Arts and Culture

Mohammed Hussein Ali

  1. Somali Early Childood Parenting: An Appeal for a Change

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Somali Early Childhood Parenting: An Appeal for a Change by Mohammed Hussein Ali

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Following profound exploration of western books and ideologies alongside several observations of our long cultural and traditional practices passed down from one generation to another, I wondered why negative competitions are prominent among Somali societies in all regions. I believe that I have found answers to this nagging question, and here is what I think. Let us Firstly compare good parenting, education, children upbringing, and personal development in general. Children in western societies are encouraged to build personal boundaries, develop individual competence, and embrace their unique and individual identities. This is in contrast to Somali society where one would easily observe that children are raised with an awful or terrible mindset rooted in negative competition and unhealthy comparison. Most times, you hear parents telling their children: 'Be like Hebel and Hebel, Hebel is better than you' , or 'Hebel is crazier than that person!' Not even adults are...
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Misra(t): The Ogaden Woman Doomed to Love the Wrong Men: Review of Nuruddin Farah's Maps --Ubaji Isiaka Abubakar Eazy

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If there were one review I would rather not write, it would be this one. I remember that I once found it amusing hearing a professor of mine lamenting his inability to complete Buchi Emecheta's Joys of Motherhood due to the outburst of emotions welled up by the events in the story. Well, it appears nemesis has come for me in form of Nuruddin Farah's Maps ; the fictional novel is such a powerful and grief-stricken one that leaves one feeling sad every time it is recalled. More than anything, it demonstrates the power of words on paper by showing how a writer can manipulate our emotions through words and force us to empathise with their characters. If this were all there was to the novel, it would still be a powerful one, but there is more. Nuruddin Farah's Maps tells the tale of Misra, an Ethiopian-Amhara divorcee, who comes to live among the Somalis before the Ethio-Somali war of 1977-78. Misra had been abducted as a young girl by a Somali warrior following a tribal raid ...
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The path Not Taken by Mohammed Hussein Ali

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Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, …                             —‘The road not taken’ by Robert Frost Just about 20 years ago, I was a herder who reared camels in the country side with my family there, but my father decided to send me to the city of Hargeisa to kickstart my journey as an Islamic Scholar to study Quraan, and fundamental Sharia courses like Hadith, Fiqi, Sirah, and Aqeedah, and then I would move to higher level of Islamic Studies like taking courses abroad. At first, I was unhappy that I had to leave my home to another city entirely where I shall most likely feel forlorn. However, I also realized my father wanted what he believed was best for me. So, I embraced the challenge reluctantly. All thanks to my father, arrangements had already be...
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