When a Somali woman is about to give birth, older women often arrange a ceremony to call blessings on the mother-to-be, in which they sing sittaat - songs of praise for the leading women of early Islam, especially Faduumo (Fatima), daughter of the Prophet. Although there is no doubt that this genre of songs is old - it may even have a relationship to non-Islamic Oromo songs for the goddess of fertility - scholarly references date back only to the late nineteenth century and do not include song texts

Kapteijns, L.

Leiden University Scholary Publications

Regional issuesI S I M  N E W S L E T T E R  3 / 9 9 27N o t e s1 . This article is based on Lidwien Kapteijns, ‘S i t t a a t:Somali Women’s Songs for the “Mothers of theBelievers”’. Boston: African Studies Center, BostonUniversity, Working Papers in African Studies, No. 25(1995). See also The Marabout and the Muse, ed.Kenneth Harrow (Portsmouth: Heinemann, 1996),pp. 124-141.2 . Sittaat refers both to the distinguished womeno f early Islam and the songs Somali women singfor them. The latter are also referred to as X a a w i y oF a d u u m o (‘Eve and Fatima’), m a d a x s h u b( ‘ t h e anointing of the head’) and, especially insouthern Somalia, Abbaay Sittidey or A b b a a yN e b i y e y. 3 . For an early reference, see Leo Reinisch, D i eS o m a l iS p r a c h e. Sudarabischen Expedition. Band I(Vienna: Alfred Holder, 1900) p. 256. Georgio Banti,‘Scrittura’, in Aspetti dell’ Espressione Artistica inS o m a l i a, ed. Annarita Puglielli (Roma: BagattoBooks, 1988), pp.19-29. The latter gives aphotograph of a late nineteenth-century A b b a a yS i t t i d e y text (pp.24-25), which is, however, toobastardized to deserve the name. 4 . Lidwien Kapteijns, ‘Islam in Ethiopia and the Horn’,in The History of Islam in Africa, eds. NehemiaLevtzion and Randall Pouwels (Athens: OhioUniversity Press, forthcoming). 5 . See Lidwien Kapteijns, Women’s Voices in a Man’sWorld: Women and the Pastoral Tradition inNorthern Somali Orature, c. 1899-1980( P o r t s m o u t h : Heinemann, forthcoming).6 . S i t t a a t session led by Luula Saalih, recorded byMuhammad cAbdillahi Rirash and cUmar Maca l l i nfor Radio and Television Djibouti in 1988. The songtexts, as are all texts quoted in this article, weretranscribed and translated by Lidwien Kapteijnsand Maryan cUmar Ali.7 . S i t t a a t session led by Luula Saalih, Djibouti,2 October 1989.8 . This is an invocation often used in Sufi devotionalp r a c t i c e .9 . S i t t a a t session led by cAsha Muhammad( f r o m Hargeisa), Djibouti, 13 November 1989.Ea st Af r i caL I D W I E N  K AP T E I J N SWhen a Somali woman is about to give birth, olderwomen often arrange a ceremony to call blessings onthe mother-to-be, in which they sing s i t t a a t2 – s o n g sof praise for the leading women of early Islam, espe-cially Faduumo (Fatima), daughter of the Prophet.Although there is no doubt that this genre of songs isold – it may even have a relationship to non-IslamicOromo songs for the goddess of fertility – scholarlyreferences date back only to the late nineteenth cen-tury and do not include song texts.3Somali Women’sSongs for the First Ladieso f Early Islam 1There are three reasons why s i t t a a t d i dnot receive scholarly attention during thecolonial period (c. 1885–1960). Firstly, theOrientalist paradigm in Islamic studies gavepreference to what were regarded as foun-dational core texts from the ‘Islamic heart-lands’, written, of course, in Arabic by men.African women’s devotional oral poetry inSomali, not Arabic, was marginal to this typeof Islamic studies. Secondly, it was part ofespecially British colonial strategies towardsIslam to promote an Islamic elite (e.g.judges) trained outside of Somaliland in Is-lamic centres of learning that were solidlyunder British rule, such as Cairo, Aden orKhartoum. By insisting on ‘upgrading’ localIslam, the colonizers undermined represen-tatives of popular local Islam.4Finally, irrespective of colonialpolicies towards Islam, thenew educated elite in all theSomalilands (French, British,and Italian), even if undoubt-edly Muslim, were deeply in-fluenced by secular European culture andEuropean languages. While its nationalistproject included an articulation of the So-mali pastoral tradition as cultural authentic-i t y ,5 older women’s religious songs did notfall within its purview. The group of s i t t a a t singers with whom Ibecame familiar in Djibouti in 1989, heldsmall weekly semi-private devotional ses-sions in their leader’s home. They also per-formed on special occasions, for example tocall upon the Sittaat (the first ladies of Islam)to bless a woman about to give birth, or ona much larger scale, to celebrate a religiousholiday (such as the Prophet’s birthday).When s i t t a a t are sung, women sit in a circleon mats on the ground, while the leaderbeats a round, low and wide drum with astick. The atmosphere is festive as betweensongs the women pass around herbal tea,orange sherbet, coffee, popcorn (s a l o o l) andTurkish delight (x a l w a d), as well as bottles ofperfume and incense burners. The singingalways begins with praise to God, theProphet, and the a w l i y a (those saintly indi-viduals of Islamic history who continue toinspire many Muslims today), including thetwelfth-century founder of the Qadiriyya,cAbd al-Qadir al-Jilani.Once the women begin to address the Sit-taat, Xaawo (Eve), the ‘mother of the believ-ers’, is the first to be praised. After Eve, the s i t t a a t address the Prophet’smother (Amina), foster-mother (Halima),wives and daughters. It is with the songs forFaduumo (Fatima) that the session reachesit climax, for these are the songs that are be-lieved to bring about the Prophet’s daugh-ter’s actual presence in the women’s midst.Some women get up and dance, at timescarrying incense burners with burning coalon their heads; others are overwhelmed byemotion and are lovingly covered withshawls and sprayed with perfume by friendstrying to calm them.In the s i t t a a t Somali women explicitly as-sert the common bond and plight of wom-anhood in two ways. First, the singers ad-dress their common problems as wives,mothers and providers in the urban slums ofunderdeveloped and French-dominatedDjibouti. Second, as women, they appeal tothe women of early Islamic history, assertingthe values central to their own self-image,those of good wife- and motherhood. Theypraise Xaawo (Eve) as humanity’s first wifeand mother, Khadija as the Prophet’s loyaland most beloved wife, and Faduumo (Fati-ma) as the Prophet’s only daughter (as wellas wife of cAli and mother of Hasan andHusayn). Reinforcement ofthe Status Quo?The values that the women singing thes i t t a a t assert are mostly dominant valuesthat appear to reinforce the status quo.They do not complain about difficult hus-bands, but pray for help to get along withthem; they do not complain about unem-ployed or disobedient children, but praythat their children will not go astray. As Iwatched the participants in these sessions– middle-aged and older women, somewidows, others divorcees, many the moth-ers of grown (often unemployed) children,and almost all compelled to still providefor themselves as well as others – one as-pect struck me as an act of resistance totheir status quo. For these women, howev-er old or run down by life, insist vocifer-ously and explicitly on their own daugh-terhood in relation to the Sittaat in heav-en. Using metaphors such as ‘teaching achild how to walk’, and being allowed tohold onto their ‘mothers’ skirt hems’, theyask their heavenly mothers for the love,care and teaching daughters receive fromtheir mothers. By expecting and askingthat the Sittaat in heaven take care ofthem in infinite and intimate detail in thislife, on the Day of Judgement, and in par-adise, Somali women challenge in songthe harsh age and gender-based realitiesof their daily lives. In Djibouti, Somali intellectuals and schol-ars such as Muhammed cAbdillahi Rirashand cUmar Macallin (who introduced me tothe s i t t a a t), have begun to reverse the colo-nial marginalization of Islamic Somali ora-ture and to record and preserve it as part ofthe Somali cultural heritage. However, asthey undertook this project in the 1980s,other middle-class men (merchants, shop-keepers, teachers and civil servants) adopt-ed a lifestyle of intensified Islamic piety andlooked upon Islamist movements furtherEast for guidance. While deeply critical ofany colonial or neo-colonial Western influ-ences, the latter share with the erstwhileOrientalists a focus upon a relative smallnumber of foundational Islamic texts. Asthey have resolutely turned their backs onlocal Somali expressions of Islamic devotionand wisdom, they appear, for the momentat least, to have contributed to the increas-ing marginalization of Somali Islamic ora-ture. ♦God, we begin with God’s bissinka [the phrase ‘in the name of God,the Merciful, the Compassionate’]God, we begin with my heart loving you.God, we begin with the blessing of Prophet MuhammadGod, through the merit of Faduumo, daughter of the Prophet,w e seek succour.6Madaad, madaad,8 Faduumo, daughter of the ProphetGive us that for which we call upon youEcstasy has me in its grip, my body is burningMadaad, madaad, Faduumo, daughter of the ProphetGive us that for which we call upon you.9That you take and welcome us, daughter of the Prophet, for that we clamourThat you come and teach us how to walk, daughter of the Prophet, for that we clamour. You child of the Prophet, most obedient of women, give us that for which we call upon you.[ … . ]Lady Faduumo, lead us with your lightLady Faduumo, make us as you areLady Faduumo, give us your musk to smellLady Faduumo, spread your bed for usLady Faduumo, bring us in the presence of the good MuhammadLady Faduumo, help us climb your ladderLady Faduumo, spread your wrap as our beddingLady Faduumo, wrap us in your silk. [….]Teach us how to walk, look upon us as your childrenMerciful God, don’t keep Faduumo away from usMay she take us by the hand on the Day on which One is SorrowfulMake us their [the Sittaat’s] companions, Compassionate GodMay we all live in one home with their mothers and daughtersMay we all eat together with the Sittaat and the Prophet’s familyMay we come to live in paradise.Before you, [the name] ‘mother’ did not existBefore you, ‘mama’ did not existBefore you, respected one, people did not say ‘mother’to each other [ … ]Mother, Eve, don’t sleep, spread a bed of silk for usMother, Eve, don’t sleep, weave your ropes for us.7Lidwien Kapteijns is professor of History at WellesleyCollege, USA. E-mail: lkapteijns@wellesley.edu

Somali Women's Songs for the First Ladies of Early Islam

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Somali Women's Songs for the First Ladies of Early Islam

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