For more than three decades, Somalia has endured civil war, state collapse, foreign interventions, clan fragmentation, and deep social trauma. Despite repeated political processes, security operations, and international assistance, sustainable national recovery has remained elusive. The reason is increasingly clear: Somalia’s crisis is not only political or economic—it is profoundly moral. Long before institutions collapsed, trust eroded, ethics weakened, and the sense of collective responsibility faded.
In this context, the teachings of Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058–1111) offer Somalia a powerful moral framework for recovery—one rooted in personal reform, ethical leadership, social justice, and national reconciliation.
Al-Ghazali teaches that societies collapse from within before they collapse from without. Somalia’s civil strife did not begin merely with the fall of the state in 1991; it began earlier with abuse of power, injustice, corruption, and the silencing of moral voices. Clan favouritism replaced justice, personal gain replaced public service, and violence became a tool of politics.
From al-Ghazali’s perspective, Somalia’s prolonged instability reflects a crisis of the soul as much as a crisis of governance. Weapons did not destroy Somalia alone; moral decay allowed destruction to become normal.
One of al-Ghazali’s most relevant teachings for Somalia is that no one is morally neutral. In a society emerging from conflict, every individual—regardless of clan, profession, or political affiliation—shares responsibility for recovery.
For Somalis, this means:
Rejecting dishonesty even when it is socially rewarded
Refusing to normalize corruption as “the Somali way”
Resisting clan loyalty when it contradicts justice
Al-Ghazali insists that a nation can not rise above the moral level of its people. If citizens tolerate injustice in daily life, they unintentionally reproduce the very conditions that caused state collapse.
Somalia’s clan system is not inherently evil. Al-Ghazali does not reject social identity; he rejects identity when it becomes an idol. Clan loyalty becomes destructive when it blinds individuals to truth, justifies wrongdoing, or dehumanizes others.
Applying al-Ghazali’s ethics means transforming clan identity into:
A source of social responsibility
A structure for reconciliation
A moral obligation to restrain wrongdoing within one’s own group
He reminds us that supporting injustice, even when committed by one’s own people, is a form of moral corruption.
Somalia is a deeply religious society, which makes the role of scholars especially critical. Al-Ghazali was uncompromising in his criticism of scholars who:
Flatter political leaders
Remain silent in the face of injustice
Use religion to legitimize violence or division
For Somalia’s recovery, religious leaders must reclaim their role as moral guardians, not political instruments. Their duty is to:
Promote reconciliation grounded in justice
Condemn corruption regardless of who commits it
Counter extremist narratives with ethical clarity
A scholar who fears losing influence more than losing truth, al-Ghazali warns, contributes to the destruction of society.
Politicians: Leadership as Moral Accountability
Al-Ghazali views political power as one of the greatest tests of character. In Somalia, where leadership positions are often seen as gateways to wealth and influence, this teaching is particularly relevant.
He would remind Somali leaders that:
Authority is a trust, not a reward
Public resources are a moral responsibility
Injustice poisons both ruler and ruled
Somalia does not suffer from a lack of political conferences; it suffers from a lack of ethical leadership. Recovery requires leaders who live modestly, govern transparently, and place national interest above clan and personal ambition.
Somalis often speak of reconciliation, yet al-Ghazali teaches that reconciliation without justice is fragile and dishonest. Victims of violence, displacement, and abuse can not simply “move on” without acknowledgement and accountability.
A Ghazalian approach to Somalia’s recovery would include:
Truth-telling about past crimes
Restoring dignity to victims
Ending the culture of impunity
Justice, in this sense, is not revenge—it is moral healing.
Somalia’s youth have grown up amid violence, displacement, and uncertainty. Al-Ghazali emphasizes that habits formed in hardship can shape either moral resilience or moral decay.
National recovery demands:
Ethical education, not only technical skills
Healing trauma through compassion and community
Teaching youth that dignity is stronger than violence
A generation raised without moral guidance, al-Ghazali warns, becomes vulnerable to extremism, criminality, and despair.
Al-Ghazali understood the power of ideas in shaping society. In modern Somalia, media and intellectuals play a decisive role in either healing or inflaming divisions.
They must:
Resist hate speech and clan propaganda
Promote responsible dialogue
Restore truth as a public value.
A society that lies to itself, al-Ghazali, reminds us, can not heal.
Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali offers Somalia no illusion of easy recovery. His path is demanding because it begins where real change must begin: with the human heart.
Somalia will not be rebuilt by foreign aid alone, nor by political agreements that ignore ethics. It will be rebuilt when:
Scholars speak truth
Leaders govern justly
Citizens live honestly
Clan identity submitted moral accountability
Only then can Somalia move from survival to stability, from clan fighting to peace and from fragmentation to nationhood.
As al-Ghazali’s wisdom reminds us:
when hearts are healed, societies recover—and when souls are upright, nations rise.
Mohamed Mohamoud Adde is an academic and a political analyst