Somalia’s first leaders developed nonaligned pragmatism from fascist-era struggles and Islam

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. Their attachment to progressive Islam and their anticolonial experience made them leery of the totalizing nature of prevailing ideologies such as communism and capitalism. These values made the Non-Aligned Movement a highly agreeable international political home for them. … Osman and Hussen retained a high degree of intellectual independence and, therefore, maintained their distance from the bipolarity of the times. The evidence presented in the book suggests that Osman’s and Hussen’s progressive pragmatism was anchored in a counterhegemonic weltanschauung. Their perspective was informed by an amalgam of pride in the best of Somali mores, belief in the soundness of generous Islamic piety, equality among human beings, confidence in their own capacity to compete with others, and a strong attachment to the Somali cause. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1116

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader Non-Aligned Movement history and how African leaders positioned themselves against Cold War bipolarity; contrasts with Nkrumah/Kenyatta/Nyerere cited in the passage.
• SHARE: The detail that President Osman had nightmares about failing his oath of office is a specific humanizing anecdote about Somali political leadership worth sharing with someone interested in Somali history.