Muslim Ethiopia The Christian Legacy, Identity Politics, and Islamic Reformism

by Desplat, Patrick; Østebø, Terje

• ISBN13: 9781137325297
• ISBN10: 1137325291
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-04-18
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Muslim Ethiopia: The Christian Legacy, Identity Politics and Islamic Reformism is a pioneering collection of studies on Islam in contemporary Ethiopia. This volume challenges the popular notion of a 'Christian Ethiopia' imagined as the centuries-old, never-colonized Abyssinia, isolated in the highlands and dominated by Orthodox Christianity. In addition to marginalizing Muslim cultures and societies within Ethiopia, this notion has also excluded Muslims from public discourse and led to the neglect of Islam in Ethiopian studies. This is strikingly at odds with the country's cultural and historical reality, as Muslims constitute a significant part of the population and have contributed significantly to its development. Muslim Ethiopia develops this overlooked nexus of Ethiopian and Islamic Studies, while broadening our understandings of Muslims in Africa as a whole.

Author Biography

Patrick Desplat is Lecturer in the Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology and Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Cologne, Germany.



Terje ØstebØ is Assistant Professor at the Center for African Studies and Department of Religion, University of Florida, USA.

Table of Contents

PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Muslim Societies and Cultures in Ethiopia. Contemporary Perspectives; Patrick Desplat and Terje Østebø
2. Islamic Literary Heritage. Change and Continuity; Hassan Muhammed Kawo
3. Islam and Christianity Intertwined: Historical Perspectives; Roman Loimeier
PART II: ETHIOPIAN MUSLIMS AND THE HORN OF AFRICA: CAPACITIES AND CONSTRAINS
4. Genealogies of Somali Islamic Politics: The contribution of 'Ethiopian' Somalis; Cedric Barnes
5. Islam, War and Peace in the Horn of Africa; Haggai Erlich
6. Ahlu Sunnah wal Jama'a and Somali Sufism in the Horn of Africa; Roland Marchal
PART III: CAPACITIES AND CONSTRAINTS: MUSLIM REPRESENTATIONS IN THE ETHIOPIAN PUBLIC SPHERE
7. Islam in Contemporary Ethiopia: New Possibilities and Enduring Constraints; Dereje Fayissa
8. Living Across Digital Landscapes: Indian Guru, Hadrami Diaspora and Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia; Samson A. Bezabeh
9. The Mosque Next Door: Neighborhood Reactions to the Opening of a Mosque in Central Addis Ababa; Eloi Ficquet
10. To be announced; Jon Abbink
PART IV: TRANSFORMING MUSLIM IDENTITIES: REFORM, APPROPRIATION AND RESISTANCE
11. The Formation of a Muslim Regional Cult in Eastern Ethiopia – Sitti Momina and the Faraqasa Connection; Minako Ishihara
12. The Production of Social and Territorial Boundaries in a Context of Increasing External Influences: Adaptation and Resistance to Change among Muslim Afar Pastoralists; Simone Rettberg
13. Youth, Islam, and Ethno-nationalism in Contemporary Bale; Terje Østebø
14. Gendering Religious Orthodoxy. Representation of Women in a Sufi shrine at Tiru Sina; Meron Zeleke
15. Identity, Islam and Ethnic Politics among the Siltie of Ethiopia; Zerihun A. Woldesellassie
16. Reconsidering the City of Saints. Islam, Identity and Religious Distinction in Harar; Patrick Desplat