Islam in Ethiopia

According to the latest 1994 national census, Islam is the second most widely practiced religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with approximately one third (32.8%) of Ethiopians adhering to Islam^[1], having arrived in Ethiopia in 615. The CIA World Factbook places Islam as the second most widely practiced religion in Ethiopia, stating that some 30 percent of the population are adherents.^[2]

History

The first Muslims in Ethiopia were refugees from Mecca, persecuted by the new leading tribe, the reactionary Quraysh. They were received by the ruler of Ethiopia, whom Arabic tradition was named Ashama ibn Abjar, and he settled them in Negash. The Quraysh sent emissaries to bring them back to Arabia, but the King of Ethiopia refused their demands. The Prophet himself instructed his followers who came to Ethiopia, to respect and protect Ethiopia as well as live in peace with Ethiopian Christians.^[3] However, it would be the city of Medina, north of Mecca, that was ultimately decided to be the new home of the exiles from Mecca. Also, Bilal, one of the foremost companions of the Prophet Muhammad and the first muezzin, or the caller to prayer, was from Ethiopia.

Under the former Emperor Haile Selassie, Muslim communities could bring matters of Personal and Family Law and inheritance before Islamic courts; many did so and probably continued to do so under the revolutionary regime. However, many Muslims dealt with such matters in terms of Customary Law. For example, the Somali and other pastoralists tended not to follow the requirement that daughters inherit half as much property as sons, particularly when livestock was at issue. In parts of Eritrea, the tendency to treat land as the corporate property of a descent group (lineage or clan) precluded following the Islamic principle of division of property among one's heirs.

Muslims in Contemporary Ethiopia

Mosque in Harar

Much as the rest of the Muslim world, the beliefs and practices of the Muslims of Ethiopia are basically the same: embodied in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. There are also Sufi brotherhoods present in Ethiopia. The most important Islamic religious practices, such as the daily ritual prayers (Salat) and Fasting (Arabic صوم, Sawm, Ethiopic ጾም, S.om or Tsom - used by Christians as well) during the holy month of Ramadan, are observed both in urban centers as well as in rural areas, among both settled peoples and nomads. Numerous Ethiopian Muslims perform the pilgrimage to Mecca every year.

In Ethiopia's Muslim communities, as in neighboring Sudan and Somalia, many of the faithful are associated with, but not necessarily members of any specific Sufi order. Nevertheless, formal and informal attachment to Sufi practices is widespread, the emphasis seems less on the contemplative and disciplined mysticism and more on the concentration of the spiritual powers possessed by certain founders of the orders and the leaders of local branches.

See also

• First migration to Abyssinia
• Islam by country
• Sheikh Hussein

References

• This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain.
• J. Spencer Trimingham. Islam in Ethiopia. Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952.

External links

• The Muslim-Christian War (1528-1560)

Donate to Wikimedia