Waaq (also WaqorWaaqa) is the name for the sky God in several Cushitic languages, including the Oromo and Somali languages.[1][2][3][4]
Waaqa (Oromo pronunciation: [waːkʼa]) still means 'God' in the present Oromo language.[5] Other Cushitic languages where the word is still found include Konso Waaqa; Rendille Wax; Bayso WahorWaa; Daasanach Waag; Hadiyya Waaʔa; Burji Waacʼi.[6][7]
In the present-day Somali language, the primary name of God is now the Arabic-derived Allaah.[8] The term Waaq survives in proper names and placenames. The Somali clan Jidwaaq (meaning ‘Path of God’) have derived their name from Waaq.[9] Names of towns and villages in Somalia that involve the word Waaq include Ceelwaaq, Caabudwaaq and Barwaaqo.[10][11]
Waaq is also a word in Arabic for protector ( واق ) and occurs in the Quran.[12][13] Some traditions indicate Waaq to be associated with the Harari region.[14] The Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi mentions in his Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya that Waaq used to be a generic name for God, in comparison to the Turkic people’s tenets of Tengri.[15]
InOromo and Somali culture, Waaq, WaaqaorWaaqo was the name of God in their pre-Christian and pre-Muslim monotheistic faith believed to have been adhered to by Cushitic groups.[16] It was likely brought to the Horn by speakers of the Proto-Cushitic language who arrived from North Sudan in the Neolithic era.[2] In more recent times, the religion has mostly declined since the arrival of Islam and Christianity to the Horn of Africa.[17]
Chapter: Ar-Ra'd. Verses: 13:34 and 13:37.
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