Finally, mention must also be made of a separate but related development in Somalia which, though cultural rather than political, was later to acquire a highly emotive nationalistic appeal. This was the invention, about 1920, by 'Isman Yusuf Kenadid, of a highly sophisticated and accurate alphabet and script for the Somali language. Although the Arabic script had long been in use in restricted circles as a medium for writing Somali, the differences between the two languages made this a makeshift expedient. And despite improvements introduced by Sheikh Uways and other early pioneers of writing Somali, Arabic still remained an imperfect vehicle for Somali. 'Osmaniya, as the new script was soon named after its founder, overcame these disadvantages by completely abandoning the attempt to rely on the Arabic alphabet, adopting instead an entirely new set of letters. This creation of a truly indigenous vehicle for the national language naturally appealed to the Somali national consciousness, although, from the start, it found opponents amongst conservative religious leaders who favoured Arabic.

I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Som…, loc. 317