Abadir Umar ar-Rida


Sheikh Abaadir Umar Al-rida Fiqi Umar, was Emir of Harar and patron saint in modern-day eastern Ethiopia. He is the immediate Ancestor of the Somali sheekhaal clan. He is a well documented saint of Islam, he spread Islam throughout Ethiopia and Somalia after his migration from southern Arabian Hijaz Province

History

Ar-Rida is the main figure in the Fath Madinat Harar, an unpublished history of Harar in the 13th century. According to the account, he along with several other religious leaders traveled from the Hijaz region of present-day Saudi Arabia to Harar in 612H. Other sources however claim he arrived in 999 AD and became Emir of Harar. Ar-Rida subsequently married a Harari woman, and constructed the city's Jamia mosque.

Descendants

The Somali sheekhaal clan trace descent to Sheikh Abadir ar-Rida, also known as Fiqi Umar. Ar-Rida in turn traced his lineage to the first caliph, Abu Bakr. According to the explorer Richard F. Burton, Fiqi Umar crossed over from the Arabian Peninsula to the Horn of Africa ten generations prior to 1854.