Divine Madness

This book is a welcome addition to the few book-length biographiesof important African historical figures. The study, which consists of anintroduction and six chapters, offers a fresh and balanced perspective onone of Africa's most controversial nationalists: Mohammed AbdulleHassan, the mullah of present-day Somalia. Not only is he relevant tounderstanding modem Somali nationalism, but he also occupies a significantrole in the wider context of African resistance to western imperialism.In brief, he represents the clash between Islamic and western values incolonial Africa.Divine Madness begins with an examination of the early, colonial,and contemporary literature on the subject in various languages. In fact,one of its strengths is the author's use of a variety of foreign and indigenoussources. Sheik-Abdi draws extensively on archival and documentarydata in Italian, Arabic, English, French, and Somali. Moreover, heincorporates oral accounts from Somalis to complement his archivaland documentary research, a method that enhances the indigenous perspectiveon Mohammed Abdulle Hassan and his activities in the Hornof Africa.In addition, the author presents, in the first and second chapters, anoverview of Somaliland in its historical context. This serves as the backgroundin recounting Hassan’s life and times. Along with a detailedexamination of the Cushitic inhabitants of Somaliland, Sheik- Abdi discussesthe background to the mullah-led Dervish uprising by focusing onthe European colonization of Somaliland and its attendant problems.Perhaps the main response of the colonized Cushitic people to westernimperialism was a deeper and more intense commitment to Islam andpan-Islamic unity, which brought about religious militancy and revivalism ...