Whatever his detractors have claimed, and notwithstanding the undoubtedly tyrannical character of his rule ultimately, there is no question that Muhammad 'Abdille Hassan's burning passion was to quicken his countrymen's devotion to Islam and to secure universal and absolute adherence to all the ordinances of their faith. To him the Salihiya brotherhood was the 'way' through which this was to be achieved. He had thus a deeply felt mission to fulfil amongst his people whose ancient belief in Islam he saw as perilously threatened by Christian colonization. It was this realization which fired his patriotism and convinced him that the first ideal would never be realized until his people were free. Thus the national movement which he felt himself called upon to inspire was primarily a means to an end. To argue, as has been customary in the past, that Sayyid Muhammad 'Abdille Hassan used religion merely as a cloak to advance his own personal aggrandizement is to make a cheap and shallow assessment which the facts do not warrant.

I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Som…, loc. 238