By Keffyalew Gebremedhin
The first part of this article discussed how through the centuries Ethiopia succeeded to survive, safeguarding its independence and territorial integrity. The article drew inspiration, among others, from The Survival of Ethiopian Independence (1983), authored by Prof. Sven Rubenson, an academic who has lived all his life as a student of Ethiopian history.
The Ethiopian persona, steeped in the uniquely Ethiopian politico-religious consciousness from early times, had evolved the nations identity and the people’s determination of who they are as key ingredients that have made real the country’s continued existence as one of the oldest nations in the world.
This Ethiopian persona and the determination of the people thereon were propelled by:
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(a) strong heritage of national consciousness shaped by monarchical traditions and institutions, on which the state system was anchored, with Orthodox Christianity cementing them together,
(b) international recognition of Ethiopia also became its rescuer from early on, i.e., recognition by the world powers from the earliest times that accepted Ethiopia’s official co-equality, and
(c) Ethiopia’s choice especially from the 19th century onwards of fostering skilled persons in political matters and diplomacy that counseled the sovereigns in diffusion of tensions, the search for compromises and to the extent possible to prevent conflicts and avert wars.
Therefore, this write-up as the second one in three-part article would weigh Islam’s late emergence in Ethiopia. This had posed difficulties for the religion to find official footing in Ethiopia until the mid-20th century, primarily limiting its place to second fiddle player in parts of the country.
Nonetheless, as demonstrated time and again in the rise and expansion of religions in world history, that never deterred Islam.
Its choice of peaceful coexistence has strengthened Islam’s ability to amalgamate itself into the ‘Ethiopian identity’. In spite of that, its public and official recognition came only no less than a millennium later, time it used to evolve as an intrinsic part of Ethiopian-ness.
Islam’s critical role has enabled it to broadened the substantive elements of what went into the Ethiopian national identity, the determination of which early on were the exclusive preserve of the monarchy and Orthodox Christianity.
This paper would then try to touch upon the role of religions in the protection of the country’s interests, whose role is looked into against the backdrop of the present political reality in the country.
The fact of the matter is that, in today’s Ethiopia it appears that the country’s stability, its unity and territorial integrity seem hardly safer going forward. These two religious institutions that are the country’s essence are now facing serious challenges, the types of which were unseen or unheard of before.
The intention of this article is, therefore, to use examples from the past to caution divisive forces against their throbbing sentiments under the cover of state and its unhealthy attitudes thereon, which in the final analysis may leave everyone vanquished, unless curtailed in time.
The challenges of the moment
More than ever before, today Orthodox Christianity and Islam – the two national religious institutions – have become the last remaining frontiers for the defenses of our country. Also in the past, those are the tasks they have in varying degrees shouldered with great distinction, even in the most trying periods of world history. That is why the present generation should be obliged to recognize that our country’s continued existence, maintenance of its independence and national sovereignty have been achieved through contributions of the followers of both faiths.
Unfortunately, as a countercurrent there are signs that the TPLF is increasingly assuming hostile posture against these historical institutions and their achievements.
Nearly four decades after Islam achieved equal status with Christianity (and with other major religions in the country), today the Ethiopian state has unleashed its repressive actions and polices against both Islam and Orthodox Christianity.
Of late, two things are badly exposing the contradictions into which the ruling party is wallowing. The first is its persistent reiteration that Ethiopian law has clearly delineated state and religion. The second contradiction is its shameful violations of these laws.
If that is the case, how can it explain its choice of the kind of Islamic religious denomination (Ahbash) Ethiopian Moslems should follow? Which individual in any country in today’s world would be able to accept such takeover of his or her life?
If church and state are separate, what business does the state have in the affairs of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church? What law gives the state to insist on who should preside over the Ethiopian patriarchate?
This developments indicate that Ethiopia’s two major religions have become targets of TPF’s onslaughts. And that is the very reason why Orthodox Christians and Moslems have to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to ensure respect for their fundamental human and civil rights in the face of ethnically-and ideologically-motivated aggressions.
Islam in Ethiopia
Islam is the second largest Ethiopian religion. The 2007 Ethiopian Census indicates that of the total population of 73.9 million people in Ethiopia, 25.0 million were Moslems, representing 33.8 percent of the population. Today, the population of Ethiopia is estimated to be 86.5 million (UNFPA; 2012). The only misfortune of Islam had in Ethiopia was its being second in its arrival to Ethiopia – nearly four centuries after the country’s official conversion to Christianity in 341 A.D.
Therefore, through institutions (state and church historical hook up) and seniority of the first comer, Christianity has collected all advantages to freely determine, with the support of the state, the place of its contender – Islam – until the 1974 revolution, when church and state were officially separated.
This should not lend reason for senseless resentment by some unthinking individuals or undue reactions, as individual failure or success. As an experience in history, it cannot be reversed nor could it be what it is not. The best the present generation can do is to see to it that all forms of injustices are corrected, without let or hindrances.
I am raising this because recently some venomous talk was on air on Radio Feteh, cursing and demeaning the making of Ethiopia in the 19th century. At the outset, let me be clear that the huge majority Ethiopian Moslems does not share this state of mind.
Nevertheless, I would en passé mention the sermon on Feteh in a moment, which spurred me into writing this three-part article. In the end, I decided to rather focus on the broader issues that now are threatening the two religious institutions, their members and our country’s unity and continuity.
Rest assured that it would not take away an iota from the fact that Ethiopia is common ancestral home for all Ethiopians, irrespective of religion and ethnic origin. No one is better Ethiopian because of the religion or ethnicity.
One only need to put oneself in the shoes of the late Sayh Muhammad Tani, the founding chairman of the Ethiopian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in the post-revolution Ethiopia. He is the person, during whose term of office Islam won its co-equal status and public recognition, at least from the point of view of Ethiopian laws and practices.
In early September 1974, Sayh Muhammad Tani and the Moslim delegation that accompanied him had an audience with Lt. Gen Aman Mikael Andom, chairman of the Derg. The purpose of this visit, according to Prof. Hussein Ahmed, was to express the support of the Ethiopian Islamic community for the revolution.
This was a fitting occasion to do that, because, despite repeated misrepresentations by the TPLF/EPRDF, for the first time the change has entailed separation of church and state came in 1974. Since then, it has become possible for Islam to find itself on an equal footing with Christianity and an official place within the laws of the Ethiopian state. The occasion of that visit by Sayh Muhammad Tani happened to be the official celebration of their first ‘Īd al-Fitr.
On that occasion, Sayh Muhammad Tani told Gen. Andom that in the past Moslem delegation, representing the Moslem residents of Addis Ababa, used to go to the imperial palace twice annually after the two ‘Īd prayers in order to express their best wishes to the emperor on the occasion of the celebration of the Islamic festivals.
In Prof. Hussein Ahmed’s 1989 assessment of Islam’s progress in Ethiopia:
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“Perhaps the most important gain for Islam after the revolution was the official proclamation that legalized the three principal Islamic religious festivals (‘Īd al-Fitr, ‘Īd al-Adhā and Mawlid al-Nabī) as public holidays. This was an unprecedented and fundamental policy decision that was universally and enthusiastically welcomed by Ethiopian Muslims, and was one of the factors that galvanized the support of the Muslims for the new regime.”
Sayh Muhammad Tani is credited with creating beneficial ties between the Moslem community and the state, while maintaining appropriate balance in his relations with the authorities. At the same time, he never hesitated in ensuring his personal and the community’s participation in official and unofficial capacities, as was the case, among others, with the national literacy campaign and drought relief mobilization committees, whose chairman he was. He brought along the community to help the nation with whatever they could as Ethiopian citizens.
Professor Hussein Ahmed notes that during Tani’s leadership of the Moslem community, he was able to increase the building of several mosques. Most importantly, he managed to avoid conflicts within the Moslem community, because of which he was able to deny the state any excuse for direct intervention.
Since then, Ethiopian Moslems have come a long way. Their consciousness and sense of their needs for the respect of their human and civil rights have developed. The kind of leadership the Moslem community now needs is not one that becomes a conveyor belt to what the state needs and demands – but what the community needs, as a group and collection of individual with rights consciousness to better serve their interests and the nation’s.
The demands of the Moslem community that since the past year have become more forceful have not been any different from demands or interests by other Ethiopians, especially as regards their human or civic rights. Therefore, this is one of the reasons why the persistent efforts of the state to drive wedge between Christians and Moslems has miserably failed. On the contrary, its has strengthened the understanding fostered in centuries of coexistence between followers of the two major religions.
Under the TPLF, Ethiopian Moslems have legitimately been concerned that the Meles I regime and its successors Meles II regime have for the past year done everything within their powers to rob Moslems of their hard won rights. In the age of terrorism, the regime has attempted to label everyone terrorist until proven innocent, the process of which has been hard and costly for many.
If there had been a few individuals here and there within the Moslem community carrying out destructive activities, as demonstrated by the burning of churches in some towns and regions early on, the Moslem community itself has become the first to stamp them out. Interestingly, even in this there have been persistent allegations implicating the ruling party’s hand aiming to put a wedge between the two co-religionists.
The state tightens the screw against the Moslem community
It is common to learn from time to time that the Ethiopian Moslem community is in trouble. The young are targeted by the state as suspects who are set out to undermine the state. Parents worry their children may be imprisoned, tortured or killed. To make matters worse, during the past year, state security forces have repeatedly disrupted in thuggish ways prayer sessions in mosques in different parts of the country. The practice continues on a weekly basis during the Friday worships in the country, a suitable moment for the sustained Moslem protests.
After the Arab Spring, the state has been frightened that such restiveness of the Moslems would spread into Ethiopia. There still is fear that the protests would deepen to become a platform not only for serious confrontations between the state and the community. But also it providing incentive and possibility for broader national struggle for democratic rights.
Instead of addressing the civic rights and democracy issues, the solution Meles Zenawi and his lieutenants have chosen is to select Ahbash, as a religious denomination within Islam to “calm” Ethiopian Moslems! As touched upon above, this is happening as the state constantly declares its neutrality on religious matters and, worst of all, despite the build up of fierce resistance within the Moslem community.
In fact, Meles’s favorite solution has galvanized younger Moslems, which also are the ones with higher level of consciousness and better education. Ever since, the Moslem community has persisted in its rejection of state interference in its religion. For a state that hardly values discussion as means of reaching compromise and accommodation, it sank low unbelievably trying brutish means, such as provoking violence every Friday.
Aware of this, the Moslem community has repeatedly outsmarted the security forces, changing its tactics and choosing the most peaceful forms of protests, because of which it has denied the state what it wanted most – violence.
It has been now months since 15 leaders of the Moslem protestors are imprisoned. The security forces have also murdered several Moslem protestors in Arsi, Wollo, Harar. There are claims of the imprisoned leaders have reportedly been repeatedly tortured for refusing to confess they are members of Al Qaeda or some other terrorist cells. While the state has not succeeded in this, it is not also faring well in the election it arranged for the Islamic Council leadership, to which the community has only given its back.
These Moslem protests every Friday would not go away. The fact that they are now peaceful should not delude the state. As human beings, subject people would also their patience and endurance also have limits. The fear is that the state itself may be encouraging extremism, which is not typical characteristic of Ethiopian society.
All that the Moslem protestors are asking is for their religious freedom, i.e., to practice their religion with freedom and dignity. In the views of many Moslems, what they resent is the denial of what Ethiopian law has provided them since 1974.
Why are the TPLF and its satellites conspiring against Ethiopia?
By all indications, the TPLF actions have permanently split the Ethiopia Orthodox Church into two, possibly more signals may come in future. In addition to those referred to above, its objectives have been consistent, with divisive signs emerging all the time.
If we look at the sequences and the interrelated actions, they form a consistent pattern. For instance, at the Epiphany celebration in Addis Abeba on 19 January, the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported that Ethiopians colorfully celebrated Epiphany, presided over by the Interim Patriarch Abune Nathaniel.
His name was mentioned once, but not the contents of the message or the blessings he gave. Interestingly, however, the star on the occasion was, in ENA’s Amharic reporting of the same story was a Bishop from Tigrai, Abune Lucas.
His message was extensively reported, pleading support for the Ethiopian government’s development objectives. Rumors circulating in recent weeks have repeatedly mentioned his name as a favorite candidate of the ruling party to become the next patriarch.
Not has Abune Nathaniel received coverage even as much as the Egyptian Ambassador in Addis Abeba Dr. Mohammed Idris. For unstated reasons, according to ENA, he was given forum to speak to Ethiopian people about epiphany. Fortunately, he spoke highly of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, a christendom with following of about half of Ethiopia’s population of 87 million and one of the largest patriarchates in the world.
What this says is that until the TPLF gets what it wants, its hostile actions would continue against both Ethiopian Christianity and Islam. They are intended for one clear purpose: it badly wants to take control of the religious institutions, more like the kebeles throughout the country.
Recall that this extensive control, the TPLF is now further pushing for, was Meles’s point of chest thumping. In a May 25, 2012 interview, Meles told Richard Dowden, “Unlike all previous governments our writ runs in every village. That has never happened in the history of Ethiopia.”
Not surprisingly, the TPLF is preoccupied that the two religions would stand against its long-term objective of breaking Ethiopia apart. That is why to the point any sensible and thinking human being could not fathom, it is harassing everyone, lest its attempt to become Ethiopia’s overlord would not be realized.
Therefore, in a clear betrayal of the nation’s history and the responsibilities that come with the office the TPLF now holds, supported by its minions, it is very likely that it would continue its attack and undermining of both historic religious institutions under various pretexts.
In the circumstances, the best recourse for our country is for the victims of these aggression – the adherents of the two religions – to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and defend their faiths. Their actions would spare our country from disintegration. The danger before our country is far more serious, the scope and implications of which never witnessed or heard before in the entire long history of this oldest nation.
TPLF’s actions represent fervent desire no less than the destruction of what have been built with centuries of hard work, sacrifices, selflessness and commitment to national cause. Ethiopians should not allow these attempts aimed at merely satisfying the selfish craze for power of the few at the expense of the many, for which the TPLF and its minions bear the ultimate responsibility.
*Updated.
THE ETHIOPIA OBSERVATORY (TEO) 