Somalia: Islamic courts replaced the state

Since more than 10 years, the Somalis have been living without a central national authority and under abnormal conditions due to the civil war which divided the country into several districts, which by its turn were divided into areas under disputes between various tribes.

Under these conditions Islamic courts were established to play a role that goes in parallel with such abnormal conditions.

The idea of establishing courts as such emerged after the collapse of the Somali President Muhammad Seyad Berri in 26 December, 1991, when the country was converted to mere disorder and had no law to govern it.

Scholars in the Southern part of the capital tries then to establish Islamic courts for the first time under the chairmanship of the Islamic complex Sheikh Muhammad Mu'allim who was very soon retreated under the pressure of the militias of the "United Somali Conference" under the leadership of Gen. Muhammad Farah Aided who was controlling Southern Mogadishu.

There was another attempt in 1992 at the hands of Sheikh Hamid Sheikh Ahmad Zayar when killings and thefts increased and resulted in the starvation which hit the country. Zayar succeeded in establishing a legal (Sharia) court in al-Madina quarters to the south of the capital. But the founder Sheikh left the court after he was exposed to the pressures of the controlling militias.

Following a series of attempts, the scholars succeeded in establishing a typical court in May 1998. It was one of six courts established later in the southern part of the capital.

Supporters of these courts say that its legal framework is the Islamic jurisprudence of the "Shafee sect" which most of the Somalis follow. It states that when no rule is existed in the country the people "eligible to take decisions" should be acted as judges so as people's lives and properties are protected.