Waaq

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{{short description|Archaic name for God in Cushitic languages such as Oromo and Somali}}

{{About||the former WAAQ-FM radio station in Big Rapids, Michigan|WYBR|the former WAAQ-FM radio station in Onsted, Michigan|WAQQ}}

Waaq (also Waq or Waaqa) is the name for the sky God in several Cushitic languages, including the Oromo and Somali languages.{{Cite book|last1=Thomas|first1=Douglas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2N5DwAAQBAJ&dq=waaq&pg=PA248|title=African Religions: Beliefs and Practices through History|last2=Alanamu|first2=Temilola|date=2018-12-31|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-752-1|language=en}}Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, Culture and Customs of Somalia, (Greenwood Publishing Group: 2001), p.65.{{Cite journal|last=Samatar|first=Said S.|title=Unhappy masses and the challenge of political Islam in the Horn of Africa|journal=Horn of Africa|volume=20|pages=1–10}}{{Cite book |last=Ali |first=Aweis |url=http://repository.anu.ac.ke/handle/123456789/683 |title=Understanding the Somali Church |date=2021 |publisher=Kenya Projects Organization [KENPRO] |isbn=978-9914-9929-2-2 |language=en}}

History

Waaqa ({{IPA|orm|waːkʼa}}) still means 'God' in the present Oromo language.{{Cite book |last1=Adam |first1=Hussein Mohamed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0m9yAAAAMAAJ |title=Mending Rips in the Sky: Options for Somali Communities in the 21st Century |last2=Ford |first2=Richard |date=1997 |publisher=Red Sea Press |isbn=978-1-56902-073-9 |pages=126 |language=en}} Other Cushitic languages where the word is still found include Konso Waaqa; Rendille Wax; Bayso Wah or Waa; Daasanach Waag; Hadiyya Waaʔa; Burji Waacʼi.{{cite journal|first=Hans-Jürgen|last=Sasse|title=Consonant Phonemes of Proto-East Cushitic|journal=Afro-Asiatic Linguistics|volume=7|issue=1|year=1982|page=42}}{{cite book|first=Hans-Jürgen|last=Sasse|title=An Etymological Dictionary of Burji|publisher=Helmut Buske|location=Hamburg|page=186}}

Waaq is also a word in Arabic for protector ( واق ) and occurs in the Quran.{{Cite web |last=Samatar |first=S S. |date=2002 |title=Unhappy masses and the challenge of political Islam in the Horn of Africa |url=https://catalogue.leidenuniv.nl/discovery/fulldisplay?vid=31UKB_LEU:UBL_V1&tab=LeidenCollection&docid=alma9939087315802711&searchScope=lib_asc&context=L&lang=en |website=catalogue.leidenuniv.nl |pages=1–10 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=SearchTruth |title=Search Quran - waq in Quran القران الكريم in English translation by Mohsin Khan |url=http://www.searchtruth.com/search.php?keyword=waq&translator=5 |access-date= |website=SearchTruth.com |language=en |quote=Chapter: Ar-Ra'd. Verses: 13:34 and 13:37.}} Some traditions indicate Waaq to be associated with the Harari region.{{cite book |doi=10.3406/ista.1992.2545 |title=Histoire des croyances en Somalie : Religions traditionnelles et religions du Livre |series=Annales Littéraires de l'Université de Besançon |year=1992 |volume=465 |isbn=978-2-251-60465-7 |first1=Mohamed |last1=Mohamed-Abdi }} 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.{{Cite book |last=Ibn Arabi |title=كِتَابُ الفُتُوحَاتِ المَكِّيَّة |year=1240 |pages=1123 |language=ar |trans-title=The Meccan Revelations}}

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.{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=I. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cEIiEAAAQBAJ&q=Waaq |title=Islam in Tropical Africa |date=2017-02-03 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-31139-5 |pages=274 |language=en}} It was likely brought to the Horn by speakers of the Proto-Cushitic language who arrived from North Sudan in the Neolithic era. In more recent times, the usage of the term has mostly declined since the arrival of Islam and Christianity to the Horn of Africa.{{Cite book |last=Mire |first=Sada |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6nODwAAQBAJ&dq=Waaq+Islam+cushitic&pg=PA139 |title=Divine Fertility: The Continuity in Transformation of an Ideology of Sacred Kinship in Northeast Africa |date=2020-02-05 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-76924-5 |language=en}}

Modern

In the present-day Somali language, the primary name of God is a somali word 'Eebe' or Rabbi. The Arabic-derived Allaah{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=I. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P5AZyEhMtbkC&q=Eebbe+Waaq+venerated+ |title=Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society |date=1998 |publisher=The Red Sea Press |isbn=978-1-56902-103-3 |pages=136 |language=en}} used by muslims is now a synonym for God. Present Somalis know very little of Waaq and the term Waaq survives in proper names and placenames. The Somali clan Jidwaaq (meaning ‘Path of God’) have derived their name from Waaq.{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=I. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P5AZyEhMtbkC&q=Jidwaaq+tagalwaaq |title=Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society |date=1998 |publisher=The Red Sea Press |isbn=978-1-56902-103-3 |pages=137 |language=en}} Jid is path or road and added Waaq. Names of towns and villages in Somalia that involve the word Waaq include Ceelwaaq, ceel meaning a water well added waaq. Caabudwaaq, or cabduwaaq, Caabud meaning Worshipper added Waaq and Caabdu, meaning servant added waaq.

and Barwaaqo.Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, Culture and Customs of Somalia, (Greenwood Publishing Group: 2001), p.65.{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=I. M. |date=1956 |title=Sufism in Someliland: A Study in Tribal Islam–II |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/abs/sufism-in-someliland-a-study-in-tribal-islamii/F8695731BD8DB8F1199728587834BD2B |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |language=en |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=145–160 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00122256 |issn=1474-0699}} as in Bar, a sign in somali added waaq and still Barwaaqo meaning plenty.

The insistence added shows that, the term Waaq, in itself has no meaning in Somali language unless you add a noun to make a meaning. For example, Bar, sign Ceel being a waterwell or Jid, a road/path will stand alone but waaq alone will not make a meaning.

Waaq

History

Modern

See also

References

Further reading