Waaq (also Waq or Waaqa) is the name for the sky God in several Cushitic languages, including the Oromo and Somali languages.[1][2][3][4]
Waaqa (Oromo pronunciation: [waːkʼa]) still means 'God' in the present Oromo language.[5] Other Cushitic languages where the word is still found include Konso Waaqa; Rendille Wax; Bayso Wah or Waa; Daasanach Waag; Hadiyya Waaʔa; Burji Waacʼi.[6][7]
In the present-day Somali language, the primary name of God is now the Arabic-derived Allaah.[8] The term Waaq survives in proper names and placenames. The Somali clan Jidwaaq (meaning ‘Path of God’) have derived their name from Waaq.[9] Names of towns and villages in Somalia that involve the word Waaq include Ceelwaaq, Caabudwaaq and Barwaaqo.[10][11]
Waaq is also a word in Arabic for protector ( واق ) and occurs in the Quran.[12][13] Some traditions indicate Waaq to be associated with the Harari region.[14] The Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi mentions in his Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya that Waaq used to be a generic name for God, in comparison to the Turkic people’s tenets of Tengri.[15]
In Oromo and Somali culture, Waaq, Waaqa or Waaqo was the name of God in their pre-Christian and pre-Muslim monotheistic faith believed to have been adhered to by Cushitic groups.[16] It was likely brought to the Horn by speakers of the Proto-Cushitic language who arrived from North Sudan in the Neolithic era.[2] In more recent times, the religion has mostly declined since the arrival of Islam and Christianity to the Horn of Africa.[17]
- ^ Thomas, Douglas; Alanamu, Temilola (2018-12-31). African Religions: Beliefs and Practices through History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-61069-752-1.
- ^ a b Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, Culture and Customs of Somalia, (Greenwood Publishing Group: 2001), p.65.
- ^ Samatar, Said S. "Unhappy masses and the challenge of political Islam in the Horn of Africa". Horn of Africa. 20: 1–10.
- ^ Ali, Aweis (2021). Understanding the Somali Church. Kenya Projects Organization [KENPRO]. ISBN 978-9914-9929-2-2.
- ^ Adam, Hussein Mohamed; Ford, Richard (1997). Mending Rips in the Sky: Options for Somali Communities in the 21st Century. Red Sea Press. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-56902-073-9.
- ^ Sasse, Hans-Jürgen (1982). "Consonant Phonemes of Proto-East Cushitic". Afro-Asiatic Linguistics. 7 (1): 42.
- ^ Sasse, Hans-Jürgen. An Etymological Dictionary of Burji. Hamburg: Helmut Buske. p. 186.
- ^ Lewis, I. M. (1998). Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society. The Red Sea Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-56902-103-3.
- ^ Lewis, I. M. (1998). Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society. The Red Sea Press. p. 137. ISBN 978-1-56902-103-3.
- ^ Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, Culture and Customs of Somalia, (Greenwood Publishing Group: 2001), p.65.
- ^ Lewis, I. M. (1956). "Sufism in Someliland: A Study in Tribal Islam–II". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 18 (1): 145–160. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00122256. ISSN 1474-0699.
- ^ Samatar, S S. (2002). "Unhappy masses and the challenge of political Islam in the Horn of Africa". catalogue.leidenuniv.nl. pp. 1–10.
- ^ SearchTruth. "Search Quran - waq in Quran القران الكريم in English translation by Mohsin Khan". SearchTruth.com.
Chapter: Ar-Ra'd. Verses: 13:34 and 13:37.
- ^ Mohamed-Abdi, Mohamed (1992). Histoire des croyances en Somalie : Religions traditionnelles et religions du Livre. Annales Littéraires de l'Université de Besançon. Vol. 465. doi:10.3406/ista.1992.2545. ISBN 978-2-251-60465-7.
- ^ Ibn Arabi (1240). كِتَابُ الفُتُوحَاتِ المَكِّيَّة [The Meccan Revelations] (in Arabic). p. 1123.
- ^ Lewis, I. M. (2017-02-03). Islam in Tropical Africa. Routledge. p. 274. ISBN 978-1-315-31139-5.
- ^ Mire, Sada (2020-02-05). Divine Fertility: The Continuity in Transformation of an Ideology of Sacred Kinship in Northeast Africa. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-76924-5.