Somalia’s Religious Affairs Ministry issued a statement prohibiting the use of the name Al-Shabaab that means ‘the youth’ in Arabic. Instead, the Religious Affairs Ministry it asked Somalia citizens to refer to the callous militant group as ‘Khawarij’, a derogatory term meaning a deviant sect.
The Somali government through the order of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has announced a “total war” against the group banned the use of the name “Al-Shabaab,” referring to the Al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group that the majority-Muslim nation said is a deviant sect.
In a statement, Somalia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs also barred scholars and clerics from having dealings with the armed terrorist group, which it said should rather be referred to as “Khawarij,”. By executing the orders of the nation’s leaders and recommendations from the religious scholars, the Ministry has banned the use of term Al-Shabaab and only should be called them as Khawarij,” said the statement, forbidding the group’s ideology, as well.
It is not the first time the Somalia government has coined another name for Al-Shabaab. In 2015 the government told the media to refer to the militant group as ‘Ugus’, a Somali acronym for “the group that massacres the Somali people”.
In response, the Al-Shabaab had threatened to punish anyone, including journalists, who obeyed government directives or used the term.
Last month, the Federal Government had banned local media outlets from reporting on Al-Shabaab activities and even shutting down the group’s affiliated media and online channels and websites.
The Somalia government directive to brand Al-Shabaab as “Khawarij”as part of the war against the group in the backdrop of group’s increased operations that in the recent past weeks have claimed scores of innocent Somalis, including women and children. Al-Shabaab ideology
Al-Shabaab ideology and its leaders have expressed both local and transnational goals. While the group seeks to unite ethnic Somali areas of East Africa under an Islamic government, Al-Shabaab has also expressed support for transnational jihadist aims. The recent killings through suicide operations cannot justify the group’s heinous acts against the innocent and truly describes the group as “Khawarij,” a deviant sect.
