Sharif Aydarus

Sharif Aydarus Sharif Ali al-Nudari or short Sharif Aydarus was a scholar of Islamic and Somali history and a pan-Islamic leader.

History

He was born in the city of Mogadishu in the Hijri year 1311 AH and belonged to the coastal Reer Hamar confederation and the Asharaf clan from the Shingani district.
He studied the Qur'an in the coastal cities of Mombasa and Lamu. In 1914, he came back to Mogadishu in order to teach and to preach at the Shingani Mosque.
He collected oral traditions and used them while teaching Somali history to his students. Eventually all his work and manuscripts were assembled and published in the year 1955 in Arabic by the Trusteeship Administration as .
Sharif Aydarus founded the pan-Islamic Somali party called al-Raabitah al-Islamiyyah. He was active in the proselytization of Islam, collaborating with various leaders of tariqas towards this end. He also served as head of the Mogadishu branch of the pan-Islamic party called al-Mu’tamar al-Islami until he died in 1960.