Yuunus
Hajji Mul’ataa, Independent Writer
Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia
For more than three
months, Ethiopian Muslims have been protesting against the “Ahbashism Campaign”
supposedly masterminded by the government and the Higher Council of Islamic
Affairs in Ethiopia (called “Majlis” in short). The protests usually take place
on Friday after the completion of “Salatul Jum’a” (Friday Prayer). Slogans like
“We want our right! Stop Ahbashism campaign! The people want to step down the
Majlis! Allahu Akbar!!” have become formal mottos of the public.
The Muslims denounce
the continued government interference in the religious affairs; they also
highly demand an indoctrination of the mass with Ahbash ideology (called by the
people “the Ahbashism Campaign”) to come to an end; the right of the public to
elect the leaders of the Muslim community is the third request.
The small protest
started at “Aweliya Islamic Institute” has now spread beyond Addis Ababa and
reached the towns of Dessie, Dire Dawa, Harar, Shashemene, Assela, Adama,
Jimma, Gondar, Alaba, Baddessa, Assasa, Chagni etc. These protests are largely
remained peaceful. But after the government security forces killed at least
seven protestors in the town of Assasa on April 27/2012), tension highly grew
in the country.
Although Ethiopian
Muslims were shouting for their rights for about ten months, their case came to
the global media only after the Assasa killings. Many of them are deficient in
explaining the true nature of the struggle. On the other hand, rather than
responding to the people’s request in appropriate manner, the Ethiopian
government undermine the protesters and categorize them as extremists who want
to sow instability and riot in the country. Consequently, many people were made
to lose a clear knowledge about the ongoing peaceful movement.
Accordingly, I, an
Ethiopian Muslim who have a chance to follow up the case attentively, decide to
write this article to share what I know about the current Ethiopian Muslims’
movement. The article covers a period between July 15/ 2011 and May 11/2012.
The
“Ahbashism” and “Anti-Ahbashism” Campaigns
According to the Muslim
informants representing the majority, in July 2011, the Ethiopian Supreme
Council for Islamic Affairs (popularly called “Majlisul A’ila” or “Majlis” in
short) has started a country wide program aimed at amalgamating the Muslim
populace according to the beliefs and doctrines of the politico-religious
faction called “Association of Islamic Charitable Projects” but whom the public
know as “Ahbash” (the “Abyssinians”, a term denoting Ethiopia where Sheikh
Abdullah Al-Harari, the founder of the faction, was born). The program started
by training the leaders of the “Majlis” committee of the districts and imams of
the mosques and in the long run, according to the informants, it will encompass
all Muslims of the country. They call this effort of the Majlis “the Ahbashism Campaign”
and they say that it is fully supported by the government of Ethiopia. They
also say that both parties (the Majlis and the government) claim that “The new
campaign is undertaken to eradicate religious extremism from the country which
a radical Islamist movement called ‘Wahhabiyya’ was sowing in every direction
for more than a decade”.
According to the
informants, the wide majority (over 85%) of the Ethiopian Muslims believe “the
Ahbashism campaign” to be unconstitutional and illegal blow aimed at
suppressing their religious rights and that they are struggling to repel the
campaign by their struggle which they call simply “Anti-Ahbashism campaign”
since they see the beliefs of the Ahbash organization as a deviant and
heretical one which can never fit the thoughts of the true beliefs of Sunni
Islam.
Composition
of Ethiopian Muslim Society
Ethiopia is a country
where Islam sets its foots during the life time of prophet Muhammad. In the
early years of his prophethood, when his followers were prosecuted by the
pagans of Mecca, the prophet advised some of his followers to seek refuge in Ethiopia
where there was a just king who didn’t oppress anyone because of his faith.
Accordingly, many of his early followers, including his daughter Ruqayya and
her husband the caliph Uthman ibn Affan, came to seek asylum under that pious
king (called “Armah” by Ethiopian writers and “Al-Nagashi” by Muslim writers).
Since then, together with Orthodox Christianity, Islam established itself as
one of the two dominant religions of the country.
Most of the Muslims of
Ethiopia adhere to the Shafi’i School of law, one of the four legal schools of
Sunni Islam. The Hanbali School has also a wide acceptance and its adherents
are growing from time to time. The Hanafi and Maliki Schools have some
followers in the northern and western peripheral areas. Tension within the
Muslim society is very negligible and all of the followers of the four schools
strive to recruit followers in peaceful ways. Furthermore, Muslims of Ethiopia
developed an exemplary tradition of peaceful co-existing with other faiths
especially the Orthodox Christianity.
Who
is Ahbash? Why Most of Ethiopian Muslims Oppose It?
“Ahbash” was born in Beirut, Lebanon, when an
Ethiopian scholar called Sheikh Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al-Harari Al-Habashi assumed
a leadership of a charity organization called “The Association of Islamic
Charitable Projects” in 1983 (the organization was founded in 1930 and
remained purely a charity endowment until the sheikh’s ascendancy of power ).
Once installed himself on the leadership, the sheikh turned the organization to
a new faction proclaiming itself a preacher of the true creed of “Ahlu-Sunnah
Wal-Jama’ah” (Sunni Islam). The Ethiopian origin of the sheikh gave to his
organization the popular nickname known as “Ahbash” (“the Abyssinians”) to whom
members of the association have no objection. The members of the association
say that they adhere to the “Shafi’i” school of law, one of the four
canonically accepted legal schools of Sunni Islam.
According to Ahbash,
the theology of Sunni Islam has been polluted by a continuous waves emanating
from the Wahhabiyya sect which was agitated by old time clerics like Ibn
Teymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim (14th century Syrian scholars), synthesized
as separate school by the 18th century Saudi scholar called Muhammad
Abdulwahhab, and highly propagated from the beginning of 20th
century by the state backed Saudi scholars and their adversaries throughout the
world.
Ahbash says “The
adherents of Wahhabiyya blaspheme the Muslim majority of polytheism while the
latter worship only one God. They denounce the veneration of the shrine of the
Muslim saints as an act of polytheism while Islam doesn’t forbid it. They even
shed the blood of the Muslims who argued with them on this issue. They negate
the Muslim majority by formulating a new school other than the four schools of
Sunni Islam. Through its extremism and incapability to co-exist with other
faiths, the Wahhabiyya has given a very bad image to Islam and Muslims.”
Ahbash also teaches
that its followers shouldn’t emphasize political activism on primary basis even
though they have rights to do so, and they should largely focus on accumulating
practical knowledge striving to be high competitors in commerce and industry. For
Ahbash, whatever the motive would be there is no need to protest against the
law of any country as long as the governments of these countries respect the basics
of freedom of worship. This is very essential in the case of non-Islamic
countries of the world. Even in Islamic countries, where Muslims are the
majority, protesting is not allowed. The Ahbash justifies this statement by
quoting the popular saying of the prophet which addresses the people to obey
the regime even if the leader is a brutal and oppressive one. In contrast,
Ahbash beliefs that the “Wahhabiyya” sect seeks to install a government based
on “Sharia” law even in non-Muslim countries. For that, Ahbash beliefs that the
“Wahhabi” sect is unfit to exist in today’s world because of its supposedly intolerant
and extremist behavior.
However, the vast
majority of Ethiopian Muslims see Ahbash as a deviant sect whose doctrinal settings
don’t fit the true Sunni beliefs. They say that the faction’s claim of following
the “Shafi’i” rite has been disproved by famous scholars of Shafi’i school. For
this claim, they point to the “fatwa” (religious edict) given by famous Islamic
institutions like “Al-Azhar University” (Egypt) which is the main propagator of
Shafi’i school of law.
These Muslims also say
that Ahbash’s defense of non-Islamic practices such as shrine venerations are
not supported by Shafi’i school of law because Islam doesn’t teach the worship
of worldly gods. Some of the bad practices prevalent among Muslims of Ethiopia (like
shrine venerations, superstitions, use of magic etc…) came from backwardness
and Muslim preachers must teach the people about their danger. The effort of
Ahbash to defend these practices clearly shows that the faction has no concern
for the first and most important principle of Islam which is to worship only
one God. And it is nobody else but the one who opposes these non-Islamic
practices whom the Ahbash faction calls “Wahhabiyya”. On conclusion, the
majority of the Muslims say “Ahbash clearly strives to demolish the true tenets
of Islam which can be justified by its deviated stance on the worship of
Allah”.
Another accusation
raised by the Muslim majority is the issue of heresy. Most of the Muslims
believe that Ahbash promotes confusing and highly heretical doctrines. The list
of these heretical beliefs include ( among others): It is forbidden to ask
Allah to forgive all Muslims and a Muslim must seek forgiveness only for
himself; there is no “Zakat” (obligatory alms) on paper money; Muslim women can
wear tights and woman’s wearing of “niqab” (face-veil) is out of Islam ; receiving
bank interest is allowed as long as the owners of the bank are not Muslims; you
can cheat or lie to non-Muslim and you can steal the property of non-Muslim; you
can curse and insult the companions of the prophet (s.a.w) who rebelled against
the caliphate of Ali ibn Abu Talib, the fourth caliph of Sunni Islam etc…
The other most
important accusation on Ahbash is directed on the organization’s practice of
“Takfir” (an edict of apostasy on those who are believed to violate the orders
of Islam). It is said that Ahbash categorized those Muslims who doesn’t adhere
to its beliefs as “apostates” and members are told to excommunicate these
“apostates”. The list of these “apostates” includes many of the leading Muslim
scholars starting from the imams of the Grand Mosque of Mecca (Masjid Al-Haram). The majority of Muslims believe that the
purpose of these apostasy “fatawa” (Takfir) is to disrupt the unity and peace
of the Muslim society.
The political passiveness
advocated by Ahbash is also rejected by the mass. The majority of the Muslims
believe that Islam doesn’t prohibit from participating in politics; it teaches
rather everybody should use his knowledge and money to serve his country and
people. On the other hand, the majority of Ethiopian Muslims believe that the
issue of Islamic state has never been advocated by any section of the Muslim
mass.
Who
has Chosen “Ahbash” as an Ideology to Expand in Ethiopia? Why Do They Choose
It?
The majority of Muslims
believe that the ideology of Ahbash is favored by different parties for
different reasons. In their eye, the first of these parties to support a plan of
spreading the Ahbash ideology were the leaders of “Majlis” who are terrified by
the growth of “Wahhabi” sect. Some of my informants (who told me not to expose
their identity) said that they heard “Majlis” leaders saying “The Wahhabi sect
posed a big threat on the shrines of Muslim saints and old standing Sufi
practices such as the celebration of the birth day of Prophet Muhammad. We
couldn’t protect ourselves from the expanding ‘Wahhabi’ sect. So we must combat
it in collaboration of groups such as Ahbash who are experienced in attacking
Wahhabism.”
The second party perceived
as the instigator of the campaign includes a handful of western countries who were
highly concerned about what they call “the growing Wahhabi influence in
Ethiopia”. For the west, Ethiopian Muslim scholars say, the growth of
“Wahhabism” is not a matter of faith; it is an issue of a threat to their national
interest and security. The westerns believe that radical groups like Al-Qa’ida
were influenced by “Wahhabi ideology”. Therefore, according to the belief of
many Muslim scholars, the “Ahbashism campaign” whose aim was to counter the
“Wahhabi growth” must have been supported by these western nations. However,
the westerns do so usually through indirect methods. For example, sources say
that some western countries were financing the rehabilitation projects of
Muslim shrines whose existence became at risk due to the expansion of the so
called “Wahhabi” sect.
Some people also argue
that certain scholars regarded as experienced analysts of the geopolitics of
the horn of Africa such as Hagai Elrich, the Professor Emeritus of history at
the Hebrew University, were advocating the importance of favoring the Ahbash
sect which would be in their sight beneficial for both Ethiopia and its western
allies.
The third and most
important party accused by Muslims of instigating “the Ahbashism” campaign is
the government of Ethiopia. They say that the Ethiopian government decided to
have a leading role in the campaign because of certain socially and
geo-politically motivated scenarios. These include government’s interest to use
the campaign as one method of “divide and rule” system, the political
passiveness advocated by Ahbash, the pressure coming from the diplomatic
nations which stressed that “Wahhabism” should be curtailed, and the continuous
appealing of the leadership of the “Majlis” against the rival sect of “Wahhabiya”.
For all of these parties, according to viewers,
“Ahbash” is an ideal candidate thought as having the ability to set back the
expansion of the “Wahhabiyya” sect.
However, the majority
of Muslims believe that the parties presumed as the instigators of the Ahbashism
campaign are either ignorant of the reality of Ethiopian Muslim society and
Ahbash faction or they are cheating the mass by magnifying the evils of the so
called “Wahhabiyya” sect. They say that teaching strictness in worship of only
one God is Islam’s basic tenet and it shouldn’t be linked to any sect. Furthermore,
Ethiopian Muslim preachers hardly encourage their followers to demolish the
shrines of saints. What they do is discouraging the people visiting the shrines
of saintly figures.
On the other hand, many
Muslims believe that the growing observance of religious practices by Ethiopian
Muslims cannot be attached to external sources; it is a product brought by
Ethiopian Muslims themselves, and it shouldn’t be feared by politicians as a
threat to national security. Furthermore, many people stress that due to the so
called “growing Wahhabi influence”, Ethiopian Muslims don’t change their good
conduct of religious tolerance for which they have been known for centuries.
The
Two Campaigns in Practice
Ethiopian Muslims say
that “the Ahbashism campaign” officially began in July/2011 when the Ministry
of the Federal Affairs of Ethiopia and the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs
(Majlis) arranged a training session for 600 Muslim clerics elected from
different parts of the country. The luxuries training had taken place in one
campus of Haramaya University (located in East Ethiopia). The Minister of the
Federal Affairs announced on spot that the government allocated more than
11,000,000 Ethiopian Birr (around 8000, 000 USD) for a series of trainings
focusing on peace and religious tolerance .The trainers came from Beirut where the
Ahbash headquarter is located.
However, the majority
of the Muslims explain that the training was not focused on religious tolerance
as the Minister of Federal Affairs said. The main course of the session was titled
“the Evil Caused by Wahhabiyyah”. Even in some occasions, the Lebanese Ahbash
scholars were seen enforcing the trainees to announce their belief in new form
by uttering the two Islamic testimony of faith (i.e. saying “There is no god
but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”).
Similar trainings were
undertaken throughout the whole of the country. Those who refused to
participate in the trainings would be removed from the leadership of the district
and Zonal “Majlis” and from being imam of the mosques. As result, thousands
were thrown out of the mosques where they served the community for many years.
The government has undertaken
a series of persuasive meetings throughout the country. Some of these meeting
were lead by the top government officials. For example, Minister Juneydi Sado
(minister of civil service) has been preaching the Ahbash ideology to the
Muslim residents of many towns of Oromia regional state. Officials like Bereket
Simon (minister of government communications affairs), Kuma Demeksa (mayor of
Addis Ababa city) and Redwan Hussein (head of the Addis Ababa EPRDF office)
have also tried their best to convince the Muslim members of the ruling party
to accept the continuity of Ahbashism campaign.
Since August/2011, the
government officials were undertaking a terrorizing media campaign. On one
occasion, the Minister of the Federal Affairs said “The government has
officially declared ‘Wahhabiya’ to be an extremist sect that strives to topple
the constitution and install an Islamic state” (His statement was published on
the weekly Amharic called “Reporter”). Documentary films and Radio programs
were broadcasted on the state run media. The press owned by the government
continuously published propaganda articles supporting the Ahbashism campaign.
The government
expressed its support to the “Majlis” when the latter deposed the committees of
different Islamic madrasa (schools). It also stood on the side of the “Majlis”
when 50 teachers of Aweliya Islamic College were sacked and the college was put
under the board of the directors lead by Majlis representatives; some of them are
well-known members of Ahbash (the current chairperson of the board is Sheikh
Azzam Yusuf, vice president of the Federal Majlis and a leading member of
Ahbash organization in Ethiopia.).
Meanwhile, the
government opened a massive harassment campaign especially in the countryside.
Thousands are reportedly arrested and held in prisons without any charges. Many
scholars were prohibited from teaching Islamic subjects.
The Ahbashism campaign was
met by an “Anti-Ahbashism Campaign” in which the majority of the Muslims are expressing
their discontent and disapproval of the Ahbashism campaign. Many writers have
challenged the legality of the government’s intervention in the religious
affairs of the Muslims. By using different media outlets and the press, many
people are warning about the evil motives of Ahbashism Campaign. Through
different websites and social networking channels, they are telling to the
world the challenges they have faced on their faith.
The strongest of all
anti-Ahbashism resistance movements is the peaceful public demonstration being
held weekly at Aweliya College and many mosques of Addis Ababa and other towns.
The start of the movement was a small demonstration undertaken by the students
of Aweliya College about three months ago when the “Majlis” sacked 50 teachers of
the college. It then remained a weekly public rally confined in Aweliya College
and its surroundings where hundreds of thousands of Muslims pray the mandatory
Friday Prayer (Salatul Jum’a) together and speak against “the Ahbashism
campaign” in one voice.
On the third public
rally at Aweliya (January 28/2012), the attendants of the mass movement elected
a committee which represents them and speak on their behalf. Through a massive
networking and petition collecting activity undertaken in few days, the
committee has got support from millions of the citizens. The government
approved the committee’s legal status and invited it to discuss the demand of
the Muslim society. Three critical questions were presented to the government:
1.
The current leadership of “Majlis”
doesn’t represent Ethiopian Muslims, so it must be substituted by an elected representatives
of the Muslim society (it is said that the last
election of Majlis leadership was undertaken in 2000)
2.
The “Majlis” should stop indoctrinating
the people with Ahbash ideology (But Ahbash can preach its ideology
independently)
3.
The Aweliya Islamic institute should be administered
by an independent board of directors which has no attachment to the “Majlis”
At the start the
government resembled a positive arbitrator. It promised to answer the questions
in a positive way and appointed the committee members for another discussion.
When the discussion was held on the planned date, however, it turned back
against its words. The government openly said “The problem of our country is
not Ahbash. It is Wahhabiya who has been fueling religious tensions in the
country. Churches and mosques were burned and many people were slaughtered by
Wahhabiyya. Places like Aweliya were serving the Wahhabiya sect to expand. We
won’t allow this anymore. We will continue to suppress the Wahhabiya sect”. Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi on his recent speech in Ethiopian parliament (April
17/2012) denied anything like this while he was heard praising the Ahbash
ideology.
Having heard the
response of the government, the mass of Ethiopian Muslims have increased their
opposition in all fronts. The protests spread from “Awoliya compound” to the
mosques of Addis Ababa. On April 20/2012, about one million have demonstrated
in Aweliya institute and other places to shout for the right of Ethiopian
Muslims. Similar protests continue in the whole of the country.
In one of the protests
that took place at Assasa town (Arsi province, Oromiya regional state) on April
27/2012, the Federal police security forces killed at least seven protesters
and wounded many more. The government said that the protesters were killed when
they burned down a police station and a post office to demand the release of
certain “Jihadist” imam. But witnesses say the people were killed outside a
mosque of the town when they protested at the arresting of a religious scholar
called Sheikh Su’ud Aman.
The news about the incident
of Assasa spread throughout the country and aggravated the tension between
government and the people. Despite the government’s announcement to take
repressive measures, in the next Friday (May 5/2012), the Muslim protests even spread
to towns of Somali and Afar regions. And more protests are occurring in the
country. In an interview with the Voice of America, Sheikh Abubeker Ahmed, the
head of the committee elected at Aweliya to speak on behalf of the Muslim
majority, said that some authorities of the government are defaming the
committee members by using statements like “These people are leading a group of
hooligans”. He further said “We are not
asking any illegal question. All what we ask are the rights of the Muslims
which the government stated in the constitution of the country. We will not
retreat back because of the recent propaganda war”
The Assasa killing also
caused international media to report about the ongoing protests in Ethiopia. Famous
newspapers like Washington Post and Chicago Tribune start to write about the
Ethiopian Muslim protests although half of them based their reports only on the
information they got from government’s spokesperson.
On the other hand, due
to the pioneering act of Aljazeera channel and some Muslim oriented media ,the problem
of Ethiopian Muslims have become a discussion topic for international Muslim
scholars. For example, two days after the Assasa killings, Sheikh Yusuf
Al-Qaradawi, the leading Mufti of Sunni Islam and the president of the World
Council of Muslim Scholars spoke in favor of Ethiopian Muslims. In his speech
broadcasted on the weekly program of Aljazeera titled “Al-Shari’a wal-Hayat” (“the
Shari’a and Life”), Professor Yusuf Al-Qaradawi condemned the hijacking of
Ethiopian Majlis by “Ahbash” faction and said
“This group is an evil one known for its deviation and illegitimate ‘takfir’ (giving
edict of apostasy). The followers of the faction are not men of religion. They
are people who want to spread evil on this world. They are disturbing the
society by distributing rumors and insulting the scholars. The Ethiopians must
take care of this deviant group”.
Latest unofficial
information says that the government decided to dissolve the current leadership
of “Majlis” council and to undertake elections for new leadership. It is also
briefed that the Federal Affairs Ministry has allocated the finance needed for
the elections; the directive of the election is also formulated by the ministry.
Amazingly, the informants say that the “Ahbashism” campaign will continue under
the future leadership. The majority of Muslims denounce this information and
say “We won’t accept any proposal which doesn’t guarantee us on the fulfillment
our requests. We continue our struggle until we attain full victory”.
Conclusion
In this short article I
tried to show the start, extents and current status of the “Ahbashism Campaign”
in Ethiopia and the reaction it received from the Muslim populace through
“Anti-Ahbashism campaign”. The most outstanding outcome of the two campaigns is
the bond of unity created among Ethiopian Muslims. Recently, in an interview
with OnIslam website, one observer described this outcome by saying “The
government and ‘Majlis’ couldn’t draw a line between what they called ‘Sufi’
and ‘Salafi’. We proved we are one”.
Here is the main
question. What will be the future trend of the campaign? As a Muslim, I can’t
say many words about the future since the future is in the hand of God. But I
definitely say neither the government nor the Majlis can meet their demand by
applying any illegal methodology. And
tomorrow is another day!!
Yuunus
Hajji Mul’ataa
May
12/2012, Addis Ababa
References:
3. Association
of Islamic Charitable Projects of North America: Official Website www.aicp.org
8. Hamzeh,
A. Nizar; Dekmejian, R. Hrair A
Sufi Response to Political Islamism: Al-Ahbash of Lebanon: International
Journal of Middle East Studies, Beirut, Lebanon: American University of
Beirut, 1996 http://ddc.aub.ed.lb/projects/pspa/al-ahbash.html
19. The
Washington Post: Ethiopia Expels Two Arabs amid Tension with Muslim Community
