Who is Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi?

Quick facts

• Born Shirley: Somalia, around 1980 (age about 46)
• Nationality: American citizen
• Also known as: Ahmed Abdisalan Aden (birth name, changed after receiving U.S. citizenship)
• Relationship to Ilhan Omar: First husband (religious ceremony 2002, legally married January 2018, divorced November 2019); father of her three children
• Children: Isra Hirsi (born 2003), Adnan Hirsi, and Ilwad Hirsi

His story

Hirsi was about 12 when his native country, Somalia, was largely affected by civil conflict after the end of the dictatorship. The onset of political disturbances triggered constant war among the tribes and resulted in large-scale immigration. Hirsi and his family fled and relocated to the United States. He changed his name after receiving U.S. citizenship.

Omar married Hirsi in a religious ceremony in 2002. After having two children together, daughter Isra and son Adnan, the couple's relationship deteriorated and they followed Islamic procedure to end the union in 2008, having never been legally married.

Omar reconciled with Hirsi, with whom she had a third child, daughter Ilwad, in 2012. Ilhan and Ahmed were married to each other religiously for nearly two decades and legally married on January 5, 2018. Ilhan officially filed for divorce on October 4 in Hennepin County District Court, with the filing citing an "irretrievable breakdown" of their marriage relationship. The marriage was dissolved after paperwork was signed by court personnel.

Career

Before entering city politics, Hirsi worked for St. Paul College helping students with financial aid and registration issues. He also once worked for Ka Joog, a Minneapolis-based Somali Army youth organization, before parting ways with it.

Minneapolis City Council Member Alondra Cano hired Hirsi as a senior policy aide. Minneapolis city records show Hirsi held the job of Council Member Assistant/Aide in 2019.

More recently, LinkedIn records list him as associated with New American Financial Literacy, a Minneapolis organization focused on equipping community members with financial knowledge.

His place in the marital timeline

The thread has established the overlapping relationships in some detail. To put Hirsi's role plainly: Omar first married Hirsi in a Muslim faith ceremony in 2002, had two children, and later separated. After legally marrying British citizen Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009 and separating from him in 2011, she reunited with Hirsi in 2012 and, after legally divorcing Elmi in 2017, remarried Hirsi legally in 2018. There is no verifiable evidence to back up allegations that either Hirsi or Elmi is Omar's brother.