While recourse to these tactics was necessary in building up his following, within the Dervish ranks the Sayyid sought to apply Islamic law, enforcing the law of talion and ignoring the traditional Somali practice of treating delicts according to their clan context. Thus amongst his followers he strove to replace traditional clan loyalties by allegiance to his cause, and the Dervish forces were organized into units largely on a non-clan basis. Another striking innovation was that women were sometimes trained as warriors, and a few were even mounted on horseback.

I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Som…, loc. 243