Islamic Courts Union
The Islamic Courts Union was a legal and political organization founded by Mogadishu-based Sharia courts during the early 2000s to combat the lawlessness stemming from the Somali Civil War. By mid-to-late 2006, the Islamic Courts had expanded their influence to become the de facto government in most of southern and central Somalia, succeeding in creating the first semblance of a state since 1991.
Following the collapse of the Somali Democratic Republic in early 1991, a new phenomenon emerged – the establishment of Sharia courts to impose law and order on the volatile neighborhoods of Mogadishu. These independent courts found their existence threatened by warlords, necessitating cooperation which resulted in their unification by 2000. The Islamic Courts Union was a broad-based organization comprising various courts with diverse goals, from national political ambitions to local dispute resolution and propagation of Islam. Due to Islam's central role in Somali society, the initiative gained significant popularity and acceptance, along with substantial financial support from the Somali business community, as it originated from the grassroots level, built legitimacy through religious solidarity, addressed local security concerns, and demonstrated a commitment to restoring public order.
During the summer of 2006, the ICU defeated a warlord alliance backed by the American Central Intelligence Agency and became the first entity to consolidate control over all of Mogadishu since the collapse of the state, propelling the organization onto the international stage. The ICU coalesced into a government after taking control of the capital and began reconstituting the Somali state. This period is widely regarded as Somalia's most stable and productive since the civil war began. Mogadishu residents moved freely for the first time in years as the security situation stabilized, the international airport and seaport reopened after more than a decade, large-scale debris cleanup began, and the presence of weapons on the streets significantly decreased. The organization began pacifying large swathes of territory outside of the capital and expanding its control over much of Somalia.
Six months into their governance, the ICU was toppled during the final days of 2006 by a full scale Ethiopian invasion of Somalia, supported by the United States. Much of the organizational structure of the ICU disintegrated early on in 2007 due to the invasion as the ENDF/US forces brought the Transitional Federal Government to power. Following the collapse of the ICU's rule, much of the ICU's high ranking leadership sought refuge in Eritrea. In the insurgency that followed, a youth faction within the military wing of the Islamic Courts, Al-Shabaab, stayed behind and broke away, initially empowering themselves as a popular resistance movement against the occupation. Throughout 2007 and 2008, ICU forces participated in the insurgency against Ethiopian troops occupying Somalia. Several high-ranking members of the Islamic Courts later founded the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia in late 2007, which would merge with the TFG in late 2008. Former chairman of the ICU Sharif Ahmed became president of Somalia in 2009, replacing the TFG with the Federal Government of Somalia. In 2012, the country adopted a new constitution that declared Somalia an Islamic state with Sharia as its primary source of law.
Origins
Historical background
Islamic law was used during the reign of the Somali Ajuran Sultanate. After existing for about 300 years, the Ajuran Sultanate declined during the 17th century after abandoning Sharia and becoming oppressive. During the 19th century, before the Scramble for Africa had arrived to Somali territories, Sharia courts headed by qadis operated all along the coast.During 1990, just before the full outbreak of the Somali Civil War, a group of sixty highly prominent members of Somali society under the banner of Islamic Call published a public manifesto addressed to President Mohammed Siad Barre. The manifesto warned that he had committed serious transgressions against the laws of Islam and unsuccessfully called on Barre to step down and peacefully transition power.
First Sharia Courts
The first appearance of Sharia courts to build local stability began immediately after the Somali state completely collapsed in January 1991. In the weeks following the toppling of the Somali Democratic Republic, militias that had routed the government began hunting down civilians based on their clan identity. Around this time, several well-known Somali scholars such as Sheikh Sharif Sharafow, Sheikh Ibrahim Suley and Sheikh Mohamed Moallin Hassan established Sharia courts to rescue civilians from these attacks and to address the general rising lawlessness. The first Shari'a courts were started on a small local neighborhood level by Somali religious leaders as a way to address issues in their communities. Most problems they dealt with were related to petty crimes and family disputes. In the chaotic political context of war torn Mogadishu the religious leaders were considered by most Somalis as some of the only people who could be trusted to impartially resolve disputes. Importantly, the courts also did not take positions on national-political or clan affairs, lending significant credence to their purported impartiality.Around the same time as the creation of the Mogadishu courts, Sheikh Mohamed Haji Yusuf and Sheikh Mohamud A. Nur established a new Islamic court in the Luuq District of Gedo region during 1992. The Gedo court had more success than its counterparts in Mogadishu. Order and security was established throughout Luuq district and consequently it became the safest area in Somalia during much of the 1990s. The court later dissolved in 1997 when the Somali National Front and Ethiopian military collaborated to topple it. During 1993, new courts emulating the Luuq judiciary opened in Mogadishu. The United Nations Operation in Somalia that operated during the mid-1990s opposed the courts.
The Sheikh Ali–Dhere court
In 1994, the opening of a court in Mogadishu run by a Sheikh named Ali Dheere had a significant impact on the expansion of the Sharia courts system in the city. Dheere, who lived in one of the most dangerous regions of war-torn Mogadishu, became exhausted with the growing anarchy. He decided to put his religious training to use by setting up the first major Sharia court in Somalia. The infamous "Siisii Street" ran through his community and became notorious for its dangerous reputation.Primarily his court focused on aiding merchants and store owners resolve their disputes, helping people arrange legal agreements for large purchases like homes, and trying people for crimes. Local scholars, elders, businessmen and political leaders cooperated with Dheere in a bid to end the spiraling chaos in their community. Soon Ali Dheere had a staff that apprehended bandits and thieves in the area to bring them to be put on trial. His success in bringing order to his neighborhood in Mogadishu became well known throughout the city and led to the establishment of other copycat Sharia courts. The court did not shy away from strict punishments and even carried out executions. Soon word began rapidly spreading that law and order was being established in Dheeres sector of the city and the crime rate in the area subsequently dropped dramatically. Supported financially by local business men, vehicles dispatched from Siisii court began patrolling the main roads in north Mogadishu and day-to-day civilian activity in that part of the city began resuming as the security situation stabilized.
Rise of the Mogadishu Islamic Courts
In 1994 and 1995, other Sharia courthouses began opening up in northern Mogadishu, operating independently in their own self contained jurisdictions in the city. They also began spreading to the Hiiraan region, though did not survive in the long term due to the intransigence of warlords. During these early years, the courts began gaining considerable support for deploying security forces to protect schools and hospitals from warlord incursions and predatory bandits. Before the establishment of these courts, acts of rape had become commonplace in north Mogadishu since 1991. The establishment of the judiciary made a considerable impact on the security situation as the courts made a point of handing out the capital punishment of stoning to rapists. By 1997, there had been seven cases of execution by stoning in Somalia. It has been noted that suppression of war time sexual violence was a major underlying factor in Somali women's support for the Islamic Courts.The first court did not start in southern Mogadishu until after 1996, as the de facto ruler of the territory, General Mohammed Farah Aidid and his faction the Somali National Alliance opposed the Islamic courts as it was viewed a threat to his hold on power, and no progress occurred until after Aidids death. Ali Mahdi, Aidids prime rival controlling the northern part of the city, issued a decree to dismantle Ali Dheere's Court after perceiving the Sheikhs rising popularity as a threat to his own authority. As the years passed, with nothing but warlords offering to replace its authority, the rule of the sharia courts began to cement.
By 1999, the Islamic courts had jurisdiction had expanded their influence over a large part of south Mogadishu as well. The courts were not an organized movement or a government, but represented the closest thing Somalia had to either. Their influence was enhanced by financial donors abroad who sought to bring any semblance of stability to the country. While some Somalis voiced disapproval of the more fundamentalist ways of the original Sharia courts, it was noted that most felt that they were well organized and effective civil administrators.
Consolidation of Islamic Courts
During April 1999, several Sharia courts united for the first time, seizing control of Mogadishu's Bakaara Market from local warlords. By the end of the year, their coordinated efforts had begun to weaken the warlords' dominance in the capital. By mid-1999, Islamic Courts operating in the central regions were securing roads from Galkayo to Guriel and providing the only functioning detention and prison services in much of southern Somalia. By the late 1990s, Mogadishu experienced growing optimism as the Islamic Courts, in collaboration with the business community, dismantled hundreds of illegal checkpoints and arrested thousands of militia members operating them. The chairman of the courts declared that these were the first step towards establishing an Islamic government in Somalia.At a June 1999 meeting, several Islamic Courts unanimously declared their refusal to participate in any "clannish armed confrontations." They appealed to warlord Hussein Aidid of the Somali National Alliance and the Rahanweyn Resistance Army, who were fighting in the Bay region at the time, to resolve their conflict peacefully through dialogue. The courts opposed Aidid's attempts to capture Bay and Bakool, asserting that the nations current problems could only be solved through the implementation of Sharia.