He is from the Mohamed Muse clan (a subclan of Abgaal) Abgaa[2] A lot of people confuse between Sheikh Ali Mahmoud better known as Sheikh Ali Dheere (Somali: Sheikh Cali Dheere) who established the first Islamic Courts in Mogadishu in 1996, and another man called Sheikh Ali Dheere who is the spokesperson of the Al Shabaab. The Al Shabaab speaker is from the Hawiye Murusade clan, not Abgaal.