Archaic name for God in Cushitic languages such as Oromo and Somali
For the former WAAQ-FM radio station in Big Rapids, Michigan, see
WYBR . For the former WAAQ-FM radio station in Onsted, Michigan, see
WAQQ .
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]
See also
References
^ 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 .
Further reading
Cerulli, Enrico (1948). "Les noms personnels en somali". Onomastica. Revue Internationale de Toponymie et d'Anthroponymie . 2 (2): 139–142. doi :10.3406/rio.1948.1044 .
Etefa, Tsega (2012). "The Indigenous and the Foreign". Integration and Peace in East Africa . pp. 127–167. doi :10.1057/9781137091635_6 . ISBN 978-1-349-29788-7 .
Gascon, Alain; Hirsch, Bertrand (1992). "Les espaces sacrés comme lieux de confluence religieuse en Éthiopie" (PDF) . Cahiers d'études africaines . 32 (128): 689–704. doi :10.3406/cea.1992.1533 .
Geda, Gemechu Jemal (2013). "Irreecha: An Indigenous Thanksgiving Ceremony of the Oromo to the High God Waaqa" . In Cox, James L. (ed.). Critical Reflections on Indigenous Religions . Routledge. pp. 143–158. doi :10.4324/9781315575094 . ISBN 978-1-315-57509-4 .
Abbas Haji (1997). "Pouvoir de bénir et de maudire : cosmologie et organisation sociale des Oromo-Arsi". Cahiers d'études africaines . 37 (146): 289–318. doi :10.3406/cea.1997.3515 .
Kelbessa, Workineh (2013). "The Oromo Conception of Life: An Introduction". Worldviews . 17 (1): 60–76. doi :10.1163/15685357-01701006 . JSTOR 43809476 .
Mire, Sada (2015). "Wagar, Fertility and Phallic Stelae: Cushitic Sky-God Belief and the Site of Saint Aw-Barkhadle, Somaliland" . The African Archaeological Review . 32 (1): 93–109. doi :10.1007/s10437-015-9181-z . JSTOR 43916848 . S2CID 162114929 .
Mohamed-Abdi, Mohamed (1993). "Les anthroponymes Somalis" . Collection de l'Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l'Antiquité . 495 (1): 177–184.
Mohamed-Abdi, Mohamed (1993). "Villages-maisons-parcours ou la structuration Somalie de l'espace" . Collection de l'Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l'Antiquité . 495 (1): 137–156.
Prunier, Gérard (1997). "Segmentarité et violence dans l'espace somali, 1840-1992" (PDF) . Cahiers d'études africaines . 37 (146): 379–401. doi :10.3406/cea.1997.3519 .