Yibir
Encyclopedia
The Yibir also known as the Yahhar, are a small clan of Somalia
, subsisting as itinerant soothsayer
s and magicians. They are said to predate the coming of Islam
to the area and to be descendants of Mohammad Hanif of Hargeysa, who had a reputation as a pagan magician.
The Yibir continue to be a small minority clan, greatly dependent on the host community, and have a language (a dialect of Somali
) they keep secret from the ruling Somali clans.
and later performed menial or sometimes specialized work, often for low wages. In addition, they sell amulets for births and marriages and produce prayer mats.
The non-food producing Yibir traditionally were itinerant peddlers and magicians. Some Yibir believe that they are descendants of Hebrews
who arrived in the area long before the arrival of Somali
nomads, and that the word "Yibir" means "Hebrew".
Somali clan family and Sheikh Daarod the founder of the Daarod Somali clan family . The myth underlies the modern Somali practice of offering gifts to peripatetic Yibir soothsayers who come to lay blessings upon newborn children and newlywed couples. The story goes that when Barkhadle first settled near his eventual place of burial in the northern Somaliland region, he was confronted by Mohamed Hanif (also pejoratively known as Bu'ur Ba'ayer), a local Yibir leader who ruled the territory contrary to the laws of Islam
. The two leaders then decided to settle the issue of legitimacy between them via a test of mystical strength. Barkhadle challenged Hanif to traverse a small hill near Dogor, an area situated some 20 miles north of the regional capital of Hargeisa. Hanif twice successfully accomplished this task asked of him. However, during Hanif's third demonstration of his powers, Barkhadle "invoked the superior might of God
and imprisoned his rival for ever within the mountain." Orthodox Islam thus prevailed over the old pagan cult. However, Hanif's descendants are said to have subsequently demanded blood money
or diyya
from Barkhadle for the death of their leader and in perpetuity. Barkhadle granted them their wish, and this gave rise to the modern custom of samanyo or samayo ("birth gift"), payment made to the Yibir by their Somali patrons.
One of the versions of the story is recorded in Yibir and translated into English by John William Carnegie Kirk. In 1921, Major H. Rayne, a district-commissioner in British Somaliland
, also recounts the story, using it as a preface to an anecdote about a Somali who had just become a father and asked him for money to pay a passing Yibir.
Hebrew forbears. The etymology of the word "Yibir" is also believed by some to have come from the word for "Hebrew". However, spokespersons for the Yibir have generally not tried to make their presence known to Jewish/Israeli authorities. Muhammad Ali Hassan, a trader in the emirate of Dubai
on the Persian Gulf
who is himself a Yibir, asserts that "that would only make more problems". Despite their putative Jewish origins, the overwhelming majority of the Yibir, like the Somali population in general, adhere to Islam
and know practically nothing of Judaism
. However, partly on account of their rumored Hebrew origins, the Yibir occupy a subordinate position in Somali society.
In 1961, the Yibir were estimated to number around 1300 individuals. However, in 2000, Ahmad Jama Hersi, the modern leader of the Yibir, stated he believed 25,000 Yibir to live in Somalia and neighboring countries. In 2000, the clan received legitimacy at the national level when they were to receive a seat in the 225-member parliament of the Transitional National Government
.
of the Somali language
. Yibir and Madhiban are similar and share a number of words.
J.W.C. Kirk, a British
infantry officer stationed in British Somaliland, published a grammar of Somali with an account of the Yibir and Midgan (i.e. Madhiban) dialects in 1905 and commented on the difference of the two dialects from the dominant Somali language. According to his sources, the difference is necessary to maintain a secrecy and keep the ruling class from total dominance of the subservient clans:
Kirk stresses this desire for secrecy repeatedly: "Therefore I must ask any who may read this and who may sojourn in the country, not to repeat what I give here to any Somali, not of Yibir or Midgan birth"; a similar note was sounded by the German linguist Adolf Walter Schleicher in his 1892 grammar of the Somali language.
In more recent times, the linguist Roger Blench
, referencing Kirk, has similarly indicated that the Yibir and Madhiban dialects both "differ substantially in lexicon from standard Somali". However, he remarks that it remains unknown whether this linguistic divergence is due to some sort of difference in code or is instead indicative of distinct languages.
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
, subsisting as itinerant soothsayer
Fortune-telling
Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination...
s and magicians. They are said to predate the coming of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
to the area and to be descendants of Mohammad Hanif of Hargeysa, who had a reputation as a pagan magician.
The Yibir continue to be a small minority clan, greatly dependent on the host community, and have a language (a dialect of Somali
Somali language
The Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....
) they keep secret from the ruling Somali clans.
Social status
The Yibir belong to the category of the sab, a group of minority clans which also includes the Madhiban and the Tumaal. The sab live in subservience to the ruling clans, the Somali. They traditionally perform menial work and "lack almost all those rights common to freeborn Somali." They are peripatetic people, that is, groups who may have originally subsisted by hunting and gatheringHunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
and later performed menial or sometimes specialized work, often for low wages. In addition, they sell amulets for births and marriages and produce prayer mats.
The non-food producing Yibir traditionally were itinerant peddlers and magicians. Some Yibir believe that they are descendants of Hebrews
Hebrews
Hebrews is an ethnonym used in the Hebrew Bible...
who arrived in the area long before the arrival of Somali
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
nomads, and that the word "Yibir" means "Hebrew".
Foundation myth
The foundational myth for the Yibir involves one Sharif Yuusuf Barkhadle (popularly known as Aw Barkhadle or the "Blessed Father"), a man described as "the most outstanding saint in northern Somalia" and associated with Sheikh Ishaaq, the founder of the IsaaqIsaaq
The Isaaq is one of the main Somali clans. Members of the clan principally live in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia, and the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The populations of five major cities of Somaliland – Hargeisa, Burco, Berbera, Ceerigaabo and Gabiley – are predominantly Isaaq...
Somali clan family and Sheikh Daarod the founder of the Daarod Somali clan family . The myth underlies the modern Somali practice of offering gifts to peripatetic Yibir soothsayers who come to lay blessings upon newborn children and newlywed couples. The story goes that when Barkhadle first settled near his eventual place of burial in the northern Somaliland region, he was confronted by Mohamed Hanif (also pejoratively known as Bu'ur Ba'ayer), a local Yibir leader who ruled the territory contrary to the laws of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. The two leaders then decided to settle the issue of legitimacy between them via a test of mystical strength. Barkhadle challenged Hanif to traverse a small hill near Dogor, an area situated some 20 miles north of the regional capital of Hargeisa. Hanif twice successfully accomplished this task asked of him. However, during Hanif's third demonstration of his powers, Barkhadle "invoked the superior might of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and imprisoned his rival for ever within the mountain." Orthodox Islam thus prevailed over the old pagan cult. However, Hanif's descendants are said to have subsequently demanded blood money
Blood money (term)
Blood money is money or some sort of compensation paid by an offender or his family group to the family or kin group of the victim.-Particular examples and uses:...
or diyya
Diyya
Diyya is compensation paid to the heirs of a victim. In Arabic, the word means both blood money and ransom.-Islamic and Arab tradition:The Qur'an specifies the principle of Qisas Diyya (plural: Diyyat; ) is compensation paid to the heirs of a victim. In Arabic, the word means both blood money and...
from Barkhadle for the death of their leader and in perpetuity. Barkhadle granted them their wish, and this gave rise to the modern custom of samanyo or samayo ("birth gift"), payment made to the Yibir by their Somali patrons.
One of the versions of the story is recorded in Yibir and translated into English by John William Carnegie Kirk. In 1921, Major H. Rayne, a district-commissioner in British Somaliland
British Somaliland
British Somaliland was a British protectorate in the northern part of present-day Somalia. For much of its existence, British Somaliland was bordered by French Somaliland, Ethiopia, and Italian Somaliland. From 1940 to 1941, it was occupied by the Italians and was part of Italian East Africa...
, also recounts the story, using it as a preface to an anecdote about a Somali who had just become a father and asked him for money to pay a passing Yibir.
Reputed Hebrew origin
Yibir clan members are popularly held to be descendants of JewishJews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
Hebrew forbears. The etymology of the word "Yibir" is also believed by some to have come from the word for "Hebrew". However, spokespersons for the Yibir have generally not tried to make their presence known to Jewish/Israeli authorities. Muhammad Ali Hassan, a trader in the emirate of Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
on the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
who is himself a Yibir, asserts that "that would only make more problems". Despite their putative Jewish origins, the overwhelming majority of the Yibir, like the Somali population in general, adhere to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and know practically nothing of Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
. However, partly on account of their rumored Hebrew origins, the Yibir occupy a subordinate position in Somali society.
Contemporary situation
Yibir still have a reputation for magic; one of their traditional functions is to bless the newborn and the newly married. In return for these blessings they receive gifts, a continual repayment for the killing of Mohammed Hanif. They subsist in two different ways—by being attached to noble Somali families, or by (cyclically) visiting different households. The payments they receive, called samanyo (described by an English scholar as a "tax"), also function to forestall the fear of a possible cursing of the (Somali) host by the Yibir soothsayer or magician; though the Yibir are the "smallest and most despised" clan of the sab, they are thought to have the strongest magic. Persistently refusing to give a gift on the occasion of a birth invites the curse of the Yibir, which is supposed to result in a violent death for the refusing party or a deformed new-born. Another of the Yibir's supernatural characteristics is that when they die they vanish: no one, according to Somali tradition, "has ever seen the grave of a Yibir", a quality possibly derived from the disappearance of their ancestor, Hanif.In 1961, the Yibir were estimated to number around 1300 individuals. However, in 2000, Ahmad Jama Hersi, the modern leader of the Yibir, stated he believed 25,000 Yibir to live in Somalia and neighboring countries. In 2000, the clan received legitimacy at the national level when they were to receive a seat in the 225-member parliament of the Transitional National Government
Transitional National Government
The Transitional National Government of Somalia was established in April–May 2000 at the Somalia National Peace Conference held in Djibouti....
.
Language
The language of the Yibir (like that of the Madhiban) is described by early 20th century Western linguists as a dialectDialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
of the Somali language
Somali language
The Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....
. Yibir and Madhiban are similar and share a number of words.
J.W.C. Kirk, a British
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
infantry officer stationed in British Somaliland, published a grammar of Somali with an account of the Yibir and Midgan (i.e. Madhiban) dialects in 1905 and commented on the difference of the two dialects from the dominant Somali language. According to his sources, the difference is necessary to maintain a secrecy and keep the ruling class from total dominance of the subservient clans:
Kirk stresses this desire for secrecy repeatedly: "Therefore I must ask any who may read this and who may sojourn in the country, not to repeat what I give here to any Somali, not of Yibir or Midgan birth"; a similar note was sounded by the German linguist Adolf Walter Schleicher in his 1892 grammar of the Somali language.
In more recent times, the linguist Roger Blench
Roger Blench
Roger Blench is a British linguist, ethnomusicologist and development anthropologist. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and remains based in Cambridge, England...
, referencing Kirk, has similarly indicated that the Yibir and Madhiban dialects both "differ substantially in lexicon from standard Somali". However, he remarks that it remains unknown whether this linguistic divergence is due to some sort of difference in code or is instead indicative of distinct languages.