By Anwar Maxamed Diiriye

“Culture is the soul of a people—when it is preserved, identity lives; when it is lost, even freedom feels foreign.”  Unknown.

Introduction

As Somali people, we come from a land rich in history, culture, and values that have guided us for generations. Our unity through a shared language, faith, ethnicity, and way of life is a gift few other nations enjoy. Blessed with a long coastline stretching along the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, our homeland has always held strategic importance. As we are sitting at a crossroads between Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, offering great potential in trade, transportation, fisheries, and influence; if we utilize it sensibly and efficiently.

For centuries, our culture served as the backbone of our society. It taught us how to live together, resolve conflict, and lead with justice. It was built on oral tradition, communal living, and “xeer” our indigenous system of governance, all of which emphasized honor, responsibility, and social balance. Unfortunately, these foundations have been weakened by war, self-alienation, displacement, foreign interference, and political models that do not reflect who we are.

Now is the time to return to the moral and social values that made our society strong; not to live in the past, but to use our culture as a tool for rebuilding a just and united Somali nation. If we apply our traditional wisdom in today’s context, we can restore dignity, strengthen unity, and guide the future of our people both at home and across the diaspora.

Key Foundations of Somali Culture

1) Our Language: Our language is more than words; it carries our stories, our wisdom, and our soul. It belongs to the Cushitic branch of the Hamito-Semitic aka Afro-Asiatic family and lives in poetry, proverbs, and oral storytelling. These traditions are not only beautiful; they teach morals, preserve history, and shape identity. When our language is respected and used in public life and institutional domains, it strengthens our sense of self and gives clarity to our vision for leadership and justice.

2) Family and Clan as Social Strengths: The Somali family system and clan structure have always been central to our society. They represent unity, protection, and mutual care. While we must avoid the dangers of clannism, the principles of collective responsibility and solidarity can be redirected toward building a stronger nation; one where clans unite for progress, not division.

3) The Principle of Biri Ma Geydo: This powerful Somali ethic teaches that certain people must never be harmed: women, children, elders, the disabled, poets, religious scholars, peacemakers, and guests. This value, which honors dignity and protection, can inspire laws and governance systems that truly care for the people. Imagine a Somali government that protects the weak, uplifts the honorable, and guarantees justice for all; that is Biri Ma Geydo in action.

4) Islam (Our Moral Compass): Islam is not just a religion in Somalia; it is a way of life. It shapes our understanding of justice, mercy, honesty, and responsibility. If truly followed, Islamic values can help build institutions that are fair, transparent, and accountable to the people, while also rooted in our identity.

5) Our Own Way of Governing (Xeer): Before colonization, we had our own system of law—xeer. It was led by respected elders (odayaal) and based on negotiation, fairness, and community peace. Leadership was earned through wisdom, not wealth or violence as a natively invented democracy. Disputes were solved through dialogue, not punishment. Xeer is proof that we had law, order, and justice long before outsiders told us how to govern.

Moral Values that Still Matter Today

• Respect and Honor: Respecting elders and protecting honor are deeply rooted in Somali life. These values can bring dignity back to leadership and stop the spread of corruption and impunity.
• Hospitality: We have been known for our generosity. This spirit of welcoming others can be reinvented and turned into public service; where those in power serve the people, not the other way around.
• Community and Unity: We have always prioritized community over self-interest. If this mindset returns to our politics, we will choose cooperation over conflict and unity over division.
• Solving Conflict, the Somali Way: Our elders used to gather and solve disputes through guurti (councils of wisdom). These models of dialogue and reconciliation are far more effective for Somali society than foreign systems of punishment and prison, which we had misunderstood entirely from the beginning of its formation from the colonial powers.
• Justice and Loyalty: Loyalty is important, but it must go beyond family and clan. We must be loyal to fairness, to institutions, and to our nation itself. Justice must be both traditional and legal; restorative, not only punitive.

When Tradition and Foreign Systems Collide: The foreign political systems imposed on us after colonization often conflict with our traditional ways of life. Somali governance has historically been rooted in consensus, oral agreements, and community-based decision-making. In contrast, foreign systems emphasize written documentation, rigid institutional structures, and individualism. This fundamental mismatch sometimes creates several ongoing challenges:

• Custom vs. Courts: Somali methods of reconciliation prioritize restoring social harmony, whereas formal court systems focus primarily on punishment, often sidelining our community-based justice practices. To address this, we must document xeer, our traditional legal system and work to harmonize it with other legal frameworks that align with our values and societal needs.
• Clan vs. State: Deep-rooted clan loyalty, while central to our identity, can undermine national unity unless it is restructured to contribute positively to the state-building process.
• Oral vs. Written: Our oral traditions embody deep wisdom and cultural continuity, but they face significant challenges in a modern world dominated by written laws, records, and
• procedures in foreign languages. To bridge this gap effectively, we should prioritize documenting our traditions and native governance systems in the Somali language, rather than relying on foreign languages that may not fully capture our values and perspectives.

If we don’t adapt these models to fit our culture, we risk alienating our own people. Governance will continue to feel distant, imposed, and illegitimate. What we need is a new approach that combines Somali values with the best of modern governance.

Conclusion

A Call for Cultural Renewal as Our Path Forward: Our future lies not in abandoning tradition nor in blindly copying foreign models, but in awakening our positive cultural values that have long defined and united us such as honor, wisdom, hospitality, faith, and collective responsibility. These are not relics of the past, but living assets; resources that, when wisely integrated with modern systems, can strengthen governance, justice, and national unity.

Our culture is not broken, it is waiting to be renewed. We must begin a conscious and inclusive dialogue among ourselves across regions, generations, and political views to reaffirm what still serves us, discard what is no longer needed, and thoughtfully weave our indigenous principles into today’s governance. This is not a return to the past, but a step forward, grounded in the best of who we are. We do not need to imitate others to build a strong and just society. Our Islamic faith, resilience, history, and shared identity are enough if we believe in ourselves, unite with purpose, and lead with the wisdom passed down to us. The time has come to rebuild our nation, guided by the spirit of our people and the strength of our own foundations

Anwar Maxamed Diiriye 
Email: anwar@usfamily.net 
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Anwar Maxamedis is a lecturer in Comparative Cultural Studies and the author of The Literature of Somali Onomastics (2006) and the English-Somali and Somali-English Medical Dictionary (2010). He also served as editor-in-chief of the Gobaad Multidisciplinary Journal from 2000 to 2012.
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Reference:

Anwar M Diiriye. (2018). An Exploration of Somali Culture: Fundamentals and Moral Perspectives.

University of Pretoria: Journal of Cultural Studies, 95 (11), 301-325.

World Bank. (2005). Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics. World Bank Report. (A good analysis of Somali conflict resolution and governance from an international development

perspective.)

Gundel, Joakim. (2006). The Predicament of the ‘Oday’: The Role of Traditional Structures in Security, Rights, Law and Development in Somalia. Danish Refugee Council. (Discusses the role of elders and traditional law vs. formal governance.)

Mohamed, Jama. (2007). Kinship and Contract in Somali Political Culture: The Case of the Xeer. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 77(2), 226–249. (A detailed exploration of Somali customary law (xeer) and governance.)