By International Islamic News Agency
Addis Ababa – Ethiopia launches activities to make Africa’s first mosque -Al Nejashi Mosque – as a tourist destination and a world heritage site by UNESCO in the coming few years. The Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism said that it is undertaking various activities to make the mosque and the city of King Ahmed Nejashi a tourist destination, which is located in the Tigray regional state, some 900 km north of Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. “Activities are also underway to register the mosque as a world heritage site by UNESCO,” said the Ethiopian State Minister for Culture and Tourism Mahamuda Ahimed Gaas.
He said that the design works for the construction of a center is underway in the area to make it a tourist destination. The center to be constructed in the town involves 15 projects including a modern hotel and an Islamic university, as well as a research center, the African Press Agency report reported quoting Ethiopian radio. The center has already received 110,000 square meters of land to build the research and other facilities. The mosque is named after Ethiopia King Ahmed Nejashi who welcomed Muslim refugees some 1,400 years ago. The mosque is considered a symbol of religious co-existence in Ethiopia. That action of the king enabled the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) to substantiate that Ethiopia was a country of brotherhood and sympathy.
Islam in Ethiopia date back to the year 615 AD when the first Muslims, among them Prophet Mohammad’s wife came to Ethiopia as refugees and settled in Negash, a small village located 60 km east of Mekele, the capital of Tigray Region. The Quraysh sent emissaries to bring them back to Arabia, but the King of Ethiopia refused their demands. The Prophet himself instructed his followers who came to Ethiopia, to respect and protect Ethiopia as well as live in peace with Ethiopian Christians.
The Negash or Nejashi Mosque is as old as the faith of Islam in Ethiopia. It is the first mosque in Africa. The mosque was built in the 7th century AD and is considered by many as one of the most sacred places of Islamic worship and rightly dubbed by some as “The second Makkah”. Negash has been a place of great historical and religious significance in a sense that it is a symbol of peaceful coexistence between the Muslim and Christian religions. Even though Negash is considered as one of the important places in Ethiopia, there are also other important Muslim places like the Sof Omar Caves and the fourth most important city for Islam Harar with it’s 90 mosques.
10 thoughts on “Negash Mosque proposed as UNESCO's World Heritage Site”
የነጋሽን ምስል ማየት ፈልጌ ነበር
Fantastic news!
“The mosque is named after Ethiopia King Ahmed Nejashi who welcomed Muslim refugees some 1,400 years ago.”
The writer of this article needs to do more research. This report is a mixture of fact and fiction. The above quotation is a perfect example. True muslim refugees come to Ethiopia, false there was a ‘King Ahmed Nejashi’ who welcomed them. This has already been reported officially by on Ethiopian Television by leaders of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, chronicles of Ethiopian history,that there is no such King. This is a recent fabrication of history, which has no REAL evidence to support it.
so funny “… Ethiopian king Ahmad Najashi” …umm…halucination and day dreaming…ant tomorrow ….”axum …the 4th holiest city of islam …” …who knows …?
Rewriting Ethiopian History…..ehmmmmmmmmmm!
it is agreat history to all of africans its also the proud of etiopians & its shows that before 1400 years ago we know how to live with addifrence go & tell to those preachears thye went to teach us the new topic of religons.
95% of Ethiopian modern history is a fabrication and lies.Until Ethiopians learn their true history there will not be an end to the sufferings of the people in the horn of Africa. Ethiopian leaders have always acted as prostitutes to gain temporary personal gains. Yesterday Ethiopia was a “Christian Island” and today Ethiopia is “Islamic Island” and who knows what will be tomorrow.
Dear anonymous, please enlighten us on Ethiopia’s true history, since your writing above looks as if you know something most of us do not. “95% of Ethiopian modern history is a fabrication and lies…” – evidence please. True that a majority Ethiopians need to find their roots quickly; however, your statement about Ethiopia was a Christian Island, and today is Islamic Island is too extreme. Ethiopia’s Christian heritage is written in the history not just by Ethiopians but by the whole world. If Ethiopians made it up, then how come the rest of the world, including the enemies support it? Only people who are ignorant of history can disclaim Ethiopia’s ancient Christian Heritage (which by the way I believe you are not one of them). Even Sadaam Hussien is known to have said, “Ethiopia is a Christian island in the sea of Islam that can no longer be tolerated.” I do agree with your statement that “unless Ethiopians learn their true history there will…in horn of Africa.” To all you honorable people out there, Ethiopia’s true history is directly related with God. Like it or not, believe it or not. God gave man three laws through which He communicated his Will to the world. Ethiopia since the beginning of time had a relationship with God through obedience to these three laws. The first law was God’s moral law which is embedded in humanity’s heart (Man lived in this law from Adam – Moses); the second was the law of the Moses (Moses – birth of Jesus Christ); the third and final law God gave to man is the Law of the Gospel (Birth of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ). Ethiopia is the only Nation in the world to accept and live in obedience with, all three laws given by God (think of the other 2 major ‘faiths’ judiasm, islam they both accept only the first two). Ethiopia’s identity is found in our obdience to these laws as our ancestors have and so we can enjoy the blessings of God, as they have. No one can deny that God had blessed them because other people/nations have praised our ancestors/nation. These are facts, I can send anyone evidences that Ethiopia followed these laws…There is no other way to knowing God’s Will outside these three laws, the final being the perfection of all the laws. The reason we have no peace is because Ethiopians have ceased being obedient to God’s commandments…God will give us righteous political or church leaders only when the people are obedient to Him.
Dear Tewodros
Let me say first I like your name Tewodros, my favorite heroes of Ethiopian history. You gave me a challenge about my idea of Ethiopian history. I will try to explain briefly why I said 95% of modern Ethiopian history as fiction. I don’t expect you will agree in the entire thing I write, but that is what I believe. I do not know how old you are but I have lived enough to observe the sufferings of too many of our people from Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan, and Kenya in our region and beyond in exile Africa, Middle East, Europe and America.
We the people of the Horn of Africa share the same geographic area, same miseries of natural and manmade disasters, but, we do not share an identical common political history or religion. Our history is shaped and interpreted according to the individuals or groups who controlled the political or economic power in the region at a particular period. Our written history is scant and unreliable except for who ruled and when, with no record of the ordinary people. There are no written records as to who invented the plow, kirar or masenko, who composed our music or alphabets or calendar. The writings of a few isolated travelers cannot capture what went on in the real lives of their hosts as they passed through strangers land. Therefore our true knowledge of our history is limited and relies on oral stories told by our ancestors shaped by their local circumstances.
First let us distinguish between the biblical Ethiopia and the modern Ethiopia. The ancient or the biblical Ethiopia is a reference to many ancient kingdoms in Africa, from Egyptian, Nubian, Sabian and Axumite Empires. Event though in modern time we refer to the black race as Africans, the biblical writers did identify the black race as Cushitic or Ethiopians, and that reference include the black people who lived even across the Eritrean Sea in Saudi Arabia, Yemen long before Persians moved to this region. After the collapse of the Axumite Empire several independent smaller independent kingdoms emerged including the Abyssinians, Wolita, Kefa, Wollga Gurage, Beja, Somali, and Afar etc. throughout the region.
Despite the lack of detailed and comprehensive written history, our people have accumulated a wealth of short verses in the form of poems and songs describing events in our history. Our ancestors have lived side by side as good neighbors in peace and united against external aggressors for time immemorial. By stretching one’s imaginative power and stepping aside from the confines of the written stories one can clearly see the true history of the people. We inherited an advanced social culture and agricultural economy (plant and animal husbandry) equal or better to any society. However, few historical problems we inherited have lingered around for too long and are creating new problems to the successive new generation, which have become perpetual causes of misery of the people in the region. We the people in the horn of Africa, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea have lived for thousands of years as good neighbors. We are cousins and have blood and flesh relation. We share a lot of things in common languages, culture religions etc. across national or tribal boundaries.
Since the start of colonization in our region by foreign powers who desired to control our resources instigate animosity between neighbors, using religion or political divisions and supplying arms to one group against the other. The Turkish Ottoman empires and Portuguese Christian empires, which were the super powers of the 15th. Century ignited a religious conflict between Christians and Moslems to advance their slave trading business in our region. At the end of the 19th. Century, Europeans colonial powers started the current conflicts. In the last 100 years that we experienced such animosity among the various nationalities, tribes or clans in the region. We are sharing man made and natural disaster across the region. Various Ethiopian leaders starting with King Yohanis and Menelik have collided with foreign powers and have subjected the region into endless wars, to forge the current country Ethiopia, by treaties they signed to prepare our region to be colonized; just like the present generations forced to go to war against their own brothers and sisters in Eritrea, Somalia and Ogaden. The only true war of liberation our people fought was the one against Italian Fascist in 1935-41 lead by Emperor Haile Selassie. Many Somalis, Eritreans defected from the Italians to fight against the Italians to liberate Ethiopia. Sudanese and East African soldiers under the British colony also fought along side Ethiopian patriots to liberate Ethiopia. All the other wars from Aduwa to the recent ones in Eritrea, Somalia and Ogaden are paid and instigated by foreign enemies of our regions.
For Ethiopian Moslems, Gragne Mohammed was a hero and defender of their faith, for others he was dictator destroyer of their religion. For Ethiopians who believed in the Old Testament, Yodit Goodit was a heroin who stood to restore their culture but to Ethiopians who converted to the New Testament she was a vicious queen who wanted to destroy their faith. Amhara from Shewa regard Menelik as an Ethiopian hero but Oromo’s and many small nationalities in the south and west of Ethiopia regard him as a colonizer. Eritreans and Somalis consider Menelik II who sold their land and their ancestors as slaves for cash and arms. The battle of Aduwa and its victory while it is celebrated by the rest of Ethiopians as their victory day over Italian colonialists, but Eritrean view it a day of mourning and betrayal by their brothers who condemned them to Italian colonialists. Perhaps it is this lack of a common history that has exposed the region into perpetual chaos. Because we have different outlooks and interpretations of our own history, we are unable to have a common stand in the face of recent adversities.
About Ethiopia “Christian Island” phrase, I do not believe on that. When it comes to religions I believe our region is the cradle of many religions, of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Moses lived among Ethiopians before he led the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Certainly Jesus must had contact and influence with Ethiopians when he lived in Egypt as a refugee. I have heard a story Mohamed was a caravan boy who travelled with Ethiopian traders and must have learned the idea of one God from them. But Ethiopian religions are not limited to those three, but there many others in the region. If we are talking about modern Ethiopia, it is mainly of Christians and Moslems perhaps of equal numbers and several others. The idea of “Island” must have been invented for us to feel that we are surrounded by Moslems, then we have to have allied with other Christians in other part of the world mainly Europe. But we know we live Christians, Orits, Moslems, Orits and other believers side by side. This idea of ‘Island’ has been exploited divide and oppress the peoples of the region. When the Eritreans brothers were fighting for their independence, Mengistu claimed he was fighting Arab invaders and the present government invaded our brothers and sisters in Somalia protecting the Christian Island against Moslems etc.
But if we think in terms of our thousands of years of peaceful coexistent, these few years of conflicts is like a drop in a full bucket of water. Yes we will come out of these troubled waters and peace and prosperity will be back to our region. The plight of poor Ethiopian children who are shuffled from one war to another because Ethiopian leaders constantly ignite wars inside and outside the country will have an end to it. Sooner or later the children of Ethiopia and the world will realize the truth. Many of our people are blinded by cheap false propaganda by those few, who are dreaming to exploit the region for ever, but ‘only the truth will survive and that is the lesson from Eritrea spreading in our region. We will have many smaller Free states in the region like Eritrea and we shall form a united states of the horn of Africa and beyond. This little lamp in Eritrea will shine throughout Africa and there will be no more Dark Continent of Africa it will be known as the Sunshine Continent of Africa. When we write our true history the names of Teowdros, Muhamed Abdullah Hassan of Ogaden Haile Selassie, and Isaias Afwerki will shine and those traitors of their peoples like Yohanis, Menelik Mengisu, Said Bare and Zenawi will be left in the ashes of history. But for that to happen we need to know out true history and clearly identify our friends and enemies.We who have the free education at the expense of the poor people must find the truth and teach our people, to come out of the darkness.
Egziabher Yebarkh.
I have visited the place named “Negash” in 2006 and i found it very lovely and historical as mentioned in our books in our early age in Pakistan. I agreed about its historic place in Islamic history.Ethiopian people must keep this as Historic Masjid as it is…regardless of Muslims or Non-Muslims its Historic …….
Regards
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