Sheikh Abaadir Umar Al-Rida (
Harari: አባዲር ዑመር አል-ሪዳ ፈቂ ዑመር,
Somali: Abaadir Umar Al-Rida,
Arabic: الفقيه ابادر عمر الرضا), also known as Aw Abadir[1] or Aw Badir was the legendary founder of
Harar and a
patron saint in modern-day eastern
Ethiopia.[2] The modern
Harari people regard him as their common ancestor,[2] as does the Somali
Sheekhal clan.[3]
History
Aw Abadir is the main figure in the Fath Madinat Al Harar, an unpublished history of
Harar in the 13th century. According to the account, he along with several other religious leaders traveled to Harar from the
Hijaz region of present-day
Saudi Arabia in 612H (1216 AD). Sheikh Umar Al-Rida subsequently married a local
Harari woman, and constructed the city's
Jamia mosque.[4]
^Nyadera, Israel Nyaburi; Islam, Nazmul; Agwanda, Billy (2024), Nyadera, Israel Nyaburi; Islam, Nazmul; Agwanda, Billy (eds.),
"Clan Configuration and Identity Networks in Somalia", The Somalia Conflict Revisited: Trends and Complexities of Spatial Governance on National and Regional Security, Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, pp. 39–58,
ISBN978-3-031-55732-3
Michael Belaynesh, Stanisław Chojnacki, Richard Pankhurst, The Dictionary of Ethiopian Biography: From early times to the end of the Zagwé dynasty c. 1270 A.D, (Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University: 1975)