Asharaf

The Asharaf, also spelled Ashraf (from the Arabic: أشراف, romanized: ashrāf, lit. 'nobles'), is a Somali clan. Their name is the plural of sharīf, an originally Arabic term designating those who claim descent from the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.^[1]

Belonging to the larger group of Somali clans living in the southern parts of the country called the Benadiri, they fall outside of the traditional Somali clan structures and are often marginalized within Somalia.^[2] As a minority, they have been the target of violent Islamist groups such as the al-Shabaab.^[3]

Contrary to most other Somali clans, who trace their ancestry to Muhammad's cousin and Ali's older brother Aqil ibn Abi Talib,^[4] the Asharaf claim descent from Hasan and Husayn, the sons of Ali and Muhammad's daughter Fatima.^[5] Like the claims of other Somali clans in this regard, this alleged genealogy is historically untenable.^[6]