#qabyalad

[beerlula-00]

Just realized that if you wanted to write about a story that involves issues of qabil and qabyalad, you will have to use a fictional city in Somalia. Since people’s qabil can be identified through which part of Somalia they reside. You would not want look like you that you are attacking a certain qabil.

Damn, this thing is so deep in our culture and country.

[beerlula-00]

Janno (Paradise) by Bile M Hashi

Reading this book was eye opening in the regard of Qabil in Somali culture. It is a book about two brothers that share the same mother but different fathers thus making the brothers different Qabils. A war breaks out between the two tribes and the two boys find each other on the opposite side of the war while their mothers tears fall to deaf ears and her heart breaks into pieces.

Thoughts on this book

Qabil is something that is deeply woven into our culture. It is easy to just denounce it and avoid speaking of it for some of us that are trying to not engage in it. But doing that does not help much and it doesn’t take a lot to realize erasing the concept of qabil in Somalia is almost an impossible thing. These characters in the book shows you how one can have utterly complete believe of such a man-made concept that it clashes with the one that the Almighty s.w.t made it for us.

It really makes you question: Is the allegiance to a man-made system stronger than the bond of the umbilical cord destined by the Almighty?

Was the boost of ego worth the tears of thousands of mothers? Was the short-lived celebrations worth the stolen childhood and brotherhood?

This book also made me realize a profound thing, the role of WOMEN in this Qabil system.

Any child that is born in this Qabil system automatically becomes the qabil of the father. The mother’s qabil is never passed down to her children. And as a woman, just like in the book above, two children that shared your womb would belong to two different Qabils if they were of different fathers. As a mother, your son could become an enemy of your daughter’s children solely because of qabil. Is there anything beneficial for women in this system?

They use abtiris as a way to justify the reason of children belonging to the qabil of the father. But Allah s.w.t put abtiris in place to protect children. Not to rip brothers of the same mother apart. Any other nation in the world considers the two sides if a child is born of biracial marriage while that kid still has abtiris. It doesn’t justify the reason of throwing mother’s side under the rug in Qabil system. Plus our Lord told us to let kids have the last name of their fathers, he never said anything about this qabil system.

And lastly, I think as a woman, as a mother and as a sister, why would you want to support a system that doesn’t recognize your side after 9 months of pregnancy? After the excruciating pain of labor? After losing your physical strength and rest into raising them? Sometimes even alone as a single mother? A system that can rip your children apart? That can make your brothers enemies? And finally one that has consistently contributed to the failure of our country? If you are or wish to be a mother, you should be consistently and persistently against Qabil system.

They say, “Power resides where people believe it resides.” We have to stop believing and reinforcing that this system is good somehow.