Waaq

For the former WAAQ-FM radio station in Big Rapids, Michigan, see WYBR. For the former WAAQ-FM radio station in Onsted, Michigan, see WAQQ.

Waaq (also Waq or Waaqa) is the name for the sky God in several Cushitic languages, including the Oromo and Somali languages.

Waaqa (Oromo pronunciation: [waːkʼa]) still means 'God' in the present Oromo language. Other Cushitic languages where the word is still found include Konso Waaqa; Rendille Wax; Bayso Wah or Waa; Daasanach Waag; Hadiyya Waaʔa; Burji Waacʼi.

In the present-day Somali language, the primary name of God is now the Arabic-derived Allaah. The term Waaq survives in proper names and placenames. The Somali clan Jidwaaq (meaning ‘Path of God’) have derived their name from Waaq. Names of towns and villages in Somalia that involve the word Waaq include Ceelwaaq, Caabudwaaq, and Barwaaqo.

Waaq is also a word in Arabic for protector (واق) and occurs in the Quran. Some traditions indicate Waaq to be associated with the Harari region. The Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi mentions in his Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya that Waaq used to be a generic name for God, in comparison to the Turkic people’s tenets of Tengri.

In Oromo and Somali culture, Waaq, Waaqa or Waaqo was the name of God in their pre-Christian and pre-Muslim monotheistic faith believed to have been adhered to by Cushitic groups. It was likely brought to the Horn by speakers of the Proto-Cushitic language who arrived from North Sudan in the Neolithic era and may share roots with the Religions of the Book but is not derived from them. The Cushites were similarly among the first people to have practiced circumcision, a central religious rite in the Abrahamic religions. In more recent times, the usage of the term Waaq has mostly declined since the arrival of Islam and Christianity to the Horn of Africa.