The brutal and merciless killing of Dr. Ahmed Haji Abdirahman, one of Somalia’s most respected and famous scholars, last week in Puntland’s port city of Bossaso by unidentified gunmen has prompted a few outspoken scholars to denounce and link his killings with Somalia’s al-Shabaab militants. This assassination follows a series of killings and assassination attempts against high profile Somali politicians, intellectuals and religious leaders in recent years.

Sheikh Abdulkadir Nur Farah condemned the latest incident and accused al-Shabaab of issuing secret religious decree, or fatwa, ordering its fighters and assassins to hunt down Somali scholars and important figures in the society. “It’s clear that what happened in Bosaso a few days ago was an act of terrorism, and it’s also clear that the intention of al-Shabaab is to wipe out intellectuals from the country,” he said.

He urged Somali people and administrations throughout the country, as well as Puntland in particular, to tackle and combat those elements that are specifically targeting Somali scholars. He also called upon ordinary people to co-operate with security forces and government officials in cracking down al-Shabaab members in the region.

Sheikh Abdulkadir said Puntland is a victim of al-Shabaab’s flawed policies and will continue to suffer unless the Puntland government and its people restricted the group’s activities in the region.

“Al-Shabaab’s main intention and agenda is to destabilize the entire country, they are not happy to see a stable land or region,” he said in a recent sermon to hundreds of people in Garowe’s largest mosque, Al-Huda. He said it’s not a matter of doubt but a religious obligation to fight against these groups and individuals which are working to terrorize the public and slowly but surely wiping out the society’s visionaries, by which he means scholars.

Sheikh Abdulkadir is the only known high profile person to directly link the killing of Dr. Ahmed Haji Abdirahman to the al-Shabaab militants.

Sheikh Muhamad Abdi Umal, a Nairobi-based scholar, has also accused al-Shabaab of calling its fighters to mercilessly hunt down Somali scholars, following a week long meeting by the group’s leadership and a few supporting Sheikhs in Baidao.

Sheikh Umal said this while addressing a congregation of hundreds of Somalis in Nairobi’s eastern neighborhood of Eastleigh, where he strongly denounced those scholars who support al-Shabaab, saying that the Sheikhs that issue religious decrees allowing the ill-fated and less-educated fighters to murder innocent civilians and religious leaders will be held responsible.

A few elderly scholars attending the Baidao Conference had accused him of supporting Kenya’s intervention into Somalia along with other enemies of Somali people, an accusation he strongly denied.

The denunciations of the clerics comes after the murder and brutal killings of Somali intellectuals has become a daily practice.

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