Somali Dhaqan philosophies and the power of African ancestral wisdom

Abstract

Somali dhaqan cultural philosophies are indigenous African philosophies that encapsulate multiple bodies of living comprehensive knowledge. These philosophies are the founding pillars of Somali societies inasmuch as they are overarching principles governing Somali peoples. In their cosmological sense, dhaqan philosophies are the common threads that connect Somali peoples to their ancestral homelands in Somalia and to a communal way of life. This article looks at Somali dhaqan philosophies as a liberating tool from oppression grounded in the teachings of our ancestors. In it, I stress the importance of re-conceptualizing and operationalizing different sacred bodies of knowledge as a way of reconnecting with the Somali way of life. I will conclude this paper by offering Somali dhaqan philosophies that evoke our ancestral wisdom within the Diaspora as a means of negotiating the further.