Madrassas delivered anti-colonial nationalist messages years before formal Somali nationalism emerged

Evidence

The teacher was influenced by progressive Islamic teachings and would often ask his students in Arabic, “Limaada ta’akhara Al Muslimuum was taqadama qayrahum?” (Why have the Muslims fallen behind and their equals progressed?). Hussen recollects that this message brought home to him the nature of colonialism and that this was the first nationalist message he received, although he was too young to appreciate its significance. The Italian colonial authorities suspected that this madrassa was a hotbed of Islam and kept an eye on its operations. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 189

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader literature on how religious/Islamic institutions became early carriers of nationalist consciousness across the Muslim world, paralleling Somalia’s path toward 1960 independence.