I’m turning 30 soon, and honestly, the thought of not being married by 30 has been weighing on me more than I’d like to admit. As a Somali woman, sometimes it feels like there’s so much pressure around marriage and age, and I can’t help but wonder when it’ll happen for me. I know everything happens in Allah’s timing, and He is the best of planners, but some days it’s hard not to overthink. For Somali women who got married after 30, or are still waiting, how do you deal with these feelings and the pressure? For those who got married after 30, did you end up finding your person, and how was your experience?

I’ve been feeling really self-conscious and emotionally drained at my job lately. This was my first corporate job, and I started from a pretty low position before working my way up and getting promoted several times. I’ve worked extremely hard to get where I am, but sometimes I feel like my contributions are overlooked. For context, I’m the only Muslim woman on my team, and all my coworkers are cadans who grew up relatively well-off. I genuinely cannot relate to most of their experiences. I didn’t attend private school, I don’t drink, I still live at home with my family, and I come from a completely different background. I grew up around cadans my entire life, but wallahi, there are levels to it, especially in corporate America.

What makes it worse is that my coworkers have made uncomfortable comments and jokes about my race and religion. Sometimes they’ll randomly bring up how they voted blue and look directly at me, almost like they expect me to applaud them. Other times, they’ll make strange comments about race and religion while looking at me, almost like they’re trying to prove they’re not racist or Islamophobic. It’s just fucking weird. My boss is also a POC, but he grew up in predominantly white spaces, and I genuinely feel like he treats me differently. During our rare one-on-ones, he’ll be distracted by his phone or make me feel incompetent. A couple of weeks ago, he yelled at me over the phone about something completely outside of my control. Our office is small, with about four or five people sharing the same space, and he was so loud that everyone around me could hear him. I ended up crying because I felt so humiliated. I’ve never witnessed him speak to the other women in the office that way.

I feel like I’ve been dealing with this sense of not belonging my entire life. I’ve been applying to so many other jobs because I genuinely want to leave, but despite having years of experience and working my way up, I keep getting rejected. Sometimes I wonder if my name, background, or hijab plays a role in how employers perceive me. I love my deen, and I’m proud to be Muslim, but wallahi, I’m starting to hate wearing the hijab, and it genuinely hurts me to even admit that. Not because I hate my religion, but because I’m so exhausted by how differently people treat me because of it. Sometimes I wonder what my life would look like if I weren’t visibly Muslim. Would people take me more seriously? Would I have more opportunities? Would I finally feel like I belong somewhere? I hate that these thoughts even cross my mind. When will things ever get better for us? Are we just expected to spend our entire lives proving ourselves in spaces where we don’t feel welcome? I don’t want to compromise my faith or identity just to be respected. I just want to work, build a career, and be treated like everyone else without my race or religion constantly being a factor.

I guess I’m wondering if any other Somali women, especially hijabis, have experienced this. How do you navigate these environments without letting them affect your confidence or relationship with your deen? Because wallahi, I’m exhausted.

Theyve come out in droves saying stuff like "somalinimo is a disease". Its so obvious. Good to know I wasn't imagining things. I wonder what their end goal is besides the obvious sowing of chaos and division?

"Coordinated airstrikes on territory held by al-Shabaab are driving the civilian population to find refuge alongside a river where rising water levels are a threat to safety. Is it a deliberate military strategy?"

This comes after nearly a year's long online and media effort to push anti-Somali sentiment, culminating in a catastrophic disaster in Southern Somalia along the Juba River, with many regions becoming uninhabitable due to escalated US drone attacks.

Cities that have bigger population than Somalia!!!

The current population of Somalia is estimated to be 20.5 Million, and here are metropolitan areas that bigger population than the entire country.

1: Jakarta, Indonesia: 41 Million

2: Dhaka, Bangladesh: 36 Million

3: Tokyo, Japan: 33 Million

4: Delhi, India: 30 Million

5: Shanghai, China: 29 Million Million

6: Guangzhou, China: 27 Million

7: Cairo, Egypt: 25 Million

8: Manila, Philippines: 24 Million

9: Kolkata, India: 22 Million

10: Seoul, South Korea: 22 Million

11: Karachi, Pakistan: 21 Million

I wrote this while crying, because I am so heartbroken and angry at the foolishness and self-destruction of our people. None of these cities are war-torn, and they have more population than our entire country from Kismayo to Zeila. Why can’t we sit down and have political compromise that works for everyone. Why can’t we lay down the weapons, the militias, and agree on the settled political order (Carta:Federalism) at least temporarily for 10 years or two presidential terms. I swear even if we agree upon a 10 year old as our leader, we will make more progress in these peaceful 10 years than the last 35 years since, the fall of government in 1991.

Source: Wikipedia: List of the largest cities

I've seen several videos of Oromo migrant workers in parts of Somalia, especially Somaliland and Puntland, being harassed. It's wrong. Xenophobia is xenophobia, whatever is happening in Moyale. Nobody deserves hostility because of their ethnicity.

The Oromo are our neighbors. Many are Muslims, we are both Cushitic peoples, and we share a lot. We even intermarry, and I know Somali and Oromo mixed families.

Somalis travel and settle everywhere, and we talk about our own people facing xenophobia and afrophobia in South Africa and hostility in the West. What we ask for ourselves, we should give to others who want to live with us in peace. From what I've seen, many Oromo migrant workers work hard, often in difficult and low paid jobs.

So let's control our emotions. How migration is managed is a fair policy discussion, and we can have it. But you can't attack someone because of their ethnicity, and there is no excuse for treating people with hostility over who they are.

Ok that a serious plot twist if it’s true

For example you’re born in England and a good footballer but Somalia doesn’t have the same facilities and opportunities would you still pick them.

So I'm planning on a painting of the negative stereotype of how people think of us which is the American propaganda to portray us in a barbaric way to dehumanize us as pirates or gun craze. For example I have learned that these so called "pirates" are just costal fishers and guards who have taken matters in their own hands to prevent outsiders and foreign ships in stealing and dumping waste since government couldn't be bothers to stop or prevent due to failure and corruption. Again, I'm here to learn and understand yall points. There is so much you can learn from the internet but I want to hear it from yall directly. The painting is similar to the French painting "the son of man" by Rene Magritte but I want to twist it to the false narrative of Somali people.

Salaan everyone,

I'm a Somali dev based in St. Louis and I've been working on an app called Fahan for our community.

The video is the voice mode (Cod). You talk to it in Somali and it answers you back out loud in Somali. In the demo I asked it for help with stuff like writing to a teacher and dealing with a landlord, the kind of everyday things a lot of our parents have a hard time with in English.

The whole app is in Somali, not just the answers. There's also a translation mode (Turjun) for Somali to English and back.

Right now it only works with standard Af-Maxaa tiri. Other lahjado aren't supported yet.

The reason I built it is that ChatGPT and Google Translate aren't really made for Somali. The translations are off a lot of the time and the pronunciation sounds wrong. And everything is built around English and typing, so most of our elders can't really use them. I wanted something that gets Somali right and that they can just talk to.

Would really appreciate honest feedback, especially from people who speak Somali well:

Does the Somali sound natural or does it sound translated?
Which lahjad should I add next?
What would you or your parents actually use something like this for?

Don't hold back, I'd rather hear it now.

It's only on iPhone for now: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fahan-somali-voice-translator/id6761134767

If you're on Android and want it, let me know.

Mahadsanid

First Photo translated: "The Tunni (Somalis) of the coast exercise various trades: many are weavers of dazzling-colored alindi that they use to cover themselves, highly sought-after fabrics that are also exported to Zanzibar in large quantities, others are goldsmiths, blacksmiths, masons, weapons, etc."

Second Photo: Oil painting of a Somali woman by Milo Corso Malverna (1930). The woman is wearing a white Sadex Qayd, Alindi patterned Gabsaar (scarf) and traditional Somali Jewelry.

Third Photo: Oil painting of Somali women in concert, titled
'Concerto di Madame' by Milo Corso Malverna, Mogadishu, Somalia (1930).

Photos 4-6: While in Barawa in 1976, Neville Chittick took these pictures of a Somali man weaving the alindi cloth. (Credit to @hornaristocrat on Twitter)

The rest of the pics are historical photos of Somalis wearing alindi :)

It’s interesting how Muslims get criticized for polygamy, yet here’s a Christian pastor openly practicing it. I wonder if he’ll face the same backlash.

How do ya feel?

asc everyone, I’m going to be attending a Buraanbur/ Somali ciyaar next week and the dress code says baati or diraac. I would wear a diraac but I’d feel like it would be too over dressed and most of the women would wear baatis but I was thinking of getting the hido iyo dhaqaan patterns on those traditional skirts. What does everyone think? What should I wear?

Whenever I see someone undermining the hijab by arguing that our grandmothers didn’t wear it or pulling out a picture of a half naked marxuum in a guntiino, I wonder if the goal is to bring our culture closer to western/ secular culture or if it’s an innate human trait to validate wrongdoing in the present by appealing to the practices of the past.

If it’s the first then do they not recognize that these women were also a product of their environment whether it’s the politics of the time, the culture or even access to religious knowledge. What is the true real untouched Somali culture?

And if indeed our culture is to not cover what Allah commands us to cover, should we choose to follow the practices of the previous creation over the ones commanded by the creator?

There are too many verses on the shallowness of the forefathers argument but this verse in Al- Baqrah captures i
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ ٱتَّبِعُوا۟ مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ قَالُوا۟ بَلْ نَتَّبِعُ مَآ أَلْفَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ ءَابَآءَنَآ ۗ أَوَلَوْ كَانَ ءَابَآؤُهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ شَيْـًٔا وَلَا يَهْتَدُونَ ١٧٠

When it is said to them, “Follow what Allah has revealed,” they reply, “No! We ˹only˺ follow what we found our forefathers practicing.” ˹Would they still do so,˺ even if their forefathers had ˹absolutely˺ no understanding or guidance?

*If you don’t believe in Islam this obviously does not apply to you.

for me it's probably canjeero with suqaar in the morning. what's yours, and does anyone actually get it right outside the house lol

I was looking at old pictures of Somalia and found myself grieving so much. The architecture, the beauty, the happy faces and glimpses of a country that we lost. It sounds weird but it almost gave me a sense of painful nostalgia for something I never got to experience.

The cities that could have flourished. The different futures that could have unfolded. The generations that could have inherited something different....SubhanAllah, how did we get here? How much have we lost?

Its so heartbreaking when you deep it. An entire generation have become defined by our suffering and instability. And the humiliation of knowing that our people deserve so much more than the circumstances we have been made to endure...

Hasbunallahu wa nicmal wakeel. It is a particular kind of grief to mourn not only what has been lost, but what might have been.

May Allah Azzawajal restore what has been lost and give us better, heal what has been broken, protect our people, and grant Somalia a future that honours the beauty of its past.

Aamiin.

What’s with the influx of Reer Xamar/Reer Barawe on social media who obsessively lying and trying to Swahilitize the Banadir region, its heritage, culture and people.

"Mogadishu (HOL) — Former Somali intelligence chief Abdullahi Mohamed Ali Sanbaloolshe claimed he met the leaders of Puntland, Jubaland and Somaliland in the United Arab Emirates to discuss forming a political alliance aimed at removing President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud from power."

A big UAE plot is forming against Mogadishu, while leaders of Jubaland, Puntland, and Somaliland haven't confirmed the existence of such meeting, if true it represents a pretty big paradigm shift against HSM before up coming elections, and amidst an ongoing constitutional crisis.

After the Libyan gov’t responded and defended themselves against Trumps disgusting rhetoric, he immediately folded and changed his tune.

This just shows how weak and pathetic Somali “leadership” is. Not once in 2+ years has HSM or his illiterate incompetent excuse of a parliament responded to Trump administration’s constant attacks on Somalis. These attacks have put Somalis in a negative spotlight across the country and we now face potential dangers that shouldn’t exist.

Somalis are regularly being harassed now because of Trumps rhetoric. There are also potential physical threats, as well as subtle discrimination that limit employment and business opportunities.

What a disgrace. It’s depressing to see good innocent people dehumanized to this extent with no end in sight.

This chart is painful to look at. Somalia has one of the lowest rates of girls enrolled in secondary school anywhere in the world. More educated women means stronger families, stronger communities, a stronger economy, and better institutions. Seeing women only as future wives and mothers is holding the country back.

Today I was on a bus in London with my mum when a clearly intoxicated man got on and started blasting Somali music, putting his feet on the chair and started eating salad with his hands😭.

Another passenger asked him to turn the music down, and he immediately turned threatening and aggressive. He shouted threats in broken English, claiming he was from Mogadishu, Somalia but I’m fairly sure he was lying. I tried speaking to him in Somali to calm things down, yet he didn’t understand a word and just kept repeating “I will k*** you, you don’t know me i’m from Mogadishu, Somalia” in broken English and started talking about arsenal and that he’s apart of them. He was in his mid 40s & he barely spoke English nor did he speak a word of Somali, so i’m 100% sure he was not Somali.

This man was clearly East African i’m thinking Eritrean/Ethiopian and he was claiming to be Somali for what reason? I’m so confused, was he trying to make us look bad or was he trying to seem more intimidating by claiming us? My mum also said that he could’ve claimed he was Somali to get refugee status here so idk.

What do you guys think? Does this happen often?