Sheikh Madar

Madar Ahmed Shirwac better known as Sheikh Madar (1825 - 1918) was a 19th century Somali Sufi leader instrumental in the expansion of Hargeisa. He hailed from the Yunis Nuh division of the wider Saad Musa Habr Awal Isaaq clan. His tomb is now a venerated Sufi shrine in the city.
Born into a wealthy mercantile family in Berbera, Madar was sponsored by his father to study religion for 20 years in Harar. Harar was the centre of Islamic learning in the Horn of Africa, and a very familiar city for his Habr Awal clan which controlled the lucrative caravan trade stretching to Berbera with strong ties with the Emirate of Harar. Upon the completion of his studies Madar's master Sheikh Kabir Khalil tasked him with healing divisions that threatened trade in the region and calling on people to heed Islam, with Madar leaving Harar to return to Somali territory.
Hargeisa was founded by Garhajis merchants as a junction between Berbera and the interior that functioned as a watering place and rest stop for caravans. In the mid 19th century Hargeisa and the surrounding region was a hotbed of clan strife with raids being made on caravans attempting to pass through. Madar alongside other Sufi sheikhs established the Jama'a Weyn or the big congregation in Hargeisa. The new congregation adhered to the 900 year old Qadiriyya order established by renowned Shaykh Abdul Qadir Gilani and introduced new practices that would put Hargeisa on the trajectory to becoming the largest Somali city in Somaliland and the second largest somali inhabited city to date. Hargeisa and it's environs had suitable soil and ample water supply for agriculture yet the pastoralists had not been taking advantage of this fact. Madar alongside the other leaders of Jam'a Weyn introduced cultivation the of sorghum and the new construction of permanent housing and creating his grand mosque in 1883.The Sheikh was also responsible for leading the communal prayers supplicating to Allah for rain in a ritual known as roobdoon. The Saad Musa branch of the Habr Awal began to settle in Hargeisa under the watch of Madar and the Isaaq Sultan Deria Hassan and eagerly took up the new farming methods. 
As a result, the establishment of Hargeisa is credited to Sheikh Madar who relocated from Berbera in 1899 . The Jama'a formed a nuclei that attracted other pastoralists to come and settle in the burgeoning town. As well, clan conflicts were mitigated as the new community had managed to unify on a shared religious identity rather than aligning strictly on traditional clan basis. With the Sheikh succeeding in the task delegated to him by his master Sheikh Kabir. Religious leaders in the Jama'a took it upon themselves to place the disabled in the region under their care. 
As a respected elder and influential peace maker Sheikh Madar held considerable sway over the Habr Awal clan and this leverage was recognized by the British Parliament in the face of the Dervish movement (Somali) which had severely disrupted the trade of British Somaliland. The protectorate was required to raise it's own revenues to cover expenses and trade being halted or crippled was a massive blow to stability in the region.
In the 1901 Parliamentary Sessional Report Madar's influence is discussed 
Sheikh Matter the head of the religious community here is entirely on the side of law and order and exerts considerable influence over the Habr Awal tribes in this direction, one and all of whom are opposed to the Dervish movement (Somali) faction
Reports are now current that the Mohammed Abdullah Hassan will move towards Oodweyne. At Hargaisa Sheikh Mattar is collecting the Garhajis and Habr Awal tribes to oppose his advances in that direction. Sheikh can command a sufficient following to safeguard Hargaisa, and I should say that the Mullah will not attempt to penetrate so far west.
As well, the quickly expanding Ethiopian Empire had taken large swathes of new territory around the turn of the century and tribes just outside the protectorate were cowed to pay tribute to General Makonnen Wolde Mikael. His forces threatened Hargeisa itself and coerced tribes to leave British protection. Sheikh Madar alongside other traditional leaders organized the scouting alongside protectorate authorities to gain advanced warning of potentially devastating attack. Fortunately Makonnen was checked and the raid did not materialize.
Following Madar's death in 1918 his son Yusuf followed in his footsteps and became a respected Sheikh in his own right. Yusuf's son Ibrahim Yusuf Madar also a Sheikh would go on to be the lead mediator in the grass roots reconciliation process of the northern clans following the Somali Civil War at the Borama Conference. Ibrahim ensured adequate clan representation to truly create a lasting peace in Somaliland.
Hargeisa has grown to become a vibrant cultural hub and is the current capital of Somaliland
The eponymously named neighborhood of Sheikh Madar today in Hargeisa is one of the oldest in the city and the site of the original jama'a falls in the area
Category:1825 births
Category:1918 deaths
Category:Somalian religious leaders