Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
To come
Review
"Patrick Desplat and Terje ØstebØ's volume addresses a real gap in historical and contemporary Ethiopianist research and writing, namely, the multiple interfaces between different religious traditions in Ethiopia, most prominently Islam and Christianity. Due to its fresh approach to Ethiopian studies, this text can be regarded as a milestone in recent writing on Ethiopia." - Roman Loimeier, Professor, Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Germany
Review
"Patrick Desplat and Terje Østebø's volume addresses a real gap in historical and contemporary research and writing on Ethiopia, namely, the multiple interfaces between different religious traditions in the country, most prominently Islam and Christianity. Due to its fresh approach to the field, this text can be regarded as a milestone in recent writing on Ethiopia." - Roman Loimeier, Professor, Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Germany"Few subjects have been more important, and more neglected, in modern Ethiopia than the rapidly changing and growing role of Islam. This scrupulously researched book marks a critical breakthrough in scholarly analysis of the subject, and makes essential reading for understanding developments both in Ethiopia and in the Horn of Africa as a whole." - Christopher Clapham, Professor, Centre of African Studies, Cambridge University, UK"Desplat and Østebø have produced a volume that is exceptionally timely and important. At a time when old understandings of Islam in Ethiopia are under question, this volume provides an excellent set of in-depth essays that take the conduct and local understandings of religious practice seriously. This book will be required reading for scholars seeking to understand contemporary Ethiopia." - Terrence Lyons, Associate Professor, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Co-Director, Center for Global Studies, George Mason University, USA
Synopsis
Drawing on international and multidisciplinary expertise, this pioneering edited collection analyzing Islam in contemporary Ethiopia challenges the popular notion of a 'Christian Ethiopia' imagined as the century-old, never colonized Abyssinia, isolated in the highlands and dominated by Orthodox Christianity.
About the Author
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