About
Qabiil means clan/tribe in the Somali language.
To the Somali, the qabiil has been the oldest form of government. A Westerner may identify themselves as being from a certain city or state in a nation while the Somali identifies themselves by their qabiil.
The qabiil has been a savior to the Somali. The qabiil provides the essentials for survival in the harsh environment of the Somali lands. When crops fail or livestock perish, the qabiil provides. A blood debt has to be paid, the qabiil provides. A disaster strikes, the qabiil insurance company provides the tools to restart. With qabiil providing so much, why would anyone expect a Somali to abandon his or her qabiil for an alien concept of a nation state?
I have met many Somalis who claim they don’t care for qabiil (whether they truly mean it or are just being politically correct is hard to know). To them, qabiil is a dirty term/concept. They view it as the root of all evil for the Somali. Some blame qabiil for the bitter civil war while others say qabiil destroyed Somalia.
I say “NO.” Qabiil is not at fault for the destruction of Somalia nor for the civil wars. The true blame lies at the feet of the characters who have seized/hijacked your qabiil’s leadership and worked the qabiil government for their personal gain.
For many years, we knew our qabiils yet we never had civil wars like those of the 1980s and 1990s. I place the blame for the sorry state of the Somali nation at the feet of every Somali adult.
You failed your QABIIL and Somalia when you allowed the political opportunists to SEIZE leadership of your qabiil. These political prostitutes (yes, they will exchange services for $$$) bastardized the noble concept of qabiil to serve their selfish needs. They strayed from the egalitarian traditions of our great elders who worked for the greater benefit of the clan.
So I urge you not to run away from qabiil or to vilify it, but to embrace it. Love your qabiil and wrestle back control from the political opportuntists. Return your qabiil back to the egalitarian traditions of our forefathers that sustained the Somali people for centuries.
If we take back leadership of our qabiils, one qabiil at a time, the Phoenix called Somalia will once again RISE !
