The Sa'ad Musa or Saad Musa (, , Full Name: Saad ibn Musa ibn Zubayr ibn Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ash-Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad) is a northern Somali clan. Its members form a part of the Habr Awal clan of the Isaaq clan family. The Sa'ad Musa traditionally consists of nomadic pastoralists, coastal people, merchants and farmers. The clan inhabits Somaliland, including Maroodi Jeex, and Sahil as well as Djibouti, the Somali Region of Ethiopia and Kenya.
Distribution
The Sa'ad Musa clan make up a significant percentage of the population in Maroodi Jeex region, which is considered the most populous region in Somaliland, forming a sizeable portion of the population in the national capital Hargeisa as well as exclusively dominating the agricultural towns and settlements of Gabiley, Wajaale, Arabsiyo, and Kalabaydh. The Sa'ad Musa are also prevalent in western Sahil region.
Outside of Somaliland, the Sa'ad Musa also have large settlements in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, specifically in Fafan Zone where they respectively make up the majority in Harshin, Hart Sheik, and Wajaale (Ethiopian Side) towns. They also settle in the Kebri Beyah and Jigjiga woredas in the Fafan Zone.
The Sa'ad Musa also have a large settlement in Kenya where they are known as a constituent segment of the Isahakia community. Finally they have a large presence in Djibouti as well, forming a large percentage of the Somali population in Djibouti and within Djibouti they have historically settled in Quartier 3, which is one of the 7 major districts in Djibouti.
Lineage
Sheikh Ishaaq ibn Ahmed was one of the Arabian scholars that crossed the sea from Arabia to the Horn of Africa to spread Islam around 12th to 13th century. He is said to have been descended from Prophet Mohammed's daughter Fatimah. Hence the Sheikh belonged to the Ashraf or Sada, titles given to the descendants of the prophet. He married two local women in Somaliland that left him eight sons, one of them being Abdulrahman (Awal). The descendants of those eight sons constitute the Isaaq clan-family.
The grave of Zubeyr Awal, the eponymous ancestor of the Sa'ad Musa and Issa Musa of the Habar Awal, is located in Jidali in Sanaag. The town is about 100 km east of the tomb of his grandfather Sheikh Ishaaq Bin Ahmed, the founding father of the Isaaq clan family, whose tomb is located in the coastal town of Maydh.
History
Medieval Period (Conquest of Abbysinia) Historically as part of the Habr Awal clan the Sa'ad Musa were part of the Adal Sultanate and are mentioned in the renowned "Futuh Al-Habash" for their major contributions in the Ethiopian-Adal war as the Habr Magaadle along with the Garhajis, Arap and Ayub clans against the Ethiopian Empire, and also for producing a historical figure known as Ahmad Gurey bin Husain who was the righthand partner of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi and a chieftain for the Habr Magaadle forces during the Ethiopian–Adal war.
Pre-colonial era
The Sa'ad Musa have a rich mercantile history largely due to their possession of the major Somali port of Berbera, which was the chief port and settlement of the wider Habr Awal clan during the early modern period. The clan had strong ties to the Emirate of Harar and Emirs would hold Habr Awal merchants in their court with high esteem with Richard Burton noting their influence in Emir Ahmad III ibn Abu Bakr's court and discussions with the Vizier Mohammed. The Sa'ad Musa as a whole are a rich people, mainly thanks to the trade passing through the port of Berbera which lies in the territory of the Sa’ad Musa. In this way the tribes occupying the tract of country through which the main caravan or trade routes passed accumulated a good deal of wealth, while those like the Ayal Ahmed, fortunate enough to possess a port so favored by Nature as Berbera, naturally soon became rich.
The Habr Awal merchants had extensive trade relations with Arab and Indian merchants from Arabia and the Indian subcontinent respectively. When these foreign traders arrived in Berbera and Bulhar to conduct trade, there was a mutually beneficial arrangement based on the abban (protection) system between them and the local Reer Yunis Nuh (Ayyal Yunis) and Ahmed Nuh (Ayyal Ahmed) lineages of the Sa’ad Musa: