Culture of Somalia Islamic jurisprudence, although some are also adherents of the Shia Muslim denomination. Sufism, the mystical dimension of Islam, is also well-established, with many local "jama'a" ("zawiya") or congregations of the various "tariiqa" or Sufi orders. The constitution of Somalia likewise defines Islam as the religion of the Somali Republic, and Islamic Sharia as the basic source for national legislation. Islam entered the region very early on, as a group of persecuted Muslims had, at Prophet Muhummad's urging, sought refuge across the Red Sea in the Horn of Africa. Islam may thus have been introduced into Somalia well before the faith
Geology of Somalia and island arcs. In the Early Jurassic, the supercontinent Gondwana, which included Africa, began to break apart. The marine transgression of the Tethys Ocean flooded large parts of East Africa and Arabia and new sedimentary rock units were deposited. In the west of Somalia, the Cretaceous at the end of the Mesozoic brought crustal upwarping, which is preserved in the Yesomma Sandstone. Two major sedimentary basins began to form in Somalia during the Mesozoic, the Somali Coastal Basin and the Luuq-Mandera Basin, both filled with up to five kilometers of sedimentary rock. The basins formed due to the movements of