The Darod (Somali: Darood or Daarood, Arabic: بني داوود) is a Somali clan. The father of this clan is named Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, but is more commonly known as Darod. In the Somali language, the word Daarood means "an enclosed compound," a conflation of the two words daar (compound) and ood (place enclosed by wall, trees, woods, fence, etc).
The Darod population in Somalia lives principally in the north, with a presence in the Mogadishu area as well as southwestern Somalia. Outside of Somalia proper, there are various Darod sub-clans in the Somali Region and the North Eastern Province (currently administered by Ethiopia and Kenya, respectively), as well as Yemen.
The 9th century Islamic writers Al- Masudi and Yaqut Ibn Abudllah Al-Hamawi wrote in their book Aqeeliyoon( a book that describes the lives and lineages of the descendants of the prophet Mohammed's young cousin Aqeel Ibn Abu Talib) that several Quraish sub-clans moved to to the city of Jabarta and the Zeila region around the ninth century A.D. Some key sub-clans include Banu Shams, Banu Abd Manaf and Banu Hashim. From the Banu Hashim, many Aquiline settlers lived in Jabarta such as Ahmed Ibn Husein Ibn Ali Al-Jabarti, Ahmed Ibn Omar Al-Zayli and most importantly he mentions the sufi Qadiriyah sheik Ismail Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Abdisamad Al-Aqeeyli Al-Zayli who is considered a Sufi saint in Yemen, the father of Darod(Abdirahman) the man most modern Darood claim have descended from. This sufi sheikh also had other sons -who all carry the surname "Jabarti"- where their tribes can be found in Southern Yemen, Eriteria, and parts of Saudi Arabia.
According to early Islamic books and Somali tradition, Muhammad ibn Aqil's descendant Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, a son of the Sufi sheikh of the Qadiriyyah Order, was born in Jabarta, northeastern Somalia in either the 9th or 10th centuries AD, where he took the daughter of the Dir chief as his wife. Darod was also good friends with Sheikh Isaaq bin Ahmed al-Hashimi, another Banu Hashim who came to Somalia around the same time and is also the father of another clan in Somalia known as Reer Isaaq.[1]
Darod is the son of the famous Sufi Sheikh, Ismail bin Ibrahim Al-Jabarti, who was born in Yemen but raised in Jabarti. He is considered by almost all Darod Somalis to be desceneded from the Bani Hashim.
According to the book Aqeeliyoon, his lineage is: Abdirahmaan Bin Ismaa'iil Bin Ibraahim Bin Abdirahmaan Bin Muhammed Bin Abdi Samad Bin Hanbal Bin Mahdi Bin Ahmed Bin Abdallah Bin Muhammed Bin Aqil Bin Abu-Talib Bin Abdul-Mutalib Bin Hashim. [1]
Sons of Daarood
Darod had five sons, and they are:
Muhammad ibn AbdiRahman, known by his nickname '"Kablalax
Ahmed ibn AbdiRahman, known by his nickname Sade Daarood
Hussien ibn AbdiRahman known by his nickname Tanade Daarood
Yuosuf ibn AbdiRahman= Awrtable Daarood
Eissa ibn AbdiRahman= Ciise Daarood
Demographics
Some sources, including the Canadian Report of the Somalia Commission of Inquiry, indicate that the Darod is the largest Somali clan.[3][4] The CIA and Human Rights Watch, however, indicate that Hawiye is the largest Somali clan.[5][6] The CIA indicates that the Darod make up 40% of the Somalis in Ethiopia and Kenya.citation needed
Mohammed Sheikh Adden, Marehan, Somali intellectual, former head of Somali Technological Development, Minister of Information, Minister of Education, Marehan, Head of the Ideology Bureau SRRC
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Majeerteen, President of Somalia's transitional government since 2004
Abdulrahman Jama Barre, Marehan, Somali Foreign Minister and close relative of Siad Barre
Siad Barre, Marehan, third President of Somalia, 1969–1991
Fatimo Isaak Bihi, Marehan, First Somali female ambassador, Ambassador to Geneva, Director of the African Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Abdi Bile, Dhulbahante, winner of the 1,500 metres at the "1987 World Championships in Athletics"
Hassan Abshir Farah, Majeerteen, former Mogadishu mayor, Somali ambassador to Japan and later to Germany, interior minister of Puntland, prime minister of Transitional Federal Government from Arta, and current TFG minister of fishing and marine resources
Mohamed Abdi Hashi, Dulbahante, Former President of Puntland, Former Vice-president of Puntland, Former Chairman of USP (United Somali Party) Pan-Somali party. Known for his surpassing integrity, nationalism and fairness.
Aden Ibrahim Aw Hirsi, Marehan, Author, Islamic Jurisprudence/Political Science scholar, governor of Gedo region 2007-
Haylaan, former seat of Darod and his resting place
Haylaan, former seat of Darod and his resting place
Haylaan, former seat of Darod and his resting place
Haylaan, former seat of Darod and his resting place
Notes
^ ab I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), p. 22
^ Sihab ad-Din Ahmad bin 'Abd al-Qader, Futuh al-Habasa: The conquest of Ethiopia, translated by Paul Lester Stenhouse with annotations by Richard Pankhurst (Hollywood: Tsehai, 2003), pp. 50, 76
Hunt, John A. (1951). "Chapter IX: Tribes and Their Stock". A General Survey of the Somaliland Protectorate 1944–1950. London: Crown Agent for the Colonies. Accessed on October 7, 2005 (from Civic Webs Virtual Library archive).
"The Somali Ethnic Group and Clan System". Civic Webs Virtual Library, from: Reunification of the Somali People by Jack L. Davies, Band 160 IEE Working Papers, Institute of Development Research and Development, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany 1996, ISBN 3-927276-46-4, ISSN 0934-6058. Retrieved on January 22, 2006.