Somali Culture: Dhaqanka Soomaaliyeed

Family – Somali vs Western Ideals

Author:  Muna M

Kinship and family values are of great importance in Somali culture. Most Somali households are very big and filled with many children; I personally have 6 other siblings. Traditionally, women take care of the children and do household work, and the fathers bring in the income and pay all the bills. The fathers are usually always away from their homes working and this prevent them from being with their kids emotionally. Somali mothers usually take care of the kid’s health, education, etc. The eldest daughter In Somali households usually has the most responsibility in terms of household work and taking care of her other siblings. Western families tend to be smaller and both parents are involved in the child’s life. Usually, both the mother and father participate in paying bills and splitting chores.

The extended family is also very important. Every Somali is a part of a specific clan which can be broken down to other sub-clans. Tribalism is very evident among older generations compared to my own and those younger than me. For example, some Somalis might side with an individual from their own clan in an argument even if they do not know this person. However, Somalis usually tend to help each other out regardless of clan especially here in America. Tribalism does not exist in the typical American family and the extended family isn’t as large.

Not only is marriage a religious obligation, but it is also a social one as well. It symbolizes the coming of two families, some think of it as marrying into the family as well. Among older generations, marrying within your clan is very important, however this does not play a huge role outside of Somalia. It is important to know that when a Somali girl is marrying a Somali man from another clan, their kids will be from the clan their father is part of (she is being absorbed by her husband’s clan). In west, marriage isn’t as complication and ancestry does not play as huge a role.

Food: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Feasts

Author: Hayden M.

A typical Somali meal consist of three main parts. Part one is known as more of a side menu choice, part two is known as the main dish. Lastly, the dish is paired with a drink. When eating at Somali restraints, household, or being asked what you would like to eat often times you will be asked, “maxaan kuu keenaa”— “what can I bring you?” It is important that if you’re ever in a Somali cultural atmosphere that has anything to do with food that you know the more commonly known foods that group is known to eat. The Somali cultural is known to have three commonly known meals (Quraac – breakfast, Qado – lunch, Casho – dinner).  

For breakfast, it is commonly known for the cultural to have sweet pancakes known as (malawah). Often times the sweet pancakes are tied together with eggs, bread, and meat of some sort. The drinks around this time of day usually consist of mango juice and or apple juice.

For lunch and dinner the most popular main dishes are; meat (hilib), goat meat (hilib ari), beef/chicken (steak), chicken (suggar) and cubs of meat (suqaar). For sides that are most the most common are; rice (bariis), pasta (baasto) and bread (muufo).  

Sweets are commonly known to be are; Pear and Cardamom cake that is a mixture of caramel spice and sugar, chocolate fudge and mini rice and coconut cakes that are known to be crispy.  

Lastly, drinks are known to be tea (shaah), water (biyo), pineapple juice (cananaas) and mango juice (cambe).

These are some of the food categories that I was able to find in the everyday life within the Somali cultural.

Celebration and Holidays:

Author: Zahra N.

Somali culture has varieties of holidays and celebrations. One main celebration is Somalia Independence Day. July 1st celebrates the unification of the trust territory of Italian Somaliland and the British Somaliland, which formed the Somali republic. The similarities are pretty much the same. We celebrated the day with music, food, games and traditional dances. Usually a street festival is organized with the colors of blue and white where families come together to watch performances that have to do with Somali culture. 

Ramadan is the holiest time of month of fasting, reflection, and prayer for Muslims worldwide. We fast every day from dawn to sunset for 30 days. We won’t eat or drink during that time. Fasting is important during Ramadan as it allows Muslims to devote themselves to their faith and come closer to Allah, or God. Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, which form the basis of how Muslims live their lives. For suhoor, we expected to wake up in the morning to eat something light or heavy to last us during the day. We’re supposed to spend more time reading the Quran than watching tv or being on our phone. And for iftur, when we break our fast, we start off with a piece of date and water. The women spend the day preparing the food, while the men are at the masjid. 

Eid Al-Fitr means “festival to break the fast” and celebrates the ending of the fasting month of Ramadan. It is a religious holiday for special prayers, family visits, gift-giving and charity, and it usually takes up to three days. It’s tradition for every Muslim to wear your best gourmets, for the girls we buy new abaayas and for the boys, they buy kamiis. For the girls, we get our henna done from our hands to arms, feet can be optional and for the boys, they get a trim. In the end of Ramadan, every Muslim is to perform Zakkat, which is charity on every young and old; male and female; free and slave Muslim as a token of thankfulness to Allah for having enabled him to observe fasts. Eid Al-Adha is a little different from Eid Al-Fitr. It is the “feast of sacrifice” which involves the slaughtering of an animal into three parts; for family, for relatives and for the poor. At this time many Muslims perform the Hajj pilgrimage. 

Somali Cultural Holidays vs. Western Holidays

Abdul D.

          There are many differences between holidays within Somali culture and holidays within Western culture. These holidays stem from religions that individuals of these cultures practice. Holidays in Somali culture derive from Islam due to the fact that Somalia is an Islamic country and Somalis are predominantly Muslim. Western holidays tend to derive from Christianity due to European settlers arriving and conquering the Americas, while simultaneously spreading Christianity. Individuals within Somali culture celebrate holidays such as Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, the entire month of Ramadan, Ashura, Independence Day, and a few more. In Western culture, individuals celebrate Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, Independence Day, Ash Wednesday, and more.

          The biggest holiday in Somali Culture is the month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims fast in order to get closer to God. Fasting is also a way for Muslims to develop self-discipline and empathize with the less-fortunate who don’t receive much food due to their circumstances. Ramadan is 30 days long, and every adult must practice it if they are healthy/able to. When Ramadan finishes, Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr. This holiday is a celebration for completing Ramadan and it shows their gratitude to God. During Eid al-Fitr, a goat or sheep must be sacrificed to pay homage to Abraham’s sacrifice of his son, Ismail, as to show his commitment to God. 

          The biggest holiday in Western Culture is Christmas. Christmas is celebrated to remember the birth of Jesus Christ. In the morning of Christmas, Christians attend a Mass service, where they remember Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for them and came back to life. Many families spend time with each other during the 12 days of Christmas, and grow closer. During Christmas, children are taught that they will receive gifts from Santa Claus if they were on the good list, but if they’re on the naughty list they receive coal. This brought in the commercialization of Christmas, where large companies create discounts during Black Friday so people can purchase gifts at a lower price. This is the main difference between Somali and Western holidays because Somali holidays are not commercialized to the same degree that Western holidays are.

Weddings- Somali vs Western 

Cierra G.

Traditionally, there are various ceremonies for Somali Weddings. On the wedding day, the men of both families and their friends have a dinner with traditional food consisting of meat and rice. This is also when the formal Islamic wedding agreement occurs. In the evening, there is a wedding party for the women, in current days the bride usually wears a white wedding dress to the party, in Western culture a white wedding dress is also usually worn. The other Somali women wear Dirac and they can wear their hair loose or cover it with a scarf. These celebrations are expected to be paid for by the groom and his family. These celebrations seem similar to bachelor and bachelorette parties, although these occur before the wedding day. 

After the wedding day in Western culture the bride and groom usually go on a honeymoon, a vacation to celebrate their marriage, but no further celebrations with others. In Somali culture, the bride stays in her home for a week after the wedding and then on the 7th day they have a women’s party for the bride. The bride wears Guntiino with beads a traditional costume, and she is circled by the guests singing. They each lay a scarf on her head and this event is called Shaash Saar which means putting the scarf on bride’s head. The scarfs are made of silky material and can be many colors and pattern but they are different from scarves worn by unmarried women. They do this as a form of respect and symbolizes her becoming a married woman. 

In addition to this event, the bride’s family will gift and provide food for the groom’s family. The food, sweets, and gifts are put inside of a special decorated container that is wrapped in cloth and tightly tied, these are called Xeedho. The Xeedho is to be unwrapped by the groom or a man in his family.

Holidays: Somalia vs the West

Author: Najmo A.

In Somali culture, a lot of the holidays and celebrations surround Islamic culture. This stems from the fact that in Somalia almost every person is Muslim. Statistically, muslims make up more than 99 percent of the somali population and in doing so, religious holidays tend to coincide with cultural holidays. These include Ramadan, both Eids, (and according to: https://www.officeholidays.com/countries/somalia/2021 (Links to an external site.)), Mi’raaj Nabi, Mawlid Nabi, Islamic New Year, and Ashura. Each of these holidays have historical significance in Islam. For example, Ramadan is the month in which the Quran came down to earth. Alternatively, in America (statistically) 65 percent of adults (pew research) fall under Christianity and so their holidays tend to revolve around biblical significance such as Christmas, Easter, and Saint Patrick’s Day. 

Practicing the holidays also have some similiarities within these groups. For Somali culture, due to Islamic influence some practices include physical sacrifice. To commerate Prophet Ibrahim (AS) who was willing to sacrifice his son in accordance with what he believed to be Allah’s decree, an animal is slaughtered on Eid and during Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating and drinking during the daytime. As for the West, Christmas and Easter commemorate the day the Christians believe Jesus died and was ressurected. This is also an idea of physical sacrifice. 

In conclusion although Somali and the West have their differences within holidays, there is something to be said about the neutral holidays (nonreligious holidays) that they share. This includes New Years, Independence and Labor day all of which can be shared with many cultures around the world allowing for a sort of universal acceptance of freedom and working as time inevitably passes by. Even with the holidays they differ in due to religion, similar practices can be seen like gift giving and forming elaborate dinners (iftar for Eid, Christmas dinner in the West) and spending time with family and fostering a sense of community. 

Somali Names and Nicknames

Salahadin Y.

Somalis have a different naming structure than Westerners. Somali naming structure is in this format: [first name][father’s first name][grandfather’s first name]. This means that Somalis do not have a surname. So children can have a different last name than the parents . Somali naming is also different from the West because at marriage, women do not take the husband’s last name. Women keep their father’s and grandfather’s name because it shows respect for her family and her father, instead of changing her last name to her husband’s. Somalis that live in the West tend to make their grandfather’s name their surname and their father’s name as their middle name. 

Some Somali names are in Somali, for example, the name Cawo or Samatar are Somali names. Most Somali names are Islamic and Arabic. Examples of common names are Muhammad (based on the Prophet Muhammad), Faduma, Ali, and Ahmed. 

Somalis usually refer to older people that they are close to (even if they are unrelated) as Adeer (uncle), Eeda (paternal aunt), or Habayar (maternal aunt). Somali families and friends tend to be very close to each other, and usually friends of Somalis parents are called by this. 

Somali nicknames can sometimes be seen as rude by Westerners. Most Somali nicknames tend to be based on people’s physical attributes. Some examples of Somali nicknames are:

Afwayne: Big mouthed

weershe: cross-eyed

dhegowayne: big ears

fanax: gap toothed

madaxwayne: big head

You will find Somali law resources in various languages on this site.

Af Soomaali

1960 Dastuurka Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliya

English:

1960 Somali Constitution

Arabic:

1960 Somali Constitution

Italian:

 1960 La costituzione Somala