ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that to understand the significance of the political Islamic movements in Somalia, particularly the ones that became influential in the time after the State collapse in 1991, one has to consider one crucial point of the political offer they make: to establish an order beyond clan(ism). To support this argument, it is outlined how clannism emerged as destructive political force that eventually, under the warlords in the 1990s, produced heightened insecurity for most Somalis. Second, the chapter shows how Islamists, who generally are quite diverse but united in their focus on reforming Somali society and overcoming clannism, managed to offer a new form of order and solidarity based on their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. After setbacks in the early and mid-1990s, the Islamists learned some lessons. Al Shabaab, from 2007 onwards, emerged as important political power that, despite massive counter-terrorism, still manages to control large parts of the Somali hinterland (as of 2021). This is partly due to its success regarding the delivery of justice and security – two areas of governance in which the Somali government in Mogadishu, which is still clan-based, largely fails.
