The Somali nation is mourning the loss of a revered religious leader, Sheikh Osman Sheikh Omar, also known as Sheikh Osman Hiddig, who passed away on Saturday in the capital, Mogadishu. He was 82 years old.
Sheikh Osman Hiddig was a prominent figure within the Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a movement, a Sufi-oriented Islamic group, and was renowned as a leading scholar, educator, and preacher.
Over the past decades, he dedicated himself to running religious learning centers in Mogadishu and his hometown of El-Dheer in the Galgudud region.
The news of his passing has been met with an outpouring of grief and condolences from across Somalia. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, government officials, politicians, and fellow religious scholars have all paid tribute to the late Sheikh Osman Hiddig, acknowledging his immense contributions to Islamic education and scholarship in the country.
President Mohamud described the Sheikh as a “great scholar, preacher, and teacher” who was instrumental in teaching and spreading the Islamic faith, investing countless hours in cultivating a new generation of Somali scholars deeply versed in the religion.
“Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilahi Rajicun. May God have mercy on Sheikh Osman Sheikh Omar and Sheikh Daoud. He was a hardworking scholar who spent a lot of time teaching and spreading the Islamic religion.
He produced many Somali scholars who play a significant role in spreading the faith today,” said President Mohamud.
The funeral for Sheikh Osman Hiddig is currently underway in Mogadishu, and he will be laid to rest in a cemetery near the Shifa mosque in the Karaan district, where he will be remembered as a towering figure in Somali Islamic scholarship and education.
