Fascist-era hardship and progressive Islam forged the democrats’ ethical politics

Evidence

Their personal struggles to get minimum education and employment, under a bloody-fisted fascist rule, deeply ingrained in them the need for self-command, perseverance, and self-reliance. Their ability to gain education and employment reinforced their sense of pragmatism, determination, and optimism. Further, it seems that early exposure to a nondogmatic version of Islam reinforced their self-confidence, ascetic lifestyles, and firm ethical values. For example, during his presidency, Osman used to have nightmares about failing to live up to his oath of office and remained anxious about what such disappointment might mean for him in the afterlife. Similarly, Hussen had profoundly internalized Islamic and highly valued Somali edicts of justice, fairness, and rectitude. Thus, unlike many left-wing and right-wing political leaders in the Muslim world and in Africa who have used the faith as a cover to conceal their perverted personal and political agendas, Osman and Hussen developed a remarkably distinct and pragmatic, if not rational and evolving, view of the relationship between cosmopolitan Islam, the state, and the conduct of public affairs. They lived by the ethical bounds of their faith and virtuous elements of the native tradition, using the mixture as a shield against the allure of power, self-flattery, and abuse of office. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1116

Categorization

• XREF: The claim about Osman’s nightmares over his oath connects to the religious and ethical dimension of Somali leadership the reader is tracing.