Who was the “The Mad Mullah” of Somalia and does this have anything to do with his “children” in Minnesota today?<\/p>\n

A picture of \u201cThe Mad Mullah\u201d, as the British used to call him in the 19th century. I know, very friendly looking fella, right?<\/em><\/p>\n

Considered \u201cThe Father of Somali Nationalism\u201d, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (April 7, 1856 – December 21, 1920) had already memorized the Quran at age 11 and performed a trip to Mecca. After this pilgrimage, his entire life became dedicated to Islam. For over a decade he studied Islam from as many as 70 different scholars. The final result? He became a mujahideen, a jihad Muslim warlord, who pillaged and killed as a way of fighting for Islam.<\/p>\n

The event that triggered his jihad was the conversion of some Somali children to Christianity. He organized the Dervish resistance – Muslim jihadists and fought against the British for 20 years. He brought a lot of anarchy to Somalia.<\/p>\n

The story and the message of the \u201cfather\u201d of Somali nationalism is a key to understand the entire identity and culture of the Somalis. It\u2019s about hating Christianity, being ready to follow the clan and the sub-clan leaders blindly, robbing, stealing, killing and especially killing Christians.<\/p>\n

While America was busy inventing the telephone, the telegraph, the steam engine and countless other\u00a0great 19th century inventions, the “Mad Mullah” of Somalia was chopping heads off the infidels in Somalia. He had several women and some 30 children from all these women.<\/p>\n

Hassan\u2019s jihad caused \u201cuniversal perdition,\u201d with an estimated 200,000 deaths over twenty years in a territory of three million people. [Source: Said S. Samatar, Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), pp. 199\u2013200.<\/em>]<\/p>\n

To Somalis, this butcher is the ideal of their struggle for national independence. Never mind that he terrorized and killed many Somalis whom he considered not enough committed to Islam. British contemporaries of the Mad Mullah report that he was a “cruel despot who engaged in torture, mutilation, and widespread atrocities that destroyed the lives of ordinary Somalis and his followers alike.”<\/em><\/p>\n

British Major H. A. Rayne, in his judicial capacity as District Commissioner at Zeila, encountered \u201cwrecks of women and children,\u201d<\/em> who asked for relief. Apparently, their plight was due to Hassan: \u201ctheir villages had been destroyed, their property looted, their men-folk killed, by the murdering gang of thieves who carried out incessantly the merciless policy of this awful man.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Swayne described the \u201cgruesome sight\u201d<\/em> at Medishe fort after the British captured it, \u201ctypical of the methods of the Mad Mullah.\u201d<\/em> There, a soldier saw the remains of one of Hassan\u2019s followers, \u201cat the end of a rope, suspended from the roof over a slow fire, hung by the waist \u201das punishment for some transgression.”<\/em> Hamilton wrote that as a result of setbacks against the British in 1903, some Somalis attempted to desert. Consequently, \u201cIt was \u2018heads off\u2019 just then in the camp of the Mullah upon the smallest pretext, for the Holy Man had recourse to the sternest measures to enforce obedience.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This apparently caused \u201cdissensions in his council\u201d and \u201clittle cohesion among his followers.\u201d<\/p>\n

An official British intelligence report describes the terrifying picture of a mass-murderer out of control: “atrocities…have recently been practiced by the Mullah to an unprecedented extent. Wholesale executions are carried out on the slightest pretexts, and men, women, and children go in fear of their lives.\u201d<\/em> The report appears to be an attempt to show that Hassan relied upon tyranny and misinformation in order to keep his followers, who otherwise would \u201csurely\u201d desert but for \u201cthe belief that we torture and kill captives…fostered by the Mullah.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

These accounts implied that the results of Hassan\u2019s jihad fell most heavily on Somalis as opposed to the British.<\/p>\n

Douglas Jardine, another Somaliland official from the same era, who wrote a book on Hassan, summed up the negative views of him as follows: \u201cTyrant and cut-throat, slayer of innocent women and children.”<\/p>\n

Some quotes from this “Founding Father” of Somalia:<\/p>\n

“Unbelieving men of religion have assaulted our country from their remote homelands. They wish to corrupt our religion…Our aim is to cleanse the land of unbelievers.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“We fight by Allah’s order…We ask for Allah\u2019s blessing. Allah is with me when I write this.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Hassan\u2019s poetry castigated the Somalis\u2019 lack of Islamic fervor in struggling against their imperial overlords:<\/p>\n

Somalis, rise from sleep!
\nCatastrophe has fallen on the land
\nThe Unbelievers have deceived you Since you failed to continue the jihad!<\/em><\/p>\n

Historian B. G. Martin has recovered one of Hassan\u2019s few written texts, the Risala, written in 1905. The text attacked those Somalis who attributed the country\u2019s peace and prosperity to the British presence. Such thinking was full of \u201clies and falsehood\u201d because of Christianity\u2019s \u201cfundamental hostility to Muslims.\u201d Justice could not come from Christians, only from the Qur\u2019an. Any Somali employed by Christians, or who \u201cconsorted\u201d with them, or who lived in Christian countries faced \u201ccontamination and degeneration.\u201d They were \u201cdubious Muslims\u201d and \u201cundesirables.\u201d Hassan quoted the Qur\u2019an (IV, 140): \u201cif you persist in keeping company with unbelievers, you will become like them.\u201d He justified attacks against his fellow Somali Muslims who associated with Christians because they were \u201cunbelievers pure and simple.\u201d This rationale extended to incorrect beliefs or actions, such as not appearing at Friday prayers.<\/p>\n

His last poem, The Will, in 1920, is perhaps the best summary of Hassan\u2019s reasons for jihad:<\/p>\n

I, on my own volition, chose to fight the infidels
\nIt was I who said to the filthy unbelievers\u2014this land is not yours<\/em>
\nIt was I who sought and found the Prophet\u2019s guidance.<\/em><\/p>\n

After the end of World War I, the British government planned and executed a military operation that used the RAF to bomb Hassan\u2019s forts, which ultimately broke his movement. Hassan fled from Somaliland into Ethiopia after his defeat and died there from influenza in December 1920.<\/p>\n

As we begin to understand the genesis of Somali nationalism, a question emerges – how would it be possible for anyone to be a \u201cgood Somali\u201d and a good American, all at the same time?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Islam is your religion, why do you submit to infidel overlords?\u201d, <\/em>is one of the teachings of the Mad Mullah.<\/p>\n

These kinds of messages were the essence of the doctrine of the \u201cMad Mullah\u201d, the founder of modern Somali nationalism. How can someone who is carrying such hatred and disdain for the \u201cinfidel\u201d, i.e. the westerner and in our case, Americans, become assimilated in our society?<\/p>\n

Of course, similar patterns can be observed in other Muslim cultures as well. Islam\u2019s hatred for the \u201cinfidel\u201d transcends race and culture. It\u2019s the exact opposite of the Judeo-Christian heritage of love and respect – values enshrined in the teachings of Moses and Jesus. The very idea of becoming civilized today stems from these Judeo-Christian values, not Islam. Islam has mostly produced backwardness, ignorance, and violence in the last 1,400 years of history.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, Somalia is one of the top 5 worst persecutors of Christians – to this day!<\/p>\n

According to the Department of State website, there are 0% Christians in Somalia. Also according to their website, the current travel advisory is for people to avoid visiting Somalia at all cost or if they have to visit, basically – to prepare to die!<\/p>\n

This not a joke! It’s true! Check out the screenshot below:<\/p>\n

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So how would it be possible for someone coming from such a degenerate culture based on hatred for the infidel, the non-Muslim, to ever become assimilated in American life? One would have to denounce the teachings of Islam and by extension the Mad Mulla, and accept the wisdom of the Founding Fathers of the United States, and the Constitution, to become an American.<\/p>\n

This is why I refuse to call the Somalis “Somali-American”. They can either be Somali or American, but they can’t be both. Not with a jihadi warlord for a “founding father”! Not with such terrible worldview and a culture of hatred for everything America and the West stand for!<\/p>\n

Check out this video from Ami Horowitz to get acquainted with the views many (most?) Somalis in Minnesota have today when it comes to choosing between the Islamic Sharia Law and the US Constitution.<\/p>\n

And as always, let us know what your thoughts are on this subjects and help us make Third Rail Talk your media!<\/p>\n