Islamic Courts Union

Islamic Courts Union
Midowga Maxkamadaha Islaamiga (Somali)
اتحاد المحاكم الإسلامية (Arabic)
LeaderSharif Sheikh Ahmed[1]
Governing bodyIslamic Courts Supreme Council
Founded2000
Dissolved2007–2009
Preceded byIndependent Sharia courts
Succeeded byAlliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia
HeadquartersMogadishu
IdeologyIslamism
ReligionSunni Islam
Party flag

The Islamic Courts Union (Somali: Midowga Maxkamadaha Islaamiga) 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,[2] succeeding in creating the first semblance of a state since 1991.[3]

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.[4] These independent courts found their existence threatened by warlords, necessitating cooperation which resulted in their unification by 2000. The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) was a broad-based organization comprising various courts with diverse goals, from national political ambitions to local dispute resolution and propagating 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,[5] as it originated from the grassroots level, built legitimacy through religious solidarity, addressed local security concerns, and demonstrated a commitment to restoring public order.[6]

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.[7][8] The ICU coalesced into a government after talking control of the capital[9] and began reconstituting the Somali state.[10] The period that followed is widely heralded as the most stable and productive period Somalia had seen up to that point since the outbreak of the civil war.[11][12][13] Residents were finally able to move around Mogadishu without fear of attack, the international airport and seaport were opened for the first time in over a decade, a large scale debris clean up campaign was started and there was a significant reduction of arms on the streets.[14][15] The organization soon began pacifying large swathes of territory outside of the capital and expanding it's control over much of Somalia.[6]

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.[16][17][18] 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 (TFG) to power.[19][20] Following the collapse of courts rule, much of the 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.[21] High-ranking members of the Islamic Courts later founded the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) in late 2007, which would merge with the TFG in late 2008. Former chairman of the Islamic Courts Union, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, became president of Somalia in 2009, successfully replacing the Transitional Government 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.[22]

  1. ^ Somalia: Current Conditions and Prospects for a Lasting Peace (PDF). Congressional Research Service. 2011. pp. 18–22.
  2. ^ Esposito, John L.; Shahin, Emad El-Din (2018-08-01). Islam and Politics Around the World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-090041-0.
  3. ^ Bereketeab, Redie (2023-03-28). Historical Sociology of State Formation in the Horn of Africa: Genesis, Trajectories, Processes, Routes and Consequences. Springer Publishing. p. 176. ISBN 978-3-031-24162-8. The UIC had succeeded in creating a semblance of a state in the war-torn country for the first time in 15 years, thereby earning qualified legitimacy in the eyes of the population
  4. ^ Elmi 2010, p. 63.
  5. ^ Samatar, Abdi Ismail (2022). Framing Somalia. Red Sea Press. pp. 140–146. ISBN 978-1-56902-789-9.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :42 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Samatar, Abdi Ismail (2022). Framing Somalia. Red Sea Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-56902-789-9.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :37 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Bereketeab, Redie (2023-03-28). Historical Sociology of State Formation in the Horn of Africa: Genesis, Trajectories, Processes, Routes and Consequences. Springer Publishing. p. 176. ISBN 978-3-031-24162-8.
  11. ^ "Guns finally silent in Somalia's capital". NBC News. 2006-06-17. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  12. ^ "Somalia Mourns a 'Golden Era' as Crisis Worsens | Africa Faith and Justice Network". afjn.org. 11 December 2007. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  13. ^ Harper, Mary (2012). Getting Somalia Wrong?: Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State (African Arguments). Zed Books. OCLC 940704916.
  14. ^ "Somalia's High Stakes Power Struggle". Council on Foreign Relations. 3 Aug 2006.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "US backs Ethiopian attacks in Somalia". Sudan Tribune. 26 December 2006.
  17. ^ Mazzetti, Mark (2006-12-27). "U.S. Signals Backing for Ethiopian Incursion Into Somalia". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  18. ^ "How US forged an alliance with Ethiopia over invasion". the Guardian. 2007-01-13. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  19. ^ CHERIAN, JOHN (25 January 2007). "Bush war in Africa". Frontline. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  20. ^ "Ethiopia reaps U.S. aid by enlisting in war on terror and hiring influential lobbyists – ICIJ". 2007-05-22. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  21. ^ Gettleman, Jeffrey (2008-11-13). "Islamists Continue Advance Through Somalia". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-05-29. ...other parts of Somalia such as Beledweyne on the Ethiopian border, and Giohar, north of Mogadishu are now falling under the control of a more moderate insurgent group, the Islamic Courts Union. This group receives strong support...
  22. ^ Massoud 2021, p. 196.