What is "hiraab"

Hiraab is a Somali clan, and one of the Gorgaarte Hawiye subclans. Hiraab members live in central and southern Somalia, from Galkayo to Kismayo. Most of them, such as the Abgaal, live in Mogadishu. Others live in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. They once formed a kingdom which successfully revolted against the Ajuran Sultanate and established an independent Hiraab Imamate, which included Hobyo. According to Dr. Bernhard Helander of Uppsala University, "the Imam of Hiraab is a hereditary position that traditionally is held by a person of the first-born branch, the Mudulod."