Islam in Ethiopia

Islam is the second largest religion in Ethiopia behind Christianity. In 2024, 31.5% of the population was Muslim.

Islam first appeared in Ethiopia during the time of Prophet Muhammad; in 615, when a group of Muslims were counselled by Muhammad to escape persecution in Mecca and migrate to the Kingdom of Aksum, which was based in Ethiopia and which was ruled by Najashi, a pious Christian king. It is agreed by Islamic scholars that Najashi gave shelter to the Muslim refugees around 615–616 at Axum. Bilal ibn Ribah, the first muezzin (the person chosen to call the faithful to prayer) and one of the foremost companions of Muhammad, was born in Mecca to an Abyssinian (Ethiopian) mother.

Simultaneously, historians emphasize that Islam was introduced to Ethiopia through trade networks, not solely this migration. Scholarly exchange, as well as merchant activity, was heavily present in eastern Ethiopia and was cultivated for centuries.

thumb|This is a map of Zeila and Adam, Somali regions and ports that introduced Islam into the Horn of Africa, including Ethiopia.

Many trade networks likely brought Islam in this direction, such as the Red Sea ports like Zeila and Massawa, but also the Indian Ocean trade network. Traders and migrants from the Afar Region and Adal Sultanate brought Islam inland, where religious teachers reinforced the religion. Islam in Ethiopia developed a blended faith, emphasis spiritual elements and co-existing with cultural traditions.thumb|Distribution of Muslims in Ethiopia (2007) [[Islam and Christianity are the two major religions and have co-existed for hundreds of years.

History

thumb|400px|Many diverse forms of Islam are practised in Ethiopia.

Muslims arrived in the Axumite Empire during the Hijra 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 centre 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. 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.

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 and commercial capital, Gondar.

The expansion of this region is tied to coastal ports in Somalia, such as Zeila, which operated as a center for Islam cultural exchange. This connected the Horn of Africa to Arabia which supported not only transported goods but intellectual exchange. This encouraged Islam to spread inland, creating mosques and Quranic schools, which was done by pastoralists and religious teachers, which occurred more organically through religious networks rather than state expansion.

thumb|Here is a picture of a Harari home, with a woman wearing a diriyah, likely named after a city in Saudi Arabia, clothing that is closely associated with East African Indian Ocean culture. The furniture of the home also reflects similar ground-level choices, common in Islamic culture.

With the Harari Region in particular, the city of Harar emerged as one of the most significant centers of Islamic learning in the Horn of Africa. Often referred to as the “City of Saints,” or "Africa's Mecca", Harar developed numerous mosques, shrines, and scholarly institutions that helped spread Islamic teachings across the region. The city was closely linked to other Islamic centers, therefore it was easy to facilitate theological knowledge. However, they still exhibited political autonomy, which allowed them to persist Christian kingdom pressures. The Harari people also developed distinct practices which reflects the blending of Islamic and local traditions. After finishing their Ramadan, they celebrate by chewing "khat", a leaf with stimulating drug-like properties.

In the 16th century, Muslims from the Adal Sultanate embarked on the 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).

Muslim states, such as the Sultanate of Ifat, played an important role in institutionalizing Islam through governance, education, and regional diplomacy. This sultanate existed from the late 1200s to early 1400s and it largely controlled both inland and coastal trade routes. This was supported by the fact that there is a large population in the Somali region, which stimulated the coastal network. Ifat contributed to the rise of Harar as the center it became. It officialized Islam as a local religion, beyond traders.

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 Somalis and other pastoralists tended not to follow the requirement that daughters inherit half as much property as sons, particularly when livestock were 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

thumb|right|A mosque in [[Mekelle.]]

When Mohammed saw the persecution to which his followers were subjected 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 Islamic history.

The persecution his followers suffered was due to polytheists who harmed the weaker Muslims and blackmailed richer Muslims, causing a severe decline in business. 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 reciting the Qur'an in Masjid al-Haram because the people of the Quraysh had never heard it before. Abdullah agreed to do so, and the polytheists were so amazed they pounded on him until he bled to prevent the verses from affecting them. The city of Harar is located in eastern Ethiopia and gained its role as an Islamic centre in the 16th century AD. Harar is contained by a , 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.

Ibadism

Ibadis 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. There are about 500,000 Ibadis residing in North and East Africa as well as Oman and Tanzania.

Muslim land rights

thumb|[[Gojjam, Ethiopia]]

Muslims were one of the marginalised groups that were not allowed access to land until the 1974 revolution. 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. They could rent, buy land, or enter into 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. 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, particularly in Gojjam. The main aspect of Salafism is the emphasis on the idea that there is only one God. In Ethiopia, the concept of Salafism applies to the resistance of pilgrimages to local shrines, the celebration of the Prophet's birthday and other practices.

thumb|Muslim women protesting the Derg regime in 1974, upon its creation.

In the Somali Region, this change led to an expansion of Islamic infrastructure and education. More mosques were constructed, and opportunities for Islamic learning grew, both in religious studies and in schools that combined secularism and piety. The greater freedom also enabled Ethiopian Muslims to connect more closely with the wider Muslim world, through pilgrimage, foreign scholarships, and access to international Islamic publications. These interactions contributed to the spread of Salafism, introducing new religious perspectives alongside existing Sufi traditions.

Sharia courts

All around the world, Sharia courts are designed to question and make decisions regarding Muslim law. Sharia courts have existed in Ethiopia since the country accepted Islam and the influence of the religion in the coastal areas that are surrounding the country. The courts became officially recognised by the state in 1942 when the Proclamation for the Establishment of Khadis Courts was issued. Also, the councils decide on any questions about wills or succession, given that the donor or deceased was a Muslim. 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 in which discrimination on the basis of gender is established.

Muslims in contemporary Ethiopia

thumb|right|A mosque in [[Bahir Dar.]]

Much like the rest of the Muslim world, the beliefs and practices of the Muslims in Ethiopia are essentially the same: embodied in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. There are also Sufi brotherhoods present in Ethiopia, such as the Qadiriyyah<nowiki/>order in Wello. The most important Islamic religious practices, such as the daily ritual prayers (Salat) and fasting (Arabicصوم, 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 centres and 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 neighbouring 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.

In contemporary Ethiopia, Islamic communities navigate issues of religious identity, education, and political representation. Debates surrounding reform movements have influenced discourse within Ethiopia’s broader society. For example, the growth of Salafi movements has contributed to debates, particularly between Salafi reformers and followers of longstanding Sufi traditions. Historically, Ethiopian Islam has been highly influenced by Sufism, as well as it being incorporated in religions practices like shrine visitation. Salafi's criticized these because it emphasized "innovations", as opposed to original Islam.

thumb|Ethiopian Sufi Muslims celebrating the firs Victory of Islam

Protesting is still not lost to the Ethiopian Muslim community. In the early 2010s, they organized a movement due to their perceived government interference in their religion. They criticized the emphasis of religious education, which was promoted through the al-Ahbash movement. This is a Sunni ideology, with slight Sufi influence, deriving its name for the Arabic word for Abyssinians. This was created in Lebanon, in the 1980s, by an Ethiopian scholar named Abdullah al-Harari. He heavily rejected the Salafi and Wahhabi interpretations of Islam, and instead encouraged a strict return to early Islamic practices. This was controversial because Ethiopian Muslims demanded religious independece and an end of government involvement in Islamic education.

Muslims in contemporary Ethiopia have become actively engaged in challenging their political marginalisation through the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front. 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. 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.

References

External links

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