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Roots of Islamic Radicalism
Amen Teferi
In relation to the 1492’s celebration of the Mawlid I wanted to discuss issues of religious radicalism. Religious fanaticism is not a subject that only attracts experts with academic interests who at times engage themselves in expounding inconsequential details. Rather, religious fanaticism is a subject that requires an undivided attention and vigilance of every citizen.
In Ethiopia, we have been sporadically witnessing seedlings of every stripes of radicalism. The Ethiopian government has identified religious fanaticism as a threat that could undermine the country’s democratization and developmental effort, and hence it has vowed to work hard to undermine every tendency of extremisms.
I am writing this article not to reiterate that Islamic radicalism is an eminent danger to our nation; but to underline the fact that our endeavor to undermine radicalism should focus on insulating Medrassas from extremist ideology.
In the last few years, we have been observing malign controversies and fierce ideological battles between Islamic groups. Some of these groups advocate conflicting views and exhibit tendencies of fanaticism that pose threats to the time-tested peaceful and harmonious coexistence of the Ethiopian people.
If we fail to appreciate these problems wisely, then we will surely be driven off-truck and end-up blowing out the candle of hope that is flickering in our heart. If we do not check this trend very soon, and leave the sporadic religious frictions being observe among and between the different groups to its fate, we may face frightening challenges that could eventually ruin our nation and its people.
Tolerance, our most enviable and unique heritage, would be eclipsed by fanaticism. The social fabric that bound Ethiopian society together is being ruthlessly demoted by radical elements who are consciously engaged in obstructing the democratization effort. The remarkable peaceful coexistence and harmony of our culturally and religiously diversified society must be protected from the brutal assault of these fanatics.
This agenda is increasingly becoming a big concern for those who eagerly wish to sustain the current trends of economic growth and social developments. Thus, we must work hard in shielding ourselves from the muggings of radicals of all stripes who wish to enervate the priceless social and cultural heritage that served as bedrock for the peaceful co-existence of our people.
We should make no mistake to allow these groups to have “a-free-ride” and to gain strong foothold where they would promote their fundamentalist or militant ideologies. Hard-liners of every sort are nowadays trying to elicit supporters to advance their sectarian agenda. Thus far, we have managed to contain the thrust of these radical groups as we have put in place a constitutional and democratic system that guarantee the full expression of cultural and ethnic identities, which in turn promote the unity and peaceful co-existence of the Ethiopian people.
Nonetheless, such radicals groups as the Salafis are out to bulldoze the constitutional order and to snatch the hard-won victory of the Ethiopian people. Islamists groups, like the Salafis, despise all other religious groups and thus are intolerant. They scorn representations of other religious groups, especially the Sufi orders that they absolutely disdain. They also deride and ridicule the “ulam” and the celebration of Mawlid.
Adopting Islam is a positive thing; however, it does not qualify members of Islamist groups to perform the functions of the ulam, who gained and solidified their legitimacy from institutionalized religious knowledge and their functions as judges, imams and teachers who issue fatwa on matters relating to Islamic knowledge and Muslims life.
As they will not be the ones to open up the ulams’ corpus, they reproach the ulam claiming that they are “retarded thinkers.” Besides, they want to stand out as self-proclaimed spokespersons of Islam as din wa dawla (religion). The self-imaging effort of this Islamist group focuses on downgrading the different religious views and the ulam orthodoxy to a lesser status. They de-contextualize Islam, for that allows them, in theory, to ignore the social, economic, and political milieus within which the Muslim communities exist.
They adopt a powerful ideology that can be used to disparage other Muslim communities. They want to capitalize some “impurities” and “accretions” that would inevitably crop-up in the long trajectory of the historical process, and presented this as an indication of a Muslim decline. This is the orientation and ideological disposition of the Salafi Movement.
In spite of its proximity to the Islamic mainland, Ethiopia’s Muslims remained relatively isolated from the rest of the Muslim world. Mostly, only those living on the coastal areas and in Harar perform hajj, while it is rarer in communities living in the hinterland. However, the opening of a trade route to the port of Tajura in the end of the 19th century had increased the pilgrimage from Wollo. Nevertheless, the general figure has remained low for many years. Moreover the Italian occupation (1935-1942) also had noticeable contribution in increasing the number pilgrims from Ethiopia.
The Italian colonial force had initiated the classical colonial “divide and rule” policy and thus decided to favor Ethiopia’s Muslim population over the Christian political elite. Moreover, seeking support for their colonial project from the Saudis, they made an effort to portray themselves as protectors of the Ethiopian Muslims’ religious rights. One way of doing this was by encouraging and subsidizing the pilgrimage to the holy cities. In 1936 the number of Ethiopian pilgrims reached somewhere between 1,600 and 1,900, whereas after the restoration of the monarchy, the number plunged to only 57.
Coinciding with King Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud’s policy of adding Hijaz to his realm and the subsequent establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, foreign pilgrims have become increasingly exposed to the Salafi doctrines. With the increasing number of Ethiopian pilgrims, many were exposed to the Salafi doctrines. Salafism gained its first foothold in the town of Harar and thus was an important bridgehead for the introduction of Salafi Islam in the area. Soon Salafi teaching was also established among the Oromo in Hararge.
Some scholars argued that the introduction of qat as a cash crop in Hararge has led to the increase of the hajj among the Oromo, which in turn give impetus to the dissemination of the Salafi teaching, as the pilgrims would teach their relatives. Scholars also claimed that the influence of the new teaching were little in areas where Islam had been firmly established centuries ago, and where the reformers would be forced to bring about a reconciliation between the mystic and dogmatic Islam.
On other hand, the influence of the Salafi teaching were somewhat huge among a population who relatively recently had adapted Islam and thereby has least literacy traditions. Findings of the studies conducted by different researchers support this claim. Bale is one among the areas of Ethiopia where we have least literacy traditions.
As we have seen the history of the Salafi movement, Madrassas have an important role in coaching radicals and in propagating radicalism. Therefore, the effort to undermine Islamic fanaticism must ensure that Madrassas are not carrier of extremist ideologies.
