Islam in Ethiopia

Islam is the second largest religion in

Ethiopia, with 36% (36,290,000) of the
people professing the religion as of
2020.[3]
 Islam in Ethiopia
Total population

36,290,000 (2020) [1]

Regions with significant populations

Somali (98.4%), Afar (96%), Dire Dawa

(70.9%), Harari (69%), Oromia (47.5%),
Benishangul-Gumuz (45.4%) [2]

Religion

Sunni Islam

Introduction
A mosque in Jimma.

Islam was in 2007 the second largest

religion in Ethiopia with over 33.9% of the
population.[2] The faith arrived in Ethiopia
at an early date, shortly before the
hijira.[4] Ethiopia was the first foreign
country to accept Islam when it was
unknown in most parts of the world.[5]
Ethiopia also favored its expansion and
making Islam present in the country
since the times of Muhammad(571-
632).[5] Islam and Christianity are the two
major religions and have co-existed for
hundreds of years. This is in part by
Islam in Ethiopia is interrelated with
international religious institutions,
associations, and networks, resulting in
the decline of Islam in the country.[5]

History

Many diverse forms of Islam are practised in

Ethiopia.
Muslims arrived in the Axumite Empire
during the Hijarat as early disciples from
Mecca, persecuted by the ruling Quraysh
tribe. They were received by the Christian
ruler of Axum, whom Arabic tradition has
named Ashama ibn Abjar (King Armah in
Ge'Ez and Amharic), and he settled them
in Negash. Located in the Tigray Region.
On the other hand, the principal center of
Islamic culture, learning, and propagation
has been Wello. The Quraysh sent
emissaries to bring them back to Arabia,
but the King of Axum refused their
demands. The Prophet himself
instructed his followers who came to the
Axumite empire, to respect and protect
Axum as well as live in peace with the
native Christians.[6] While the city of
Medina, north of Mecca, ultimately
became the new home of most of the
exiles from Mecca, a 7th-century
cemetery excavated inside the
boundaries of Negash shows the Muslim
community survived their departure.[7]

The period of Fasilides (r.1632-1667)

gave Muslims a good opportunity to
expand their religion throughout the
country. Emperor Yohannis (r.1667-1682)
created a council of Muslims to establish
their own quarters in Addis Alem, far
from the Christians in the political
commercial capital, Gondar town.[5]
Muslims were able to have their own
space and the population of Muslims
increased because of wider urbanization.

Islam and Christianity have had their

conflicts within the country, from the
birth of Islam into the 16th century
Christians dominated the borderlands
where Islam was more prominent. This
brought about the settlement of Islam to
Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. In the
Dahlak islands, the first Muslims resided
in the 8th century until the 10th century
where Islam spread along the Red Sea
and Islam was restricted to norther
Ethiopia because Christianity was
already more dominant in the rest of the
country.[5] The port of Zeila allowed Islam
to enter through the eastern and central
parts of Ethiopia where Christianity had
not reached yet.[5]

During the 19th century, Emperor

Tewodros II (r.1855-1868) demanded
that his Muslim subjects convert to
Christianity or leave his empire.[5] Some
Muslims converted due to coercion and
those who didn't moved to the western
parts of the Gojjam near Sudan where
they continued practicing Islam.[5]
Emperor Tewodros II successor, Emperor
Yohannes IV (r.1872-1889) continued to
coerce Muslims into converting to
achieve religious uniformity by ordering
them to be baptized within three years.[5]
A traditional home in Harar with a niche adorned
with Islamic calligraphy.

Islam developed more rapidly in the

eastern part of the Horn region,
particularly among the Somali and
Harari. This was challenged by the
mostly Christian northern people of
Abyssinia, including Amhara, Tigray and
north western Oromo. However the north
and northeastern expansion of the
Oromo, who practiced mainstream
traditional Waaqa, affected the growth of
Islam in its early days. Historian Ulrich
Braukamper says, "the expansion of the
non-Muslim Oromo people during
subsequent centuries mostly eliminated
Islam in those areas." However, following
the centralization of some Oromo
communities, some of them adopted
Islam and today constitutes over 50% of
their population.[8]

In the 16th century, Muslims from the

Adal Sultanate embarked on a Conquest
of Abyssinia (Futuh al-Habash) under the
command of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi
(referred to as Gragn Mohammed or
"Mohammed the left-handed" in
Amharic).
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.
The First Hijrah …

A mosque in Mekelle.

When Mohammed saw the persecution

to which his followers were subjected to
in Mecca, he told them to find safe haven
in northern Ethiopia, Abyssinia, where
they would "find a king there who does
not wrong anyone." It was the first hijra
(migration) in Islam history.[9]

The persecution his followers suffered

was due to polytheists who harmed the
weaker Muslims and blackmailed richer
Muslims, causing a severe decline in
business.[10] The abuse the Muslims
endured eventually led people to convert
while others held their Islamic beliefs.
Abdullah ibn Masud was a new convert
and participated in a Muslim group
where a member suggested to recite the
Qur’an in Masjid al-Haram because the
people of the Quraysh never heard it
before. Abdullah agreed to do so and the
polytheists were amazed they pounded
on him until he bled to prevent the verses
from affecting them.[10]

Subsequently, because of the threats

early Muslims suffered the verses from
An-Nahl were revealed. According to
historians, these verses were specifically
sent as instructions for the migration to
Abyssinia.[10] The threats by the
polytheists were so harsh it prompted
the Prophet to save his people and have
them migrate to Abyssinia to escape the
harassment making it the first migration
in Islam.[10]

The fourth holiest Muslim city …

Ethiopia is home to Harar. According to

UNESCO, it is regarded as the fourth holy
city of Islam. It has 82 mosques, three of
which date from the 10th century, as well
as 102 shrines.[11][12] The city of Harar is
located in Eastern Ethiopia and got its
role of being an Islamic center in the 16th
century AD.[13] Harar is contained by a
djugel, a wall built of local Hashi stone
bonded together by mud and wood and it
was able to protect the city from the
invasion of the non-Muslim Oromo in
1567.[13] Harar began to develop the
characteristics of an Islamic city with the
Shafi‘i school in the 19th century as well
as Harar serving as a conduit for the
spreading of Islam in the Oromo
population during a Islamization
campaign under the reign of Amir
Muhammad.[13]
Harar, Ethiopia

The 82 mosques in Harar have served a

religious and social function for society.
Once a day men go and pray in the
mosque while the women pray at home,
though construction has begun to areas
where women can pray as well. Mosques
would also allow Islamic learning such
as the interpretation of the Quran, the
Arabic language, and the principles of
Islam.[13]

Denominations
Sunni …

Muslims in Ethiopia are predominantly

Sunni. In Sunni Islam, there are four
schools of thought and three of them are
located in Ethiopia, the main one is held
by the Shafi‘i school.[14] Roughly 98% of
Ethiopian Muslims are Sunni, whilst
another 2% adhere to other sects.

Shia …

Shia Islam is not represented in Ethiopia

compared to other denominations. In
fact, only 1% were raised as Shia and the
number of conversions raised by one
point.[15]
Ibadism …

Ibadism were allegedly seen as the most

admirable Muslims to be eligible for the
caliphate office and are known for being
the earliest sect of Islam.[16][17] They are
about 500,000 Ibadis residing in North
and East Africa as well as Oman and
Tanzania.[16]

Islamic Orthodox …

The Orientalist notion defined Islamic

Orthodoxy "as the point of departure that
consequently measured other practices
and beliefs as syncretistic or pre-
Islamic." [18] J. Spencer Trimingham the
author of Islam in Ethiopia examined the
impacts of Islam in the country and
arranged his analysis by a hierarchical
typology of different forms of
appropriation categorized as an
"orthodox system."[18] Institutions of
Islamic learning in Ethiopia were
maintaining an Islamic Orthodoxy within
the community.[18]

Muslim land rights

 
Gojjam, Ethiopia

Muslims were one of the marginalized

groups that were not allowed access to
land until the 1974 revolution.[5] The
revolution brought forth major changes
to the socio-political and religious
position of Ethiopian Muslims. In Gojjam,
most Muslims did not have access to
land, but had ways to get around it.[5]
They could rent, buy land, or enter in a
crop sharing verbal agreement with the
landowner. Muslims did not have the
right to own, administer, or inherit land
they simply were only allowed to live as
tenants.[5] If a verbal agreement was not
an option, another way Muslims were
able to acquire land was by clearing out
unoccupied land and settling there, but
only if they were able to offer some type
of service to the balebat. Muslims were
marginalised in Ethiopia, but particularly
in Gojjam.[5]

Rise of Salafism
Salafism is derived from al-salaf,
signifying a link back to what is known as
pure and authentic Islam.[19] The main
aspect of Salafism is the emphasis on
the idea that there is only one God.[20] In
Ethiopia, the concept of Salafism applies
to the resistance of pilgrimages to local
shrines, celebration of the Prophets
birthday and other practices.[20] Saudi
Arabia is known for the rise of Salafism
in Ethiopia, but the arrival of Salafism in
Ethiopia is due to the Italian occupation
from 1936 to 1941.[19] Many Ethiopians
were making their way to hajj when they
were subsidized by the Italians and
introducing Salafi teachings to the town
of Harar, before spreading to other parts
of the country.[19]

The Salafi movement began to spread in

the 1990s due to the political transition in
1991 and the arrival of the Ethiopian
People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF).[19] The EPRDF promised a
change within Ethiopia's religious groups
through decentralizing the structure of
ethnic federalism to enable Salafi's to
raise their activities.[19] During this
period, a new generation of Salafi's
emerged. Salafi teachings became
widespread due to organizations in
Ethiopia like, World Association of
Muslim Youth (WAMY). the Islamic Da'wa
and Knowledge Organization, and the
Awolia College.[20] Besides the
organizations the Salafi movement was
led by Oromo scholars who were
developing the Salafi ideology in
Ethiopia.[20] The youth became involved
in the movement and began to call
people to align with the obligatory
practices of Islam with strict Salafi
teachings.
In January 2012 to August 2013, the city
Addis Ababa was swarmed with protests
by Muslim demonstrators because of the
alleged government enforced al-Ahbash
campaigns that they Muslims viewed it
as an interference in religious affairs by
the regime.[19] The protests sparked
concern within the regime of what looked
like “extremism,” a concept that is
accredited with the Salafi movement.
Within the regime, local, and international
observers are claiming that Salafi
“extremists” are wanting to gain political
power to turn Ethiopia into an Islamic
State.[19] Others have argued that
Ethiopian Salafis are reluctant and
opposed to getting involved in politics.[19]
Due to the expansion of the Salafi
movement it has brought up intense
debates over religious symbols and
rituals, intrinsic to Ethiopian Islam.

Sharia Court
All around the world, Sharia courts are
designed to question and make
decisions regarding Muslim law.[14]
Sharia courts have existed in Ethiopia
since the country accepted Islam and the
influence of the religion in the coastal
areas that is surrounding the country.
The courts became officially recognized
by the state in 1942 when the
Proclamation for the Establishment of
Khadis Courts was issued.[14] The
Proclamation defined the authority of the
courts, but was repealed in 1994 by the
Khadis and Naiba Councils Proclamation,
providing a three set of courts: the
Supreme Court of Sharia, the High Court
of Sharia and the First Instance Court of
Sharia each with its own judges and
necessary number of Khadis.[14] The
Khadis and Naiba councils decide on any
questions surrounding marriage such as
divorce and guardianship of children all
that must be related to Mohammedans
law or all the parties are Muslim.[21] Also,
the councils decide on any questions
about wills or succession given that the
donor or deceased was a Muslim.[21]
Lastly, the courts decide on any
questions regarding payments of the
cost incurred by the aforementioned
decisions.[21] The provisions provided by
the courts made the Ethiopian Muslim
courts similar to ones Sudan, Nigeria and
other Africa countries where Sharia
courts exist to handle the personal laws
of the Muslim population.[21]

In terms of gender equality, sharia law

has a different approach to tackling
gender equality. Islamic law contains
different ways to treat women that can
be applied to courts for example, divorce,
partition of property, inheritance and
many more. Final decisions made by the
Sharia court are treated as an exception
to the constitutional standard of Article
9(1), which states “The Constitution is
the supreme law of the land. All laws,
customary practices, and decisions
made by state organs or public officials
inconsistent therewith, shall be null and
void.”[14][22] It raises a question about
Ethiopia's commitment to human rights
because personal status laws, which are
under Ethiopia's jurisdiction of sharia
courts are considered an area of law
which discrimination on the basis of
gender is established.

Muslims in contemporary
Ethiopia
 

A mosque in Bahir Dar.

Much as the rest of the Muslim world, the

beliefs and practices of the Muslims in
Ethiopia are basically the same:
embodied in the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
There are also Sufi brotherhoods present
in Ethiopia such as the Qadiriyyah order
in Wello. 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 during their holy days
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 Muslims in Ethiopia 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.[23]

Muslims in contemporary Ethiopia have

become actively engaged in challenging
their political marginalization through the
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary
Democratic Front.[24] They are persistent
in wanting to engage with the EPRDF's
basis of political legitimacy and
challenging their forceful secularism that
limits religion to the private domain.[24] In
the context of electoral politics, Muslims
have become increasingly involved in
voting blocs. Their demands include
expanding into Western financial
institutions, consolidation with other
parts of the Islamic world and the right to
religious expression freely.[24] Muslims in
Ethiopia are looking to redefine
themselves in this new day and age after
continuing being marginalized in their
home country.

See also
First migration to Abyssinia
List of non-Arab Sahaba
Islam by country
Jamāl al-Dīn b. Muḥammad al-Annī
Abadir Umar Ar-Rida
 Religion in Ethiopia

References
1. "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-
2050" . Pew Research Center's Religion &
Public Life Project. 2015-04-02. Retrieved
2020-10-29.
2. 2007 Ethiopian census, first draft ,
Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency, p.17
(accessed 6 May 2009)
3. "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-
2050" . Pew Research Center's Religion &
Public Life Project. 2015-04-02. Retrieved
2020-10-29.
4. J. Spencer Trimingham. 1952. Islam in
Ethiopia. Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for
the University Press, p. 44
5. Baye, Temesgen Gebeyehu (2018-06-04).
"Muslims in Ethiopia: History and
identity". African Studies. 77 (3): 412–
427.
doi:10.1080/00020184.2018.1475634 .
ISSN 0002-0184 . S2CID 149879228 .
. Ofcansky, Thomas P.; LaVerle Berry
(1991). "Ethiopia and the Early Islamic
Period" . A Country Study: Ethiopia.
Federal Research Division, Library of
Congress. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
"According to Islamic tradition, some
members of Muhammad's family and
some of his early converts had taken
refuge with the Aksumites during the
troubled years preceding the Prophet's
rise to power, and Aksum was exempted
from the jihad, or holy war, as a result."
 7. Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time: A History
of Ethiopia (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p.
43.
. Ulrich Braukamper, Islamic History and
Culture in Southern Ethiopia (2003)
9. the first hijrah to Abyssinia
10. "Migration to Abyssinia" .
11. "Harar Jugol, the Fortified Historic Town" .
World Heritage List. UNESCO World
Heritage Centre. Retrieved 6 August 2009.
"It is considered 'the fourth holy city' of
Islam, having been founded by a holy
missionary from the Arabic Peninsula."
12. The fourth holiest Muslim city
13. Insoll, Timothy; Zekaria, Ahmed (2019-07-
29). "The Mosques of Harar: An
Archaeological and Historical Study".
Journal of Islamic Archaeology. 6 (1): 81–
107. doi:10.1558/jia.39522 . ISSN 2051-
9710 .
14. Abdo, Mohammed. "Legal Pluralism Vs.
Human Rights Issues: Sharia Courts and
Human Rights Concerns in the Light of
the Federal /constitution of Ethiopia"
(PDF).

15. https://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/t
he-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-1-
religious-affiliation/#identity
1 . "Funk, Isaac Kaufman, (10 Sept. 1839–4
April 1912), author; President Funk &
Wagnalls Company; Editor-in-chief of the
various periodicals of Funk & Wagnalls
Company; Editor-in-chief of the Funk &
Wagnalls Standard Dictionary, new edition
revised 1903; Chairman of Editorial Board
that produced Jewish Encyclopædia",
Who Was Who, Oxford University Press,
2007-12-01,
doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u1
86193
17. Crone, Patricia. (2005). From Kavad to al-
Ghazali : religion, law, and political
thought in the Near East, c. 600-c. 1100.
Ashgate. ISBN 0-86078-956-X.
OCLC 238685639 .
1 . Desplat, Patrick Østebø, Terje (2016).
Muslim ethiopia : the christian legacy,
identity politics, and islamic reformism.
Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-349-
45931-5. OCLC 959700860 .
19. Østebø, Terje (2014-05-01). "Salafism,
State-Politics, and the Question of
"Extremism" in Ethiopia". Comparative
Islamic Studies. 8 (1–2): 165–184.
doi:10.1558/cis.v8i1-2.165 . ISSN 1740-
7125 .
20. Ostebo, T. (2013-10-28). "Islam and State
Relations in Ethiopia: From Containment
to the Production of a "Governmental
Islam" ". Journal of the American
Academy of Religion. 81 (4): 1029–1060.
doi:10.1093/jaarel/lft060 . ISSN 0002-
7189 .
21. Mustafa, Zaki (1973). "The Substantive
Law Applied by Muslim Courts in
Ethiopia" . Journal of Ethiopian Law. 9:
138.
22. "Ethiopian Constitution" .
www.africa.upenn.edu. Retrieved
2020-05-09.
23. Mekonnen, Yohannes K. (2013). Ethiopia:
The Land, Its People, History and Culture.
New Africa Press. p. 231.
ISBN 9789987160242.
24. Feyissa, Dereje; Lawrence, Bruce B. (July
2014). "Muslims Renegotiating
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  This article incorporates public
 
domain material from the Library of
Congress Country Studies website
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ .

External links
The Muslim-Christian War (1528-
1560)
Ethiopian History and Civilization

Further reading
Jon Abbink, "An Historical-
Anthropological Approach to Islam in
Ethiopia: Issues of Identity and
Politics", Journal of African Cultural
Studies , 11 (1998), pp. 109–124
 Dickson, David, "Political Islam in Sub-
Saharan Africa: The Need for a new
Research and Diplomatic Agenda" ,
United States Institute of Peace,
Special Report 140, May 2005.

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