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Xeer != khayr. X in Somali is the letter ح not خ. Has nothing to do with Arabic. Xeer has existed for a long time, and probably longer than Islam has since the
by genieyclo 12y ago
Xeer != khayr. X in Somali is the letter ح not خ. Has nothing to do with Arabic.
Xeer has existed for a long time, and probably longer than Islam has since there's similar systems of communal law and arbitration in neighboring communities like Gadaa that can be traced back to the pre-Islamic era.
- 616c 12y agoOh oh oh. Now I look like an ass. When I read the Wikipedia article, I thought the transcription meant x->خ, but I guess you show why one must, like a programmer, continue to use IPA consistently or forget only to make very embarrassing public mistakes. And now to come full circle, the root structure for xeer in Arabic means confusion. Should have seen that one coming. Haha. EDIT: Do you have resources on Xeer and similar practices with Gaada? I have some friends who would be very interested in these topics.