Postby Galol » Thu May 11, 2006 1:02 pm
Nabeela
I do not understand this "never talk about the dead' concept espoused by so many somalis secular and religious and vast swathe in between who are too dumb know the difference.
The Islamists talk not about the living but about the dead: Muhammed his friends the eyelashes of his camels, his women, his wives his warriors, his friends' wives the poets he liked and the donkeys he rode.
They talk about his whole clan endlessly ad naueseuam. they talk about non-Muslim dead too - kaffirs, Qurashis, other arabs, Jews, pharaohs. In fact I will challenge anyone to read a post of copy and paste by any Isalmist here and see how much of it is about the living.
In secular history, well, the term speaks for itself: there will be no history without the dead. Besides in my long(ish) life, travels and travails I never came across any taboos about discussing the deeds of the dead objectively and fairly if possible but also subjectively in all teh cultures I came to know about and intermingle.
So where does this `dont talk about the dead' phenomena come from? And sorry there is nothing in teh Quran at all that even so much hints at that. The Quran itself is completely obsessed with talking about teh dead.
So what is it EXACTLY based upon? Is it a religious taboo(in which case why talk about Muhammed and sahaba and muslim soldiers and Muslim goatherds?? He was a Muslim and he is dead) or perhaps I sus[ect this is a more secular, pre-Islamic Somali pagan taboo borne out of fear of mentioning the dead lest their ghosts come to haunt teh living?
I am really curious, and for once very serious so please enlighten me.
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