Day: May 31, 2019

SYMBOLICALLY IMPORTANT?

VACATION MARRIAGE?

Take a listen.

https://www.channel4.com/news/life-after-despair-this-woman-was-tricked-into-a-sham-vacation-marriage-then-the-world-heard-her-story

WOW! THIS IS INCREDIBLE

Take a read.

http://time.com/collection-post/5584906/ramla-ali-next-generation-leaders/

Celebrate Yourself Today

https://wp.me/p6hql3-AO

WHY DO I WRITE IN ENGLISH?

Galkayo, May 31, 2019 – A number of my readers at WDM (https:/ismailwarsame.blog) ask me why I write my articles in English, a 2nd foreign language I had picked up in life, together with Russian and Arabic along with a working tongue of Italian. The issue is made more complicated by the claim of Somali language specialists and anthropologists, both foreign and native like Late Prof. I.M. Lewis (RIP), pictured here with me (2nd from left) and Prof and Somali linguist, B. W. Andrzejewski (RIP), (forgive me for not naming just a few of the well known scholars of Somali literature and history, that it is so poetic, romantic and richer tongue that only a few languages of the world could compete it in literature prowess. But, this sticking question from readers further increases the intensity of my guilty feeling for not utilizing my native tongue to express myself better. Frankly, I sometimes find myself numb in answering the question, for there is no easy answer to satisfy the questioner as to what is my reasoning behind writing in a foreign language. In fact, the reasons are many and may still be implausible to many of my unconvinced audiences. Among my justifications include: 1. A writer needs wider audiences and circulation to reach. 2. Hundreds of thousands of people of Somali origin are born overseas, live and work abroad. They don’t use Somali as a working medium. 3. Many existing Somali internet websites don’t use standard, thoughtful texts in Somali, and that turns readers off, not reading articles beyond a few lines in the first paragraph. Just the opposite, Somali texts nowadays frighten readers, including myself. Huge and careless Facebook entries, violating all rules of Somali grammar, play a leading role in Somali language deterioration- that low standard of unschoolled writings, indicating the extent of deterioration happening to the Somali language over the years in a stateless environment, makes it difficult to understand today’s authors of Somali articles. 4. That is why most Somalis, who don’t utilize any foreign language, prefer listening to audio/video clips. They also like to read about events and news rather than browsing for thought-provoking and critical articles. 5. I have been testing my readers by occasionally writing articles in Somali, and the results were very disappointing. 6. My Somali readers are also not taking into account that WDM has been attracting many foreign readers as well, and I suspect that they don’t want to be cut off. In conclusion, perhaps some of you may understand me for choosing English as my language of communication out of necessity.
Thank you,
Ismail Warsame
BlogPostscript: I would recommend to my Somali readers to use Google Translator to get a rough meaning of the contents of any article

YOU DON’T PRAY AT UAE SHEIKH’S ROYAL COURTS

  1. Annual subscription

    $37.00

Garowe, May 31, 2019

Ramadan fasting for this year is done. Tomorrow is a holiday and celebrations for the faithful. On the one hand, it was a blessing from Almighty to show-case his divine powers that all are created equal before Him. Kings, queens, Heads of State and Government, the wealthy and the well off have to go hungry as the ordinary and the poor do in the month of Ramadan. No favor or privilege exists equally for anybody. No dictator or powerful has the ability to issue orders to compel billions of people around the world to fast from food and drinks for a whole day every day for thirty days. It is the divine powers of the True King of the Universe that has those unmatched and enormous powers. That is why He is the supernatural whether you deny Him or wise up to his miracles in owe of His ways and wonders.

On the other hand, it was taugh for everybody to suffer hunger and deprivation for an entire month. Life almost ceases to exist in Muslim countries in the month of Ramadan. Food businesses are shut down and closed to everyone during the daylight, regardless of whether one is sick, too old, too young or travelimg, to fast during the daytime, irrespective of the allowance and exemptions made to them by Allah. This looks like unnecessary burden created by administrations in the name of Ramadan. Muslim religion differs from others in the fact that there is no middle holy man or priest to stand between the faithful and God, unlike the practice of Catholic church.

On personal experience, two stories about Ramadan still stick out in my memory. I was a little boy accompanying my late father (RIP), when a colleague of his invited us one evening to break fastening with him at his home in the city of Galkayo, Puntland State, Somalia. Muslims usually start breaking fasting with fruit dates first. Our host had had only a few pieces of dates available on the dinner table. He also made the conversation savour by re-telling one man’s story, who, once upon a time, was not satisfied with a small amount of dates he was offered to break fasting. The story went on to the extent that the unsatisfied man with the small quantity of dates eaten had the fruits expanding abnormally in his stomach at night, and eventually died of it. My father didn’t appreciate our host’s story and asked him “Why didn’t you ask us to bring along with us more dates?”

Another memorable story on Ramadan in 1996 is about me being invited to the household of Sheikh Mubarak Al-Nahyan of UAE, the former minister of Internal Affairs and his two sons, one being the UAE minister of higher education and science, the other the Director of Abu Dhabi Aviation Department, to break fasting with them, together with a colleague of mine, who introduced me to them, for about a week.

In attendance with us, besides the Sheikhs, were different high ranking figures of mostly from Muslim and Arab countries, including ambassadors, businessmen and officials of the Emirates. We started breaking fasting at big dinner table of about fifteen meters long and a few meters wide, stuffed with all sorts of food imaginable, obviously imported from all over the world as this couldn’t be available as UAE produce only.

Here is what you may find interesting. We sat at table, broke fasting, continued eating our dinner until late in the evening, stood up to move to a bigger sitting hall to be served with a chain of coffee drinks by bare-footed Arab looking servants. The large sitting room with easy chairs and comfortable cushions was blown and circulated with aromatic air coming from candle-like devices being continuously shaken by these servants. They looked like Christian priests doing their stuff in churches.

By this time, it was around 10 PM and nobody among us had prayed neither Magrib nor Ishaa prayers. It is always the religious rule to pray the Maqrib prayer shortly after breaking fasting. In this case, nobody dared to pray as the protocols didn’t allow to do so in the Sheikhs’ Royal Courts.

The Italian saying of “He, who commands, makes the rules” is quite applicable in the Sheikh’s household.

ismailwarsame.blog