User:Suleyman42/Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a

Ahlu Sunnah wal Jama'ah (Arabic: أهل السنة والجماعة‎) is a Somali militia allied with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and motivated by Sufi Islam. It was formed in late 2008 in Somalia's central desert region, in reaction to desecrations of Sufi graves by Al-Shabaab, a Wahhabi Islamist group that is the main adversary to the TFG. Shabaab's first attacks were in November 2008, when it shot and killed several Sufi scholars. The next month, Shabaab began desecrating graves. These religiously motivated attacks prompted a response from Sufi scholars, who before had studiously avoided involvement in Somalia's long-running clan-based civil war. Because Ahlu Sunna formed for religious reasons, its formation opened up "a new axis of conflict" in the civil war between moderate Sufi Islamists and radical Wahhabi fundamentalists.

In December 2008, Ahlu Sunna drove the Shabaab out of Dusa Marreb. (1, 2) From there, Ahlu Sunna expanded to capture the Galgulud region by mid-June 2009. (3) In August 2009, the militia captured the trade town of Beled Hawo from Hizbul Islam, a smaller Islamic fundamentalist militia allied with Shabaab. (4) However, Ahlu Sunna has itself carried out religious attacks. On September 1st, it attacked individuals who were not taking part in the traditional Muslim Ramadan fast. (5)

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/world/africa/24somalia.html?scp=89&sq=somalia&st=nyt

2. http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/05/25/world/1194840299556/somalia-s-sufis-fight-the-shabab.html

3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8077725.stm

4. http://allafrica.com/stories/200908191036.html

5. http://allafrica.com/stories/200909010890.html