Oromo’s religious conversion in Ethiopia: Historical perspective

Year 2021, Issue: 41, 66 - 77, 28.06.2021

Negesso Jima Duibe

https://doi.org/10.33613/antropolojidergisi.798859

Abstract

The Oromo are one of the indigenous peoples of Ethiopia who lived in the country for time immemorial. Nowadays, most of the Oromo are Christians (Orthodox, Protestant) and Muslim. Still, some Oromo adhere to their indigenous religion called Waqefanna. After the coming of Christianity and Islam, however, the Oromo abandoned Waqefanna and embraced either Christianity or Islam. The Oromo has undergone a major religious conversion over the past 150 years. While Oromo’s history has undergone a remarkable phase of study in recent years, it has remained quite impervious to the anthropological field. Specifically, issues related to Oromo’s religious changes have not been sufficiently studied, debated and historically reconstructed across many disciplines. The main purpose of this article is to document and overview the process of religious conversion in Oromo and how they were positioned in Ethiopian history until 1974. The current religious study, therefore, adds to the existing body of knowledge by presenting an outline of the Oromo religious conversion and its place before 1974. It discusses the Oromo religious conversion in Ethiopian history using oral and secondary sources. In fact, oral sources formed an integral part of the research due to insufficient written material on the previous history of Oromo until recently. The article shows that the religious conversion in Oromo took place as a means of resistance against the Ethiopian central government administration.

Keywords

Religious conversion, Islam, Christianity, cultural change, Evangelism, Oromo and Ethiopia

Etiyopya’da Oromo’nun dini dönüşümü: Tarihsel perspektif

Abstract

Oromo, çok eskiden beri Etiyopya’da yaşayan yerli halklardan biridir. Günümüzde Oromo’nun çoğu Hristiyan (Ortodoks, Protestan) ve Müslümandır. Yine de bazı Oromolar hâlâ Waqefanna adlı yerli dinlerine bağlıdır. Ancak, Hıristiyanlık ve İslam’ın gelişinden sonra, Oromolar Waqefanna’yı terk etmiş ve Hıristiyanlığı veya İslam’ı kucaklamıştır. Oromo halkı bu nedenle son 150 yıldan beri büyük bir dini dönüşüm geçirmiştir. Oromo’nun tarihi son yıllarda dikkate değer bir çalışma aşamasından geçerken, antropolojik alana oldukça kapalı kalmıştır. Spesifik olarak, Oromo’nun dini değişimleriyle ilgili konular yeterince incelenmemiş, tartışılmamış ve disiplinlerarası şekilde tarihsel olarak yeniden yapılandırılmamıştır. Bu makalenin temel amacı, Oromo’daki dini dönüşüm sürecini ve bunların Etiyopya tarihinde 1974’e kadar nasıl konumlandıklarını belgelemek ve gözden geçirmektir. Bu nedenle mevcut dini çalışma, Oromo halkının dinî dönüşümünün ve 1974’ten önceki yerinin ana hatlarını sunarak mevcut bilgi birikimine katkıda bulunmakta, sözlü ve ikincil kaynakları kullanarak Etiyopya tarihindeki Oromo dini dönüşümünü tartışmaktadır. Aslında sözlü kaynaklar, yakın zamana kadar Oromo’nun önceki tarihi hakkında yetersiz yazılı materyal nedeniyle araştırmanın ayrılmaz bir parçasını oluşturmaktaydı. Makale, Oromo’daki dini dönüşümün Etiyopya merkezî hükümet yönetimine karşı bir direniş aracı olarak gerçekleştiğini gösteriyor.

Keywords

Dini dönüşüm, İslam, Hıristiyanlık, kültürel değişim, Evanjelizm, Oromo ve Etiyopya

References

• Abbink, J. (1998). An historical-anthropological approach to Islam in Ethiopia: Issues of identity and politics. Journal of African Cultural Studies, 11(2), 109-124. https://doi.org/10.1080/13696819808717830
• Abegaz, B. (2018). A tributary model of state formation: Ethiopia, 1600-2015. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75780-3
• Aguilar, M. (1995). African conversion from a world religion: Religious diversification by the Waso Boorana in Kenya, Africa. Africa, 65(4), 525-544. https://doi.org/10.2307/1161131
• Arén, G. (1978). Evangelical pioneers in Ethiopia: Origins of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. EFS-forlget.
• Baxter, P. (1978). Ethiopia’s unacknowledged problem: The Oromo. African Affairs, 77(308), 283-296. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a096985
• Baye, T. G.(2018). Muslims in Ethiopia: History and identity. African Studies, 77(3), 412-427. https://doi.org/10.1080/00020184.2018.1475634
• Binsumeit, A. (2006). Penetration of Islam in eastern Africa. Qaboos University.
• Braukamper, U. (2014). A History of the Hadiyya in Southern Ethiopia. Memminger Medien Centrum AG. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvc16n9r
• Bulcha, M. (2005). Genocidal violence in the making of nation and state in Ethiopia. African Sociological Review, 9(2),1-54. https://doi.org/10.4314/asr.v9i2.23257 Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Addis Ababa, 1995. Proclamation No. 111/95. Addis Ababa.
• Crummey, D. (1969). Tewodros as reformer and modernizer. The Journal of African History, 10(3), 457-469. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853700036380
• Crummey, D. (1972). Priests & politicians: Protestant & Catholic missions in Orthodox Ethiopia (1830-1868). Clarendon Press.
• Dugassa, B. (2008). Indigenous knowledge, colonialism and epistemological violence: The experience of the Oromo people under Abyssinian colonial rule [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. University of Toronto, Canada.
• Eshete, T. (2005). Growing through the storms: The history of the Evangelical movement in Ethiopia, 1941-1991 [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. Michigan State University, USA.
• Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (2007). Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa.
• Fessha, Y. T. (2016). Ethnic diversity and federalism: Constitution making in South Africa and Ethiopia. Routledge.
• Feyisa, D. (2013). Muslims struggling for recognition in contemporary Ethiopia. in P. Desplat and T. Østebø (Eds.), Muslim Ethiopia: The Christian legacy, identity politics, and Islamic reformism (pp. 25-46). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137322098_2
• Ficquet, E. (2015). The Ethiopian Muslims: Historical processes and on-going controversies. in G. Prunier and E. Ficquet (Eds.), Understanding contemporary Ethiopia (pp. 93-122). Oxford University Press.
• Fisher, H. (1973). Conversion reconsidered: Some historical aspects of religious conversion in black Africa. Africa, 43(1), 27-40. https://doi.org/10.2307/1158544
• Gemeda, G. (2002). The Rise of coffee and the demise of colonial autonomy: The Oromo Kingdom of Jimma and political centralization in Ethiopia. Northeast African Studies, 9(3), 51-74. https://doi.org/10.1353/nas.2007.0012
• Gnamo, A. H. (2002). Islam, the orthodox Church and Oromo nationalism (Ethiopia). Cahiers d’études africaines, 42(165), 99-120. https://doi.org/10.4000/etudesafricaines.137
• Gnamo, A. H. (2014). Conquest and Resistance in the Ethiopian Empire, 1880-1974: the Case of the Arsi Oromo. Brill Publisher.
• Hassen, M (1985). The Oromo of Ethiopia, 1500-1850: With Special Emphasis on the Gibe Region [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, England.
• Henze, P. (2000). Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia. Macmillan Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-11786-1
• Hobsbawm, E. J. (1989). The Age of Empire 1875-1914. New York Press.
• Horton, R. (1971). African conversion. Africa, 41(2), 85-108. https://doi.org/10.2307/1159421
• Hultin, J. (1996). Perceiving Oromo ‘Galla’ in the Great Narrative of Ethiopia. in P. T. V. Baxter, J. Hultin and A. Triulzi (Eds.), Being and becoming Oromo (pp. 81-91). Nordiska Afrikainstitutet.
• Idowu, E. (1973). African traditional religion: A definition. S.C.M. Press.
• Ifeka-Moller, C. (1974). White power: Social structural factors in conversion to Christianity, Eastern Nigeria. Canadian Journal of African Studies, 81(1), 56-61. https://doi.org/10.2307/483874
• Ikenga-Metuh, E. (1987). Comparative studies of African traditional religions. IMICO Publisher.
• Jalata, A. (2005). Oromia and Ethiopia: State formation and ethnonational conflict 1868–2004. Red Sea Press.
• Kaplan, S. (2004). Themes and methods in the study of conversion in Ethiopia: A review essay. Journal of Religion in Africa, 34(3), 373-392. https://doi.org/10.1163/1570066041725475
• Krapf, L. (1968). Travels, researches and missionary labours, During an eighteen years’ residence in Eastern Africa. Paternoster Press.
• Legesse, A. (1973). Gada: Three approaches to the study of African society. Free Press Publisher.
• Levine, D. (2000). Greater Ethiopia: the evolution of a multi-ethnic society. The University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226229676.001.0001
• Marcus, H. (1994). A History of Ethiopia. University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520925427
• Mbiti, J. S. (1990). African religions and philosophy, 2nd Edition. Heinemann Publisher.
• Misztal, B. (2003). Theories of social remembering. Open University Press.
• Østebø, T. (2007). The Question of becoming: Islamic reform-movements in contemporary Ethiopia. Michelsen Institute.
• Østebø, T. (2013). Islam and state relations in Ethiopia: From containment to the production of a “Governmental Islam”. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 81(4), 1029-1060. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lft060
• Østebø, T. (2020). Islam, ethnicity, and conflict in Ethiopia: The Bale insurgency, 1963-1970. Cambridge University Press.
• Peel, J. D. Y. (2000). Religious encounter and the making of the Yoruba. Indiana University Press.
• Prouty, C., ve Rosenfeld, E. (1994). Historical dictionary of Ethiopia and Eritrea, 2nd Edition. The Scarecrow Press.
• Rambo, L. (1993). Understanding religious conversion. Yale University Press.
• Sanneh, L. (2003). Whose religion is Christianity? The gospel beyond the west. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
• Smith, A. D. (1991). National identity, Vol. 11. University of Nevada press.
• Sohier, E. (2014). Childhood portraits of Iyasu: The creation of the heir through Images. The life and times of Lij Iyasu: New insights, 51-74.
• Steen-Johnsen, T. (2017). State and politics in religious peace building. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59390-0
• Tamrat, T. (1972). Church and state in Ethiopia, 1270-1527. Clarendon Press.
• The 1955 Revised Constitution of Haile Selassie I. https://chilot.me/2011/04/ethiopian-constitutions/
• Trimingham, S. (1965). Islam in Ethiopia. Clarendon Press.
• Ujulu, B. (1999). Some of the consequences of the Christian mission methods and contextual Evangelism among the Oromo of Ethiopia with special focus on the Ethiopian evangelical church Mekane Yesus 1880-1974 [Unpublished master thesis]. University of Natal: Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
• Vansina, J. (1985). Oral tradition as history. University of Wisconsin Press.
• Zewde, B. (2001). A History of modern Ethiopia 1855-1991, 2nd Edition. Addis Ababa University Press.