Shaykh Bakrii's Teaching Centers
At Saphalo, Shaykh Bakrii established his reputation as more than a local teacher. He married his first wife, Kadija Ahmad in 1928. When his father Usman Oda, died in 1930, Shaykh Bakrii " . . . became the head of his family and assumed a number of responsibilities."[i][i] With the land and property that he inherited from his father, Shaykh Bakrii was able to support not only some of his students but also cared for the orphaned and poor earning a reputation for benevolence in and around the village of Saphalo.[ii][ii] Over time, Shaykh Bakrii became well versed in traditional Oromo law as he was called in, as a revered and respected elder, to settle disputes. He distinguished himself for his honesty in mediating conflict among the Oromo. His g! oal was to enable the Oromo to settle their disputes among themselves on the basis of their own law without going to the alien government judges.
Part II
Shaykh Bakrii had a remarkable gift for languages. He had excellent command of Oromo, Arabic and Somali and wrote poems in these languages. Later he learned the Amharic and as well Adare (Harari) languages. During the Italian occupation (1936-1941), he learned Italian. He even taught himself to read and write English.[iii][iii] According to Mohammed Nur (his grandson),[iv][iv] it was Ayela Mengasha, who taught Shaykh Bakrii how to read and write in the Amharic language. Why he deliberately planned to learn how to read and write in Amharic will be mentioned later, here it should suffice to say that Shaykh Bakrii knew the Amharic (Ethiopic or Geez) writing system and perceived its strengths and weaknesses for writing in the Oromo language. Besides teaching Islamic education, he was deeply concerne! d with improving the political status of the Oromo, their cultural life and above all the development of their language.
In addition to religious education and philosophy, his teaching ranged over geography, history, mathematics, astronomy, Arabic and the composition of writings in the Oromo language. Besides teaching all the subjects in a comprehensive Islamic education, he also began to attract considerable attention to himself as an outstanding Oromo poet, and it was through the widespread appreciation of his religious poetry that his name or at least a version of it came to be known over a very large area.[v][v]
It was in 1940 that Shaykh Bakrii opened his second center of teaching at Adellee, ". . . a place located to the west of Saphalo,"[vi][vi] where he married his second wife, produced children and powerful poems. During his long life Shaykh Bakrii married a number of wives,[vii][vii] by whom he had twenty-five children, (eleven sons and fourteen daughters), of whom only three sons and six daughters are still alive.[viii][viii] Shaykh Bakrii believed in the education of women and all his daughters received a good Islamic education. Ten of his sons were highly educated and became shaykhs (scholar-teachers). His eldest son, Mohammed Nur died while young.[ix][ix] One of his sons was sent to the government school in Dire Dhawa to master the Amharic language and Ethiopic writing system.[x][x] Shaykh Bakrii had the economic means to support his large family. He was a loving husband and caring father. All Shaykh Bakrii's daughters were given in marriage to his former students, some of whom are now famous teachers.
He opened his third center of teaching at Ligibo in 1948, where he embarked on an intellectual journey that eventually culminated in the invention of an Oromo writing system. In 1953 he established his fourth center of teaching at Kortu, located east of the city of Dire Dhawa. Besides the above mentioned four centers, Shaykh Bakrii also established teaching centers " . . . in the city of Dire Dhawa, in the town of Goota . . . Qabanaawa and Bobbaasaa."[xi][xi]
Shaykh Bakrii was able to support the students at his centers of learning in the rural areas mainly through two interrelated methods. First, he sought support from the surrounding population, " to feed and provide them with other necessities."[xii][xii] Second, all his teaching centers were located near mosques, where his students and local people prayed together. From the local people, Shaykh Bakrii, sought waqf land (land given for the use of mosque) which was cultivated voluntarily by the local people for the benefit of his students, some of whom helped during the planting, weeding and harvesting times. Shaykh Bakrii traveled among his many centers of teaching.
Shaykh Bakrii introduced a radical method of teaching, which was based on the "horizontal relations among branches"[xiii][xiii] of subjects that were taught. In other words, he introduced modern teaching methods and a timetable of diverse subjects, as used in all modern school! s, rather than the dreary rote learning method of religious schools at which texts were learned by heart.[xiv][xiv] In all his teaching Shaykh Bakrii stressed the importance of acquiring writing skill as well as the ability to speak Arabic or Oromo languages fluently. That is how he was able to train some of the best Muslim Oromo intellectuals who now teach in many places in and beyond Hararghe. They include (but are not limited to):
Sheikh Mohammad Siraj, [Bakrii’s son who Teaches] at Qallicha[xv][xv] near Dire Dhawa, Sheikh Nuradin Ahmad, [who teaches] at Saphalo, Sheikh Abdusamed Ibrahim, [who teaches] at Gaalee Gaadaa, Sheikh Mohammad Mansur (the son of Sheik Bakrii) [who teaches] at Bobbaasaa, Sheikh Yusuf Abdulle [who teaches] at Adelle, Sheikh Mohammad Sheikh Usman [who teaches] near Barooda town, Sheikh Yusuf Soqaa [who teaches] around Dader town, Sheik Mohamm! ad Tarce [who teaches] around Calanqo town, Sheikh Ibraahim Mullaata [who teaches] in Jarsoo, Sheikh Nibraas [who teaches] in Noole, Sheikh Mohammad Yusuuuf [who teaches] in Wallo, Sheikh Mussa Hassan [who teaches] in Anniyya, Sheik Sharif Nuureea [who teaches] in Arsi, Sheikh Mohammad Rashad [who works] in Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdurhaman Muda [who teaches]in Addis Ababa.[xvi][xvi]
Shaykh Bakrii Saphalo's Scholarly Works
As a teacher, scholar, poet and highly respected cultural hero (see below) Shaykh Bakrii was the nerve center of intellectual life among the Oromo in Hararghe. Among his Oromo admirers, for whom he was the noblest man of his age, he eventually gained the exalted status of saints.[xvii][xvii] His long teaching career took him to many places among the Oromo in Hararghe. Through his extensive travels, he was able to meet with many people, young and old, men and women, urban and rural, Muslims and Christians. He cultivated friendship with both Muslims and Christians and thrived in the company of his students, scholars and knowledgeable friends.[xviii][xviii] Admiring students and respecting scholars, flocked to his centers of teaching, which were regarded as paradise of knowledge, from where the ideas of political enlightenment[xix][xix] spread to the Oromo. His knowledge of the geography of the administrative region of Hararghe, its rivers, valleys, fertile plains, hills, lowlands and mountains were the topics of some of his poems. His knowledge of the history of the various people of Hararghe, their customs, cultures, languages and way of life was solid.[xx][xx]
There is no doubt that Shaykh Bakrii Saphalo had an impact on the rise of political consciousness among the Oromo in Hararghe, especially in urban centers such as Dire Dhawa (see below). What distinguished him was the clarity with which he articulated the importance of education for the liberation of his people. Not only did he educate distinguished scholars and a gifted poet such as Shaykh Mohammad Rashad, but also produced several works that shaped our understanding of the Oromo situation during the long reig! n of emperor Haile Selassie (1916-1974). Among the Oromo in Hararghe, Shaykh Bakrii Saphalo was a recognized authority in several branches of knowledge including (but not limited to) history, geography, Oromo law, and tradition, the gada system, science and mathematics. His knowledge of the smooth transfer of power under Oromo democracy, especially the importance of the bokku in the transfer of power was unrivaled.
The bokku was a multi-purpose emblem (sceptre) that was kept by the Abba Gada, the president of democratically elected chafee assembly (Oromo parliament). It was a symbol of independence and an insignia of political power. It was the revered emblem with which every Oromo public prayer started and ended, and with which all chafee assembly's deliberations on the making of law, declarati! on of war and making of peace started and ended. Shaykh Bakrii states that "nobody except the Abba Gada carried it. At the end of his tenure of office, the incoming leader took it directly from that of the outgoing leader."[xxi][xxi]
Shaykh Bakrii had a mobile library which was carried by beasts of burden between his centers of teaching. His library included books on Islamic studies, science, mathematics, history, Arabic poetry, socialism and world revolutions. He was a lover of books and an avid reader and raised funds for adding the latest books in Arabic to his collection. He enjoyed the reputation of having the largest collection of books among Muslim Oromo scholars in Hararghe. He spent most of the time reading, contemplating, writing and teaching. He loved reading mathematical treaties, great Arabic poetry and historical books. He translated algebra and geometry into the Oromo language.[xxii][xxii] Among the Oromo in Hararghe Shaykh Bakrii Saphalo was an outstanding scholar and a prolific writer. His eight major works which deal with secular as well as religious subjects, were written mainly in Arabic, although his poems were written in Oromo. Unfortunately only some of them have been published in Mogadishu. Sadly when Shaykh Bakrii was forced into exile hastily by the Ethiopian military regime (see below) in 1978, his main residence at Kortu was invaded by the regime's soldiers, who burned all his documents.[xxiii][xxiii] Any one who was "suspected of possessing" Shaykh Bakrii's manuscripts were either detained or forced into exile. For instance, Shaykh Hassan of Ananno, who was found in possession of his teacher's most popular manuscript on the history of the Orom! o, was detained for four years.[xxiv][xxiv] The manuscript was confiscated and destroyed. In 1978 alone, the Ethiopian military authorities in Hararghe struck a terrible blow to the works that Shaykh Bakrii had produced in the previous half century.
His works were destroyed because they contributed to the development of Oromo Nationalism. As far as I know, only Shaykh Mohammed Rashad (his famous student) has the major works of Shaykh Bakrii Saphalo in his possession. It was he who saved his teacher's labor of love for posterity. When I interviewed Shaykh Mohammed Rashad in Mogadishu in July 1980, he was working on the biography of his great teacher. I have been unable! to confirm whether or not that biography has been published.[xxv][xxv]
The first of Shaykh Bakrii's major works deals with the geography and demography of Hararghe region. It is in Arabic and entitled "Dirasa fi al-Mintiqa Harariya Jugrafiyyan wa Bashariyyan "c. 200 pp. Shaykh Bakrii devoted three manuscripts in Arabic to Oromo history. The first is entitled Janiyi Shammarkh min hadayiz al Tawarkh ("A collection of unripe dates from the garden of history"[xxvi][xxvi]) which is typed and about 95 pages long. His second manuscript on history is entitled Muqaddamat taysir al Zarriya al Tawarikh" (A simplified introduction to nuclear (raw) history"[xxvii][xxvii]) which is typed and about 48 pages long. His third manuscript on history i! s entitled Kitaab Irsaal al Sawarikh ila sama al tawarikh ("A guided missile to the sky [exalted] History"[xxviii][xxviii]) which is typed and about 56 pages long."[xxix][xxix] According to Aliyi Khalifa, the above mentioned four manuscripts were published by Shaykh Mohammad Rashad[xxx][xxx] in Mogadishu in 1979.[xxxi][xxxi] Of the three above mentioned manuscripts dealing with history, only the last is in my possession. This interesting manuscript, divided into 19 sections, "attempts to sketch an overall panorama of Oromo history, contrasting their earlier greatness with their later humiliation under Amhara domination."[1][xxxii] Shaykh Bakrii was appalled by the deliberate and grotesque distortion of Oromo history in the Ethiopian historiography. He did not only wanted to free that history from distortion, but also use it as an ideological weapon for cultivating pan-Oromo identity. He was committed to creating political awareness among his people and, to a large measure, it was his tireless efforts that planted the idea among the Oromo in Hararghe that all Oromo were subjugated to the same crude and brutal system. His efforts anticipated the activities of the Macha and Tul! ama Association during the 1960s. In short, Shaykh Bakrii's interest in Oromo history, reflects his concern for their unity and for their freedom and human dignity. He believed that the Oromo could achieve their ultimate goal of liberation only if they are united. What is particularly fascinating about Shaykh Bakrii's concern, which is still relevant today, is that he clearly stated that the Oromo were defeated by Emperor Menelik because of their lack of unity among themselves. He condemned their lack of unity in the 1950s.[xxxii][xxxiii]! Half a century later, it is still unclear if the Oromo elite has drawn any lesson from Shaykh Bakrii's wisdom.
Two other works of Shaykh Bakrii deal with Islamic teaching and are entitled Taysir al Zamiya ela uclear fughaai fi al kam al Sharia (A "simplified [guidance] to the law of Sharia (Figh)"[xxxiii][xxxiv] and Al mawahib al admadiyyan fi l-awl a! l addiyyan. In the remaining two works: Qala'id durar fi tarikh Sheikh Umar("A pleasant and pearl biography of Sheikh Umar[xxxiv][xxxv]) and Anafa fi tankh Sheikh Yusuuf (“A biography of Shaykh Yusuf") Shaykh Bakrii took upon himself the task of writing the biographies of his two main teachers, Shaykh Umar Aliyye Balbalatti and Shaykh Yusuf Adam.[xxxv][xxxvi] The biographies were works of love, devotion, commitment and indebtedness to those who had profound impact on his intellectual growth. Both of his famous teachers, studied at Dawwee in Wollo, the highest center of Islamic learning for the Oromo in Ethiopia.
His eight major works not only contain a wealth of information on different aspects of Oromo society, but also reveal his intellectual maturi! ty, his profound knowledge of the Arabic language. And above all his works on history reveal his understanding of the oppression to which the Oromo have been subjected since the days of their conquest. He was an activist scholar, whose works reflect a deeply seated passion to spread knowledge among his people.