to the city. Once there, they identified a young da‘iy (caller to faith) by the name of Shaykh ‘Umar ar-Ridaa, who was a descendant of the first caliph, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. They presented him with the Amir’s invitation, to which he agreed and embarked on a journey to East Africa with a number of his tribesmen, children, shareefs and other saints.
As a proactive young scholar, the Shaykh called the people and their tribes to unity under one faith. Some heeded to his teachings and a small army of followers was formed. Other tribes, however, rejected the Shaykh’s attempts at unity and were subsequently engaged in battle. Some sources state that ‘Umar ar-Ridaa refused to fight with a sword and fought with a wooden club instead to symbolise the fact that he did not come to spill blood but to bring unity and peace.
‘Umar ar-Ridaa became victorious and the region found one unanimous leader under whom people would unite. The Shaykh then gathered a few men and travelled to modern-day Somalia and fought a number of battles in the same fashion to unite the tribes there. He also encouraged his tribesmen and children to intermarry with the people of the cities so that this new sense of unity was further solidified. In the Somali regions, this gave rise to the Sheikh-Aal tribe.
Upon seeing the sweeping success of the Shaykh and his substantial work in bringing peace, the ruler that invited him to the region, Amir Haboba, offered him his seat of power. He did so, however, under three conditions: that the Shaykh have a Harari name, marry a Harari woman and learn the language. It is then that he became known as Shaykh Abadir, marrying the famous saint Ay Abida and spoke the Semitic language of the city, Harari.
As a sign of new beginnings, it is also related that in a conversation with Amir Haboba, Shaykh Abadir saw it fit to give this new state a new name. Using an alpha-numerical science (Hisab al-Jumlah), where every letter in the Arabic language has a numerical value, he named the city “Harar” هرر- that is, with the sum of the three letters of the word adding up to 405 (ه which equals 5, ر which equals 200, ر which equals 200); the city’s new name reflected the year he arrived, the year of new beginnings. This science was used in the past for astronomical and mathematical purposes.
As great as these early accomplishments were, the high esteem that Harari, Somali and others in the region have for Aw Abadir is as a result of his scholarly and religious legacy. In a famous series of meetings, Shaykh Abadir gathered the scholars and saints of the city to lay the foundations of what would, in the centuries to come, turn Harar into the religious hub of the Horn of Africa. Aw ‘Umar Khutub, a scholar who arrived with Abadir from the Hijaz, was sent to the Somali regions to spread the teachings of Islam and develop a tradition of scholarship there. Within Harar, Abadir appointed Aw Sofi Yahya, another scholar who came with him from the Hijaz, to establish a religious schooling system for children, known as Qur’an Gey. Here, children were taught the fundamentals of Islamic belief (aqidah), Arabic and Qur’an. This system of schooling became the mainstay of education of Muslim children in Harar and the surrounding Somali regions.
Aw Waqara and Ay Abida, the wife of Aw Abadir, were put in charge of Islamic scholarship in the city. It is said that in Ay Abida’s sessions of knowledge, more than 300 people would be in attendance. Inay Abida is honoured in various Harari customs and celebrated as an embodiment of the Harari lady. Thus, after one visits maqam Aw Abadir, one moves into the courtyard and approaches that tall graceful tree that grows on the resting place of the Inay. Her maqam is frequented by many newly-wed women as part of the Harari wedding ceremony, as the new bride asks God, by the honour of Inay Abida, that she embark on her new journey of life with the principle and esteem of this great female saint.
Today, Abadir is regarded as the ‘Father of Harar’ and the compound that houses his maqam sits at the heart of the city. The maqam’s custodianship is passed down through Abadir’s bloodline, with the main custodian believed to be a direct descendant of the Shaykh. The maqam is visited throughout the year, especially during the month of Safar leading up to Mawlid. It is also frequented on a weekly basis for Qur’an recitations, salawat, and du’a.
The elders say that Harar is protected by the city’s saints; foremost among them is Aw Abadir. Before his passing, Shaykh Abadir asked God to protect the city from a number of calamities. “Abadir Rubutziyu yiqirhanahal” – “Abadir’s promise [of supplication] will protect us”. It is believed that this supplication was accepted and the City of Saints will continue to be protected by the Will of God.
