Siddiqis in the Horn of Africa Siddiqis in Eastern Ethiopia are usually called Qallu. While some of them still speak Arabic, most of them speak the regional Oromo, Harari or Somali languages, tongues which, like Arabic, also belong to the Afro-Asiatic language family. In Somalia, Siddiqis are commonly known as Sheekhaal or Aw-Qutub. Notable Siddiqi families in the Horn region include: 1. Kurtu family (in Harar, Deder and Djibouti) 2. Aw Barre family 3. Aw Ismael family 4. Qallu-Diinii family 5. Khabir Hassan family (in Gelemso) 6. Aw Samirren family 7. Aw Khalaf family 8. Aw Umar Ziad family 9. Abogne/Abun (the Khalaf and Kurtu families;
Writing systems of Africa Writing systems of Africa The writing systems of Africa refer to the current and historical practice of writing systems on the African continent, both indigenous and those introduced. Today, the Latin script is commonly encountered across Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa. Arabic script is mainly used in North Africa and Ge'ez/Ethiopic script is dominant in the Horn of Africa. Regionally and in some localities, other scripts may be of significant importance. Perhaps the most famous writing system of the African continent is ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. These developed later into forms known as Hieratic, Demotic and Coptic. The Coptic language is still