An Islamic history is a vital part
of Ethiopia's richness
21 August 2009 | HA Hellyer
‘We are sorry if you get woken up by the Muslim call to prayer in the
morning.” Those were some of the first words I heard at my hotel
when I arrived in Addis Ababa, on my first trip to Ethiopia. I confess –
I was a bit confused. Call to prayer? In the capital of a “Christian
country in a sea of Muslims”, as Ethiopia is sometimes called? Perhaps
I was in a Muslim quarter of Addis Ababa that had been recently
established?
No, the situation was far more complicated than that, and one about
which I had a surprisingly limited awareness. Most non-Ethiopians,
including the immediate neighbours of Ethiopia, also believe that
Ethiopia is predominantly Christian. The more sophisticated might
believe that there is a Muslim minority – and it was to learn about that
population that drew me to Ethiopia in the first place. But it is not a
minority. About 55 per cent of Ethiopia’s parliament is Muslim and
representatives from the country’s Islamic community insist they are at
least 50 per cent of the population. While the US State Department
estimates that this number is a bit lower, Islam might actually be the
religion with the most adherents in Ethiopia.
If there is any “Muslim quarter” in Addis, it must be an old one.
Christianity was the first religion to arrive in Ethiopia – but only in the
north of the country. Where the capital, Addis Ababa, is located, the
area of Shawa, was the domain of a Muslim sultanate in the early 8th
century. Most historical narratives portray Ethiopia’s as a Christian
story. If Islam is even mentioned, it is associated with disconnected
tribesman in the lowlands who battled Christian kingdoms in the
highlands. But history is written by the powerful and now academics
are rediscovering the Muslim history of this country of such noble
heritage.
As I met people from Ethiopia’s Muslim community, I was struck by
their diversity. Most Ethiopian Muslims are influenced by Sufism, and
follow the same Sunni rites as their neighbours in Yemen, Somalia and
Djibouti (the Shafi’i rite) – but there are also adherents of other Sunni
rites, and a significant Salafi movement within Ethiopia. There are
dozens of ethnic and linguistic groups among Muslim Ethiopians, from
all areas of the country.
But what they share is a long history of discrimination against them.
Early Christian-Muslims relations in Ethiopia were very good – the
Prophet of Islam sent several Muslim refugees to live among Christians
in Ethiopia, who had a very high opinion of the king at that time, who
later became Muslim. In the medieval era, Christian Ethiopians under the
Zagwes refused to be drawn into the European crusades against the
Muslim world, which led to Saladin giving the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church a monastery in Jerusalem. In the same era, Muslims and
Christians lived in separate kingdoms and sultanates in Ethiopia, but in
peaceful coexistence – and their example proves that deeply religious
and pious people of different religions need not be at war with one
another.
But with the rise of the Solomonic dynasty in 1270 that came to an end.
That dynasty, like many others of its age, was expansionist and
aggressive, leading to a great number of conflicts with Muslim
sultanates over a period of hundreds of years in Ethiopia. The length of
the Solomonic dynasty is staggering – Haile Selassie was its last
Emperor, and his reign ended in 1974. He saw the establishment of a
modern Ethiopia, but not a modern educational system – at least, not for
Muslim Ethiopians. The historians and educators I interviewed in
Ethiopia bemoaned the standard of education among Muslim Ethiopians,
explaining to me that during Haile Selassie’s tenure, Muslim regions did
not receive the same attention as Christian regions and few modern
educational institutions were established. Haile Selassie had a formula
for Ethiopia: one country, one people, one religion. Muslims were not
part of that equation. The revolutionary regime that overthrew Haile
Selassie, the Derg, introduced education for all, but as a communist
movement, Muslim communities still suffered discrimination.
Many of those whom I met were from that generation – a generation
that had access to education, and began to learn about their religion in a
modern sense. With the establishment of a more democratic
constitution in 1994, Muslim Ethiopians began to try to build more
institutions for themselves.
Much of the contemporary analysis surrounding Ethiopia’s relationship
with the Muslim world revolves around Somalia, and Ethiopia’s invasion
of that country in 2006. I saw quite a different face, however, to the
nation. I saw a huge number of Muslims speaking excellent Arabic
(perhaps more than any non-Arabic speaking country I had ever been
to), proud of the history of this ancient land that had never been
conquered. On the other hand, I also saw the sadness of many Muslim
Ethiopians, who were frustrated that while rich Muslim countries might
provide funds to build mosques, or provide food during Ramadan, they
would not contribute to provide for the institutions needed to improve
the capacity of this thriving community. And it’s not hard to see why –
many simply do not believe there is a community there to support in the
first place.
But there is an Ethiopian Muslim community there: a community that
has learnt to thrive against the odds, and one that teaches lessons about
identity in a diverse society and the role of religion in the modern world.
It is a community that deserves to be known.
H A Hellyer is a Fellow of the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations
at the University of Warwick (UK), and director of the Visionary
Consultants Group
Courtesy
of Ethiopia's richness
21 August 2009 | HA Hellyer
‘We are sorry if you get woken up by the Muslim call to prayer in the
morning.” Those were some of the first words I heard at my hotel
when I arrived in Addis Ababa, on my first trip to Ethiopia. I confess –
I was a bit confused. Call to prayer? In the capital of a “Christian
country in a sea of Muslims”, as Ethiopia is sometimes called? Perhaps
I was in a Muslim quarter of Addis Ababa that had been recently
established?
No, the situation was far more complicated than that, and one about
which I had a surprisingly limited awareness. Most non-Ethiopians,
including the immediate neighbours of Ethiopia, also believe that
Ethiopia is predominantly Christian. The more sophisticated might
believe that there is a Muslim minority – and it was to learn about that
population that drew me to Ethiopia in the first place. But it is not a
minority. About 55 per cent of Ethiopia’s parliament is Muslim and
representatives from the country’s Islamic community insist they are at
least 50 per cent of the population. While the US State Department
estimates that this number is a bit lower, Islam might actually be the
religion with the most adherents in Ethiopia.
If there is any “Muslim quarter” in Addis, it must be an old one.
Christianity was the first religion to arrive in Ethiopia – but only in the
north of the country. Where the capital, Addis Ababa, is located, the
area of Shawa, was the domain of a Muslim sultanate in the early 8th
century. Most historical narratives portray Ethiopia’s as a Christian
story. If Islam is even mentioned, it is associated with disconnected
tribesman in the lowlands who battled Christian kingdoms in the
highlands. But history is written by the powerful and now academics
are rediscovering the Muslim history of this country of such noble
heritage.
As I met people from Ethiopia’s Muslim community, I was struck by
their diversity. Most Ethiopian Muslims are influenced by Sufism, and
follow the same Sunni rites as their neighbours in Yemen, Somalia and
Djibouti (the Shafi’i rite) – but there are also adherents of other Sunni
rites, and a significant Salafi movement within Ethiopia. There are
dozens of ethnic and linguistic groups among Muslim Ethiopians, from
all areas of the country.
But what they share is a long history of discrimination against them.
Early Christian-Muslims relations in Ethiopia were very good – the
Prophet of Islam sent several Muslim refugees to live among Christians
in Ethiopia, who had a very high opinion of the king at that time, who
later became Muslim. In the medieval era, Christian Ethiopians under the
Zagwes refused to be drawn into the European crusades against the
Muslim world, which led to Saladin giving the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church a monastery in Jerusalem. In the same era, Muslims and
Christians lived in separate kingdoms and sultanates in Ethiopia, but in
peaceful coexistence – and their example proves that deeply religious
and pious people of different religions need not be at war with one
another.
But with the rise of the Solomonic dynasty in 1270 that came to an end.
That dynasty, like many others of its age, was expansionist and
aggressive, leading to a great number of conflicts with Muslim
sultanates over a period of hundreds of years in Ethiopia. The length of
the Solomonic dynasty is staggering – Haile Selassie was its last
Emperor, and his reign ended in 1974. He saw the establishment of a
modern Ethiopia, but not a modern educational system – at least, not for
Muslim Ethiopians. The historians and educators I interviewed in
Ethiopia bemoaned the standard of education among Muslim Ethiopians,
explaining to me that during Haile Selassie’s tenure, Muslim regions did
not receive the same attention as Christian regions and few modern
educational institutions were established. Haile Selassie had a formula
for Ethiopia: one country, one people, one religion. Muslims were not
part of that equation. The revolutionary regime that overthrew Haile
Selassie, the Derg, introduced education for all, but as a communist
movement, Muslim communities still suffered discrimination.
Many of those whom I met were from that generation – a generation
that had access to education, and began to learn about their religion in a
modern sense. With the establishment of a more democratic
constitution in 1994, Muslim Ethiopians began to try to build more
institutions for themselves.
Much of the contemporary analysis surrounding Ethiopia’s relationship
with the Muslim world revolves around Somalia, and Ethiopia’s invasion
of that country in 2006. I saw quite a different face, however, to the
nation. I saw a huge number of Muslims speaking excellent Arabic
(perhaps more than any non-Arabic speaking country I had ever been
to), proud of the history of this ancient land that had never been
conquered. On the other hand, I also saw the sadness of many Muslim
Ethiopians, who were frustrated that while rich Muslim countries might
provide funds to build mosques, or provide food during Ramadan, they
would not contribute to provide for the institutions needed to improve
the capacity of this thriving community. And it’s not hard to see why –
many simply do not believe there is a community there to support in the
first place.
But there is an Ethiopian Muslim community there: a community that
has learnt to thrive against the odds, and one that teaches lessons about
identity in a diverse society and the role of religion in the modern world.
It is a community that deserves to be known.
H A Hellyer is a Fellow of the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations
at the University of Warwick (UK), and director of the Visionary
Consultants Group
Courtesy
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