al-Thaqāfat al-ʿArabiyyah wa ruwāduhā fī'l Somāl: dirāsat Tārīkhiyyah Ḥaḍāriyyah, is born from the Phd thesis of Dr Mohammed H. Ma'allin. This unique title reveals the roots of Arab culture, literature, and Islamic history in the Somali peninsula and the extent to which the people of Somalia were affected by this connection.
During the appearance of the Prophet Muhammad-Blessings and peace be upon him- in the Arabian Peninsula, and the subsequent migrations, starting with the refugee's among the companions of the Prophet-Blessings and peace be upon him- to the Horn of Africa followed by centuries long of interractions lef a permanent mark on the cultures and civilisations of Northeast Africa. The book focuses on the depth of cultural relationship between Somalis and other Arabs in Yemen, Egypt, Hijaz, and the Levant, with emphasis on cultural exchanges between the two regions, in most of the Islamic eras.
This study deals with how islamic sciences were pioneered in Somalia, and exported to the Arabian peninsula for centuries, with a special look at the scholarly pioneers. Aspects of literature, writing as well as its tools such as calligraphy, copyist and scribal functions are brought out to the reader, which is born from extensive sources. This study dedicates a special section to prominent Somali scholars of the past and more present times.
About Maʿallin:
Dr Mohamed Hussein Muʿallin Ali was born in Mogadishu in 1964 where his primary and secondary education took place. Between 1987 and 1991 he did his undergraduate and masters degree on the history of Islam at Ummul Qura university, Mecca Saudi Arabia. He followed up with PhD thesis at al-Nīlayn university at Khartoum, Sudan. He did a further degree on teaching at University of Hamar, Norway.
Dr Mu'allin has taught several higher learning institutions, board member and editor as well as contributor towards several academic journals, and has authored several books in various languages. Most popular of his authored works is: Diiwaanka Maansooyinka Abshir Bacadle (Sweden, 2014); Taariikhda Culimada Soomaaliyeed (Leicester, 2021). In Arabic he wrote the following: al-Thaqafat al-'Arabiyyaj wa Ruwaduha fi'l Somal (Cairo, 2011); Mu'jam al-Mu'allifin Al-Somaliyin fi'l 'Arabiyyah (Cairo, 2016); 'Abaqirat al-Qarn al-Ifriqi (Cairo, 2017); al-Madhab al-Shafi'i fi Bilad al-Somal (Cairo, 2020); al-'Alaqat Bayn al-Qarn al-Ifriqi wa'l 'Alam al-Khariji (Cairo, 2021). Dr Mu'allin currently lives in Norway with wife and children.