# Islamic Emirate of Somalia

The Islamic Emirate of Somalia (Somali: Imaarada Islaamiga Soomaaliya; Arabic: إِمَارَةُ ٱلْصُّوْمَالُ ٱلْإِسْلَامِيَّةْ) refers to the territories in Somalia under the control and governance of Al-Shabaab, which had declared its territory as an Islamic emirate in 2008. It aimed at controlling and governing Somalia, although it remained unrecognized. The borders of the Islamic Emirate of Somalia underwent drastic changes throughout the Somali Civil War.

## History

Al-Shabaab had its origins in the Islamic Courts Union, an umbrella group which governed much of Somalia until the Ethiopian invasion in December 2006. In 2007–08, al-Shabaab was established as an independent group, gaining much support after branding itself the Somali resistance against the Ethiopian occupation.
Al-Shabaab fused Somali nationalism with Salafi jihadism. It was also Pan-Islamist, linking the grievances of Somalia with those of the entire Muslim world. However, some of the more nationalist factions of al-Shabaab rejected Pan-Islamism and only wanted Somalia under Islamic rule. Much of al-Shabaab was staunchly nationalist, and aimed to expand across all of Greater Somalia. After the collapse of the ICU in 2007, Al-Shabaab launched its own insurgency. Although focused solely on Somalia, al-Shabaab attracted some foreign jihadists. The vast majority of the foreign jihadists were Somali diaspora. The rest included volunteers from East Africa, the Middle East, and the West. High ranking foreign fighters included Fuad Qalaf Shongole, a Swedish Somali, Jehad Mostafa, a Kurdish American, Omar Shafik Hammami, a Syrian American, and Mujahid Miski, a Somali American.
During the Ethiopian military occupation, many Somalis saw al-Shabaab as a genuine national resistance movement, while al-Shabaab further capitalized on its nationalist ideology. During 2008, al-Shabaab rapidly expanded and governed territory for the first time. The group also established networks and territorial bases concentrated in the rural south-central regions. The African Union reported Al-Shabaab was about 2,000 fighters strong during 2008.
In September 2008, al-Shabaab announced its establishment of a government administration in Kismayo, and planned to declare the Islamic Emirate of Somalia. The group claimed that administrative positions would be divided between al-Shabaab, surviving ICU members, and clan leaders. However, various clan elders and ICU commanders complained that they were left out of the negotiations. In January 2009, the ARS joined the TFG, with Sharif Sheikh Ahmed emerging as the new president of the TFG. Al-Shabaab began to attack the ARS for joining the TFG. The Somali government had lost almost all of the territory recovered by the TFG in 2007.
After the death of Aden Hashi Ayro in an American airstrike during May 2008, Ahmed Godane ascended to leadership. Godane pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and took a Pan-Islamist approach, unlike the nationalists in al-Shabaab. After the Ethiopian withdrawal in January 2009, the public support that al-Shabaab had previously enjoyed as a resistance faction had significantly diminished. After al-Shabaab allied with Al-Qaeda, Anwar al-Awlaki encouraged jihadists to migrate to Somalia in support of al-Shabaab. Osama bin Laden also released a statement in support of al-Shabaab in Somalia. Al-Shabaab significantly grew in power and size.
By 2009–10, al-Shabaab controlled most of central and southern Somalia south of Puntland, and it had formed administrative structures to govern territories under its control.
During the Battle of Mogadishu, al-Shabaab suffered heavy losses. By August 2011, al-Shabaab withdrew from Mogadishu, although it continues to influence the city and launch attacks from nearby cities. In December 2011, al-Shabaab established a Shura for the Islamic Emirate of Somalia. In October and November 2011, local groups with the support of Kenya and Ethiopia launched offensives against al-Shabaab, with Kenya approaching from the south and Ethiopia approaching from the west. Al-Shabaab lost territory to both armies, notably losing Baidoa to Ethiopia in February 2012 and losing Kismayo to Kenya in October 2012.
Under Godane, the authoritarian style of al-Shabaab governance, and use of violence, caused the group to lose support. In 2013, the internal disagreements led to internecine violence as Godane purged his critics. The Pan-Islamist, pro-Al-Qaeda faction of Godane clashed with more nationalist factions.
Al-Shabaab took significant damage in 2013. Following its territorial losses, al-Shabaab reverted to asymmetric warfare and guerrilla attacks. While the group no longer had governmental and military authority over substantial territory, it retained a sporadic presence, and therefore significant influence, in many places.
However, in 2016, al-Shabaab remained weakened by the military campaign against it. An American drone strike killed Godane on September 1, 2014, and he was succeeded by Ahmad Diriye. The group reverted to its Somali nationalism. Al-Shabaab won more military operations against the government. It had also expanded its operations in Puntland. The Islamic State – Somalia Province challenged al-Shabaab and its Islamic Emirate of Somalia. On 20 July 2022, al-Shabaab launched a failed invasion into Ethiopia with the motives of annexing the Somali Region.

## Governance

In the Islamic Emirate of Somalia, al-Shabaab implemented strict Sharia. The Islamic Emirate of Somalia had dispute resolution through Sharia-based courts, which were sometimes seen as better than those in government-held territories Some Somalis travelled to the Islamic Emirate just for its dispute resolution system. Al-Shabaab claimed some credit for Somalia's crop yield in early 2010, stating that Somali grain production had flourished due to al-Shabaab's reduction of food imports, and that the policy had redistributed income to poor, rural Somali farmers. Its media also included Shahada News Agency and Radio al-Andalus. The group also committed human rights abuses in its territories, including through a brutal interpretation and application of Islamic jurisprudence on hudud.