THE ADVENT OF ISLAM IN ETHIOPIA
Brother Daniel
The earliest Muslim presence in Ethiopia antedates the event known as the Hijra, when Muhammad left Mecca for Medina in A.D. 622. At a time when Muhammad was already beginning to feel the hostility of his Meccan compatriots, he sent a large portion of his followers—about one hundred according to the principal hadith—to the Christian emperor of Aksum for safekeeping in 615 and 616 A.D. Muhammad called for this community to return after he established himself in Medina, and there is little evidence of any ongoing Muslim group in Aksum or any other part of Ethiopia at this time. But the brief exile demonstrates the presence at that time of Ethiopians, including Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, in Mecca and other areas around the Red Sea, as well as the good relations between the early Arab Muslims and people in northeast Africa.[1]
Early Ethiopian Muslims
There are early Ethiopian converts to Islam whose names are popular among Muslims and given esteemed status by the religion. Among these Bilal is the most notable one. Bilal ibn Rabah was a man of Ethiopian ancestry born in mecca as a slave to one of the powerful branches of the Quraysh tribe, the Banu Jahm. He was one of the early converts to Islam, but his owner would torture him to try to force him to give up his new religion and return to the worship of mecca’s old goddesses, Al-Lat and Uzza. He refused and would utter the words, “One, one!” in reference to the one God, Allah, while under torture. Muhammad appointed him to be the community’s first Muezzin, the man who makes the call to prayer, because of his melodious and powerful voice. He also served as Muhammad’s personal attendant. In his last years, Bilal participated in the conquest of Syria, where he spent the rest of his life. Today there is a shrine for Bilal in the cemetery of Damascus, and his memory is kept alive for Muslims around the world in oral traditions and in children’s literature about Muhammad’s companions.[2]
How Ethiopia is viewed by Islamic World
According to Martin & et al. (2004), Ethiopia was the state most affected by Islamic foreign relations. Muhammad’s sending of the Sahaba (Companions) in 615 and 616 to seek asylum with the Christian king of Ethiopia, al-Najashi Ashama, was also known as the first Hijra. The Sahaba were saved from Meccan persecutors by the Ethiopian king, and this gesture gave birth to a legacy of eternal gratitude. This history was reflected in the hadith whose essential message was “leave the Ethiopians alone as long as they leave you alone.” Most orthodox Muslim jurists, scholars, and moderate politicians interpreted this admonition as a declaration that Christian Ethiopia would be a land of neutrality, dar al-hiyyad. This assumption of Ethiopian neutrality in religious matters was interpreted differently by more radical Muslims—pointing to Christian Ethiopia’s illegitimacy. This principal argument among Muslims over the legitimacy of historical Ethiopia resurfaced whenever Ethiopia became a subject of the radical Muslim agenda, and it remains an active issue today.[3]
Professor Haggai Erlich, an eminent scholar on Islam in Ethiopia, in his scholarly book entitled “Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia: Islam, Christianity, and Politics Entwined” wrote the following concerning the legend of al-Najashi and the two opposing interpretations and views of the Islamic world about Ethiopia:
For the Islamic world, the Prophet-Najashi story carried a double message. In the years to come, mainstream orthodoxy tended to emphasize the first part, that of Ethiopian generosity and the righteousness of the Christian Najashi. The legacy of this part was that Ethiopia, in spite of its Christianity, deserved gratitude and was therefore legitimate. This interpretation was eternalized in the famous saying attributed to the Prophet: “Leave the Ethiopians alone as long as they leave you alone.” For many Islamic jurists, Christian Ethiopia was a unique case, a “land of neutrality” (dar al-hiyad), exempt from jihad. Muslims in the Middle East should not interfere in Ethiopian affairs, on condition, naturally, that the Ethiopians did not mistreat Muslims. Moreover, Muslims in Ethiopia should live in peace under the Christian government. This early Ethiopian model, of Muslims accepting a non-Islamic regime as prescribed by the Prophet himself, still serves moderate Muslims the world over. The figure of the dark-skinned Najashi later embracing Islam served the moderates mainly as an example of Islam’s supra-racial universality.
The second part of the story, however, carried a totally different message for more radical Muslims. As interpreted over the centuries by Middle Eastern advocates of anti-Ethiopian militancy, Islam al-Najashi meant that Ethiopia was already an integral part of the “land of Islam” (dar al-Islam). The Muslim najashi, they contended, betrayed by his generals and priests, died in isolation. Ethiopia, therefore, represented Islam’s first failure, and her Christian history was traitorous and illegitimate. Christian Ethiopia prevented Islam from spreading into Africa and continued to oppress its own Muslims. In the eyes of Islamic radicals, Ethiopia should be redeemed by again installing a Muslim ruler. Over the centuries, the slogan Islam al-Najash—the contention that Ethiopia’s king had been a Muslim and that the country should therefore be ruled by a Muslim—served those in the Middle East who sought to undermine Ethiopia’s Christian system, and encouraged Muslims in the Horn of Africa to take over its political leadership.[4]
Sects of Islam in Ethiopia
According to Hussein Ahmed, almost all Muslims in Ethiopia are Sunni, with a plurality, if not a majority, adhering to one or another Sufi tarīqa (order). The most widely followed of these is the Qadiriyya, although the Tijaniyya, Shaziriyya, and Semaniyya orders also have significant followings.[5]
[1] Richard C. Martin; Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World; Volume 1 A-L; 2004, p. 14
[2] Juan E. Campo; Encyclopedia of Islam; 2009, pp. 101-102
[3] Martin & et al., p. 231
[4] Haggai Erlich. Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia: Islam, Christianity, and Politics Entwined; Lynne Rienner Publishers; 2006; pp. 2-3
[5] Hussein Ahmed, “Coexistence and/or Confrontation?: Towards a Reappraisal of Christian-Muslim Encounter in Contemporary Ethiopia,” Journal of Religion in Africa 36, no. 1 (2006), 11-12.