Yusuf Mahamud Ibrahim
Barawa was a renowned hub of the Qadiriyya sufi tariqa in East Africa and it was traditional practice for Geledi leaders to send their sons to the city.
Yusuf would intervene and Witu would prove victorious as it would bring the Sultan to engage a newly emerging militant group in Bardera which was a key trade hub and where the Siyu Somalis drew their strength.
Both states were interested in ivory trade through the Jubba river continuing to flourish as a great source of revenue for the region.
Later following their victory at Siyu over the Salafi Somalis the Witu Sultan sent aid before Yusuf engaged and ultimately lost against the Omani aligned Bimaals in 1848 at the Battle of Adaddey Suleyman.
The Jama'a group was founded in 1819 by Sheikh Ibrahim Yabarow, introducing some reforms such as outlawing tobacco and popular dancing and prohibiting the ivory trade.
Geledi Sultanate resented the embargo imposed by the Jama'a on long-distance trade through Luuq, as well as the destabilization of agricultural activities in the Jubba and Shabelle valleys.
In 1843, the Geledi Sultanate mobilized an expedition force of 40'000, mostly of Digil warriors under the leadership of the Sultan of Geledi, Yusuf Mahamud and defeated the forces of Jama'a, mostly Darod warriors led by Shaikh Abd Al-Rahman and Shaikh Ibrahim, and the citadel of Bardera was besieged and then burned to the ground.
The leaders of the Jama'a were captured and killed, and the immigrant Darod nomads were expelled from the Upper Jubba region, and trade through Luuq reopened.
[11] Mogadishu under Abgaal control had been in a period of decline and disarray near the end of the Hiraab Imamate although trade remained significant.
[15] Guillain tried and ultimately failed to arrange an audience with Yusuf himself who was not at Afgooye at the time, but he corresponded with his brother Haji Ibrahim through an influential Bravanese merchant named Sid-Qoullatin.
Ibrahim himself was not at Afgooye but Bardera and replied to his friend Sid inquiring the true meaning why Guillain would want to meet Yusuf.
Guillain did receive a document detailing the lineage of Yusuf back fifteen generations to Gobroon the patriarch of the ruling dynasty of the Geledi.
The second extremist group Sultan Yusuf Mahamud confronted was Sheikh Ali Abdirahman belonging to the Majerteen tribe (1787–1852) who arrived in Merca in 1846.
Planning to establish an Islamic Emirate, Sheikh Ali arrived in Merca in 1847 with five boats, 150 followers, substantial quantities of firearms and ammunitions estimated to be 40 rifles and 4 cannons just four years after the defeat of Bardera Jama'a by the dominant Geledi Sultanate that ruled over vast territories of the southern Somali regions.
It is established that Sheikh Ali had secret plans for himself to form a colony at the port of Mungiya (the point where Shabelle River was closest to the Indian Ocean coast), and had obtained permission from Sultan Yusuf of Geledi.
[19] The doctrine of Sheikh Ali is evident in the letter he sent to the people of Barawa prior to the battle, showing that he considered the Geledi Sultanate a polity led by a kafir.
[20] Following his defeat, Sheikh Ali stated that "in reality, our [death] and if you are among the deviated sect which Sultan Yusuf leads, there is no relation between us, and your blood will not be saved from us."
The Bimaal defended themselves and, after three days of fierce attacks and counterattacks, the legendary Sultan Yusuf Mahamud and his brother were killed and the Geledi army was defeated.
