Arap
  
|
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Languages | |
| Somali | |
| Religion | |
| Islam (Sunni ) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Dir, Darod, Hawiye, Rahanweyn, and other Somali people |
The Isaaq (also Isaq, Ishaak) (Somali: Reer Sheik Isaxaaq, Arabic: إسحاق) are one of the main clans of the Somali people. Members principally live in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia, the Somali Region of Ethiopia and Djibouti.
The populations of five major cities in the Somalia region – Hargeisa, Burao, Berbera, Erigavo and Gabiley – are predominantly Isaaq. As of the late 1980s[update], the Sacad Muuse, Habar Awal and Jibriil Abokor sub-clans of the Isaaq were also the main inhabitants of Gabiley.
According to early Islamic books and Somali tradition, the Isaaq clan was founded in the 12th or 13th century with the arrival of Shaykh Ishaq ibn Ahmad al-Hashimi from Arabia, a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib . He settled in the coastal town of Maydh in modern-day northernwestern Somalia, where he married into the local original or the owners magaadle clan.
A similar tradition exists for the Darod, who are said to have descended from one Sheikh Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, another Banu Hashim who came to Somalia around the same time.
...
Wikipedia