05/12/2025
Sheikh Yusuf Bahar (RDC) was one of the Somali scholars known for composing the greatest number of qasā’id (devotional poems), in which he expressed profound love for the Prophet (PBUH) and for the saints of God. He was an ardent lover who was consumed by his devotion to the Messenger and the Awliyā’, and most of the famous qasā’id we hear today belong to Sheikh Yusuf Baxar.
There are several collected records in which the sheikh’s qasā’id—those that have survived—were compiled, and these have become precious heritage.
If you evaluate the Sheikh’s qasā’id by the standards of the Arabic language, you are struck by how well he mastered poetic meter, rhyme, and the eloquence of the qasīda’s verses. If you examine them from a Sufi perspective, that is another wonder; and if you look closely at the love, devotion, and spirituality within them, you are compelled to say: “The Sheikh alone has spoken truly of divine love!”
The Sheikh was born in the rural area of Qulunqul in the year 1302 AH. There he learned the Noble Qur’an and the foundational books of Islamic law. It is narrated from Sheikh Umar Siyaad (teacher of Sheikh Yusuf Bahar) that when the Sheikh was still young, he wished to perform the Hajj out of deep love for the sacred qibla towards which one turns in prayer. He reached Djibouti, but the sea turned him back. There he met a sheikh from whom he studied Islamic law until that teacher passed away.
Afterward, he came to Jigjiga, where he became connected to the great spiritual guide Sheikh Abdulsalaam Haji Jaamac (RDC). Sheikh Abdulsalaam initiated him into the awraad (devotional litanies) until he became one of the high-ranking saints, known by the epithet “Bad” (the Ocean). The qasīda through which he received spiritual permission (idhn) was the greeting of Sheikh Yusuf al-Kawnayni:
Salām, salām, salām, salām
Upon Yusuf al-Kawn, the Ocean of Generosity
It is narrated from Sheikh Mahamoud Macallin Omar that he said:
“Sheikh Yusuf Bahar praised the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in 1,500 qasā’id. He also composed a similar number in praise of Qutb al-A‘zam Sheikh Abd al-Qadir al-Jaylani (RDC) and Sheikh Abd al-Rahman Saylaci.”
What is astonishing is that Sheikh Yusuf Baxar composed qasā’id for many saints, and each one of those saints has become a historical reference through his poems.
The Sheikh passed away at the end of the month of Dhu’l-Qi‘dah in the year 1351 AH—almost a full century ago. A great miracle is said to have occurred when a previous regional government of the Somali Region (DDS) ordered that the Sheikh’s grave be exhumed in order to build a road that would cross over his burial place. When the grave was dug up, the Sheikh’s body was found completely intact, unchanged despite the long years since his death. Shortly after this incident, the government responsible for the act—under Cabdi Mahamuud—collapsed.
By Mohammed Mahamoud
