By Fekade Shewakena
Some people in Ethiopia on the religious fringes are playing with fire. I have received emails of videos and audios circulating over the internet as evidences of Christians being attacked by Muslims and Christians attacking Muslims in Ethiopia. It appears these documents are being sent out by each group to garner sympathy for their cause. I cannot finger point to who started this stupidity as I have no detailed information. But I don’t think it is even important to know who started it. None of it comports with Ethiopia’s history of religious tolerance. I have also heard stories of sporadic attacks by these fringe fanatics in different parts of Ethiopia. The {www:Woyanne} regime of Ethiopia also has issued incoherent statements about it, in some cases blaming it on its political opponents as it often does. Whatever its magnitude, and whoever the culprit instigating it, these developments are downright scary and extremely disturbing and they should stop.
Trying to widen it, parading ugly statements coming out of the mouths of these fringe elements, playing tit for tat and taking it out on the innocent, is plain stupidity and no one is going to benefit from it both spiritually and materially. Forming interfaith groups and having honest and intelligent discussion can help not only stop these fringe elements, but also goes a long way to find the real culprit trying to saw the seeds of discord among the two religions who have uniquely cultivated a long tradition of tolerance and living in peace in Ethiopia. The elders in the leadership of both religions should be reminded that they have a huge responsibility to stop this madness.
Yes, religions have not been treated equally throughout our history in Ethiopia. Christianity has been dominant in Ethiopia for centuries. Yes, there are historical reasons for this inequality. But our Muslim brothers and sisters have every right to demand equality now. It is their country and they deserve no less. We still have to go some length to attain religious equality in Ethiopia but this can only be done by first establishing a system under the rule of law. It has to be clear to all of us that those responsible for the unequal treatment of and inequality between religions were never once the ordinary people of Ethiopia of any faith. It was the rulers who use religion for political ends. Any religious discord in Ethiopia can directly be traced to the manipulative works of the rulers and not to any group of ordinary people. It is undeniable that there is a lot of progress toward religious equality in Ethiopia since the seventies, particularly since the coming of the Derg in 1974. But unfortunately, both Christians and Muslims ended up getting the short end of what we sought.
The dawn of our genuine demand for equality was marked by the 1974 Muslim-Christian historic demonstration in Addis Ababa in support of the demand for the equal treatment of Muslims in Ethiopia. Mengistu and the {www:Derg} answered our question by turning out to be equal opportunity killers and oppressors across religions. The Ethiopian Orthodox church lost most of its land and property and turned destitute overnight. Even the pope and many clergy were guillotined. Muslims and Christians were killed by the Derg at the same rates with equal disregard for our lives. This, of course, was not the kind of equality we wanted. But we can say we suffered equally.
The TPLF/EPRDF made a smarter choice than the Derg when it decided to control the administration and management of religious institutions and use them craftily for its political ends. They even made direct and indirect interference in the appointments of the leadership to lead both the mosque and the church. In cases where both the Christians and Muslims attempted to rebel against this meddling demanding independence, the TPLF never hesitated to desecrate the places of worship of both Islam and Christianity and used military force inside both mosques and churches spilling the blood of innocent believers. Have we forgotten? This happened not a long time ago.
I argue that the most serious problem that stands in the way of religious equality in Ethiopia now is the absence of democracy and rule of law. Religious conflicts are minimal or none existent in democracies. This is the key to forming a lasting equality. I met a Muslim Ethiopian friend who participated in a recent demonstration at the Ethiopian embassy in Washington DC. Among other questions, I asked him what they were doing at the embassy and why they did not call Christians to join them in the demonstration. He said the objective of the demonstration was to demand that the Woyanne government implement the articles in the constitution as regards religious equality. I asked him the responses they got. He told me that the Ambassador and embassy staff sweet-talked them and thanked them for their peaceful demonstration and even told them that their demonstration was a model for other demonstrations. I only hope my Muslim brothers and sisters who sincerely look for the right answers to their questions have not fallen for this cheap patronization. In fact, Ethiopian Muslims have more serious issues to worry about. They may need to be a little more wary of the government’s unnecessary intervention in Muslim countries to fight so called jihadism and the rhetoric Meles and Bereket use borrowing from the West. They should be bothered by the official use of such terms as Islamists, Islamic terrorism, jihadists etc. If I were an Ethiopian Muslim I would worry more about this kind of incendiary, mercenary government literature than what a lunatic Christian monk out from a monastery speaks of Islam. Thanks to the election of President Obama, these languages are now being discarded even in US officialdom.
If our Moslem brothers and sisters think that the statements on religious equality stated in the constitution can be selectively implemented while other parts of the constitution keep being violated by the regime every day, I think they are wasting their time. It is like they are asking the lady to be half pregnant and give birth to a normal child. Either the constitution is respected as a whole or there will be no respect for any part of it. I think both Muslims and Christians should get this clearly. Only the prevalence of the rule of law can guarantee equal treatment.
Ethiopia has enough space to accommodate all religions equally if our rulers do not violate our values and the laws in the books. At different times the regime has used our differences, religious and ethnic, for political purposes. Differences are the nutrition over which the Woyanne thrive, can’t you see it? A Muslim who demands better for himself cannot get it if the Christian is not guaranteed of the same rights and vice versa. Our rulers, including the TPLF are not worried about giving religions equal playing field. Their preoccupation is over how to use them for their political ends.
The last time I checked the list of the 193 people murdered by Meles Zenawi after the ill fated May 2005 election, it contains an equal mix of Muslims and Christians at least as can be seen from their names.
Decrees and constitutional amendments or oral promises from powerful despots cannot guarantee equality and freedom, only a collective decision by people and an absolute guarantee of the rule of law do. Whether we like it or not we have to learn to share the space God gave us without encroaching on each other’s spaces. So the best place to spend our emotions and energy is on seeking and building democracy and the rule of law. That is the ultimate weapon that would make all of us equal. Despotic rulers have a vested interest in our division and inequality. Read history.
Or learn from me, a Christian and Tahir my Muslim childhood friend. We were about six or seven year olds then. Tahir and me, both of us were born in Debre Sina, that beautiful town at the foothills of Tarma Ber in northern Shewa. We were neighbors. Our mothers were friends. Tahir and me always play together and love soccer a lot. We eat in each other’s homes. Our mothers and everybody in our homes cares much not to mix our plates. Living in our neighborhood was also a bully named Negash. Negash is a little older and bigger than both me and Tahir. There was hardly any kid who hasn’t tested Negash’s boots on his butt (the calchio). He sometimes beats you for no reason and calls you any name he wants. Negash also loves to have us fight with one another. He often asks, “Which of you two is stronger?” (“mann yashenifal”), he would say, and goads us to wrestle and fight. Tahir and me have wrestled more than once to show him which one of us are stronger. Negash does this to many kids in the neighborhood. One day, while I and Tahir were playing “goalkeeping” with the rubber ball Tahir’s father gave us from his store that morning, Negash came. Negash grabbed our ball and kicked it hard that after making some bounces it ended up in the compound of people who had a dangerous dog. Both me and Tahir who have not even had fifteen minutes with our new precious ball were mad as hell and demanded that Negash gets our ball back for us. Tahir and I have grown in a community where boys were not allowed to cry and run home to seek help or hide. We had to stand on our feet and fight. Going home crying will result in you getting whipped more. I picked up a few stones and demanded that Negash gets our ball back. Tahir too filled his pockets with stones and held two big ones in both hands. While Negash was taking strides to catch and beat us, we rained our stones on him and knocked him down. We frisked his head and he was full of blood. We did not want to take a chance and wanted to make sure that he doesn’t get up and beat us. Negash was crying in his pool of blood when we were all over him giving him the {www:calcho} he loves to give to others. Some adult passerby stopped us and Tahir and me went home with our heads up but without our precious ball. Negash was taken to the clinic by his family. Our family and Negash’s heard the story of what happened. Tahir and me told our story to our families as is. Negash’s family pressed charges against our families. Finally, other people in the neighborhood intervened and made peace — I hardly remember how they did it. On the day of peace the three of us were made to kiss one another’s chicks and told to never quarrel again. From that day on, Negash became a different person for us. He started respecting not only Tahir and me but also his other victims in the neighborhood.
That, my friends, is how you sometimes get your freedoms back.
(The writer can be reached at [email protected])
13 thoughts on “How Tahir and I did it”
I appreciate the analysis given by Mr. Shewakena in regards to the plight of Ethiopian Muslims and the general political climate and how to deal with it. To be fair, I have heard similar sentiment from some of my Christian brothers and I never thought for a moment that most of the Ethiopian Christians were as extreme in their views as we have seen from some elements lately. But there are major issues that are perplexing the Muslim community when it comes to the overall attitude of the Christian community when the rights of Muslims are trampled upon. Ethiopian Muslims have raised their voices whenever their rights were wantonly abused by the government and other extremist groups but we have never heard a word of support from those who are opposing the government for any number of reasons. None of the popular media and the pundits ever raised their voice when our rights were trashed time and again. When the opposition finds a cause to fight for, they will not hesitate to march on the streets of western nations, but, when human right issues of the Muslims are presented, they become a non-issue for most of our Christian counterparts.
I have to disagree with Mr. Shewakena’s point that both Christians and Muslims are equally oppressed and discriminated in Ethiopia. That was never the case and it is still not today. Historically, a big chunk of the nation used to belong to the Church until the end of Haile Selassie’s reign. The Church accumulated huge amount of property throughout the decades partly because of its favorable position with the monarchy and partly by taking much of the earnings from the Ethiopian peasantry. And Ethiopian Muslims contributed their tax dollars for the building of many churches because they had no other choices. The government in power gave back much of the property that was confiscated by the military junta to the church and as a result it gained much of the influence it had throughout the Solomonic dynasty. If we really need to straighten our house, we should start by calling a spade a spade.
Most of the mosques that we see in the nation now are built after the last monarchy was removed from power. Up until that time, the existence of Ethiopian Muslims was a mere footnote in the nation’s history and their suffering was unknown to the rest of the world. But, we know for a fact that Christianity was the official religion of the nation and all the kings and the emperors were crowned by the Abuna to tell the world that Ethiopia was a Christian nation. This does not in any way negate the fact that Christians suffered under successive feudal rulers but it needs to be mentioned that the sufferings of the Muslims was much worse. For instance, we can all basically agree that, except for the ruling class, Ethiopians across the board suffered because of the undemocratic nature of the system of rule throughout the centuries, but, we can safely single out the severity of the oppression women had to endure in a male dominated society. In a similar fashion, it is not that difficult to observe what Ethiopian Muslims had to go through in their own homeland. My contention with Mr. Shewakena is that we cannot just gloss over the nature of the oppression and paint everyone with the same brush and declare that we all suffered equally. Although I really understand the positive message that he wants to pass to the Muslims, it needs to be pointed out that there are some real issues that we are trying to straighten with our Christian counterparts so that we can bring real peace, equality and fairness to all our lives.
I share Mr. Shewakena’s view that unless a real democratic government is established in our country, we will never be free and equal. And, of course, Ethiopian Muslims repeatedly condemned the actions of the government during the 2005 election that ended up claiming more than two hundred lives and the sufferings of many others. And we are well aware of the magnitude of the government’s interference in the Muslim’s Council to the point that it became its own apparatus to effectively control our actions. We have seen governments come and go and we have learned a thing or two on how each one tries to change its tactics to control us so that we become docile and obedient. We have known the role of government in our lives for some time now and we are learning how to fight the ever changing nature of the oppression, but we have become more aware of the second force that is trying to hold us back in our just struggle to achieve our proper place in the nation. Let me jot down a few examples of this force to give you some idea of what we are dealing with.
* The way it is established, the Ethiopian Muslims Supreme Council is no better than any other non-governmental entity because it is required to renew its operating license every two years from non-other than the World Council of Churches. You might argue that the government might have its hand on this but what about the role of the church? For an organization that was supposed to represent more than half the population, what kind of arrangement is that either by the government or the church? Even thought we have voiced our grievances as to the unfairness of this issue many times with the authorities, we raised it again during the DC demonstration to tell our story to everyone. The church is helping the government to contain the struggle of the Muslims and both of them have found an area of common interest that they see eye to eye. Mr. Shewakena, we are demanding the respect of our rights both from the government as well as the church because the lines are too blurry for us to tell the difference.
* Yes, we have seen the establishment of many mosques across the nation since the time of the dergue but most of the time the process of getting permit and building mosques in Ethiopia is a challenge all by itself. In mixed neighborhoods of Muslims and Christians, most of the time permits for building are routinely denied and it has become a custom to go through the courts. The church plays a leading role at every level of local government to enforce the denial of permits.
* Muslims students are denied of their basic rights of worship (praying) in higher institutions of learning by non-other than those who area administering the colleges. Most of these authorities make no apologies for their discriminatory acts by falsely trying to hide under the constitution. What kind of constitution denies the basic rights of an individual? And we all know that a higher learning institution, let alone deny ones’ fundamental rights, is a place to experiment new ideas without regard to the actions of the government. It just happens that most of the intelligentsia in these higher institutions belong to institution called Mahbere Kudusan which is strongly affiliated with the church.
* Right now, there is an air of hostility among the followers of the two major religions as a result of destructive policies followed by both the government and the church. Finally, it came into the open and in some areas, Muslims are told to get out of the country because some believe they have overstayed their welcome. I wish it would have been easy to dismiss these and threats as a work of a lunatic fringe group. But, Mr. Shewakena, major social catastrophes are hardly noticed during the inception and once they get momentum, it is difficult to stop, and if so, at a terrible price both in human lives and property as well.
Mr. Shewakena, these and many similar examples are the reason we wanted to take our struggle in the open and let everyone know what we are dealing with. Although I was not a part of the body that organized the DC event to speak on their behalf, I can tell you that a call was made for all Ethiopian to join their hands in a show of solidarity. Unfortunately, I learned that very few members of the Christian community participated, perhaps, they were not properly informed of our message.
Mr. Shewakena, we are all in agreement that the Ethiopian Muslims have a lot in common with their Christian counterparts and they have to bring their collective effort together to bring a lasting peace, freedom and equality to all the people. But somehow along our struggle, it seems to me that we are parting in different directions because we failed to see each others’ particular problems and concerns. We have been voicing our concern in the open for some time now but we are not hearing anything from democratic minded elements within the larger Ethiopian community. The peace loving Ethiopian Christian community has to raise its voice against the extreme elements and try to extinguish the hate propaganda that is spoiling the friendship and respectful relationship that has existed for centuries.
Surat S.
Both the above comment and the article itself are garbage. You people need to do something else rather than talk trash. In the comment above it says that muslims need to go through courts to build mosque. First you are negating yourself by telling us you are protected under the fair judiciary system. Second, do you know that for example, St. George church in Girgis had to go through court for many years to win its land back from Shiek Al Amoudi, who acquired it through bribes. I can see you negating yourself many times. Ethiopian Christians have been very nice to muslims starting from king Negash. Can you do a research about the effect of Gragn Mohammed’s radicalization of Ethiopian Muslims to benefit foreigners like the turks. Do you do research on what kind of damage the country sustained. Nothing is good enough for extreemists like you. Both lazy christians and muslims like you who have nothing worth in their life are fueling the problem. You better work hard and change your life. If you are poor, it doesn’t matter if you are muslim or christian. If your claim is right, don’t try to change things over night. Just be happy it will gradually change. You will only bring jihad and disaster to the country that will not benefit anyone. If you are honest, you will find efforts by the arabs to coerce Ethiopia to be muslim nation. During an arab conference at the sheraton, The arab league leader had politiely mentioned that Ethiopia will not escape its destiney of becoming an arab country. What does this mean?
can you explain. Instead of focusing on the negative focus on Ethiopia’s just actions of allowing Muslims to come to Ethiopia for the first time and live in peace. But also remember how Gragn Mohammed did use force to convert many christians into muslim. Yes after that few kings have done the same as a revenge but that is not right either. Ethiopians can’t handle your trash, cool it off until people start to feed themselves three times a day. Your cheguvera style Militant attitude to get your way will be volatile to all of us.
Hey, Tezibt, you have to cool it down yourself. Others can also talk trash to you if you keep talking trash like that. I find both the article and the comment by Surat to be enlightening and they both did without trashing anyone. Why are you harboring this hostility? If you have anything substantial to the discussion, let us hear it; otherwise bad mouthing others for airing their views is a character of an emerging dictator. First, you try to belittle some of the discussion points in both the article and the comment and then you add your own additional points of insult to support your arguments, again, not educate, but, rather to trash others so that they can be scared not to raise such issues in the future. We have enough hate mongers both at home and abroad and if you can not constructively contribute to the challenges facing our nation, please refrain from adding fuel to the already volatile situation.
Geremew
Tezibt, you mentioned that both Shewakena and Surat should stop writing garbage and concentrate on real issues but what I noticed is you did not point a single item in the original article but went on insulting Surat on his views. That is very typical of extreme elements such as yourself who will always find faults in everything the Muslims do though you try to put yourself above such “trivial” matters. How convenient is that for you? Although I find your argument to be totally childish, I will deal with some of them to sift the truth from the fiction.
1. If St. George church had to go through the courts to get it property back, all I can say is good for them; but Ethiopian Muslims were forced to contribute to build that church with the taxes they were forced to pay to the government. Have you heard the phrase “taxation without representation”? And from this money, the king gave generously to the church to build St. George and many others across the nation. Is this the same property you are talking about that the church had to go through the courts to get back? And do you really believe it is fair and just how the church ended up owning all these properties while the Muslims were denied their basic rights of worship let alone building mosques?
2. And then you said “Ethiopian Christians have been very nice to muslims starting from king Negash.” This is the most trash talk I have ever heard as an argument. Ethiopian were Ethiopians even before the introduction of both Christianity and Islam. Unless you think three thousand years of Ethiopians history is a fairy tale, Christianity only dates back to the birth of Jesus (Peace be upon him) a little more than two millenniums ago and Islam was introduced some six hundred years later. And of course, we are witnessing the expansion of evangelism in the last century. The belief systems came to our land and our people, other than that, we are the same dark people sharing the same history. Except for the original group of Muslims who were sent by Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him), the rest of the Muslim population was and still is indigenous to Ethiopia. No one gave anything to anyone but history taught us a lot of ugly things were done to the Muslims since then. I chose to single this issue because there are many Ethiopian Christians who believe as you do that you did the Muslims a favor by letting them stay in the nation all these years. This is the land of our ancestors going back many milliniums as it is to you as well. Therefore, unless, you try to clean yourself from such trash talks, you are doing the country a great deal of harm. Mr. Shewakena tried to dismiss people like you as a fringe lunatic, but I am afraid we just scratched the surface.
3. And here is another nonsense many extreme and sometimes moderate Christians think is a fact of history. You raised the issue of Imam Ahmed bin Gazi, aka Gragn, and wrote “ … Gragn Mohammed’s radicalization of Ethiopian Muslims to benefit foreigners like the turks.” If you can, do your own research to find the truth about Imam Ahmed. Yes Imam Ahmed went as far north as Gondar and defeated Lebna Dengel and the Portuguese troops he brought to help him. In this regard, you might say, Imam Ahmed was the first African who defeated a major European colonial power of the time and you should celebrate his success. But, I grant you, there is nothing good about war and peoples’ lives are wasted because of it. In his research, the Ethiopian historian, Dr. Labiso documented that as many as a million Oromos were killed during the southern expansion of the Minilk II. War is ugly no matter who does it, but do not be selective in your condemnation. If you think Minilk II expanded the frontiers of the present day Ethiopia by inviting the inhabitants into a dinner party, I believe you need to spend some time in a library and do your research.
Whenever Ethiopian Muslims raise issues of right, people like you stand tall to condemn their action as that of extremists believing that you are doing the nation a favor. Surat raised a number of legitimate issues of right but can you intelligently argue about which one is extreme? I know you cannot answer that because you can not defend the indefensible and the only thing you are left with is attacking the person. If you cannot contribute to a civilized discussion, please don’t get near a pc.
Samir Gagne
The only one who wrote garbage and nonesense is you, Tezibt. Leave the forum to those who would like to learn and discuss. You are offensive.
Girma Yaneneh
Tezibt,
If you can’t have an intelligent and educated discussion with others then please refrain from posting your comments, after all you and everyone else are not obliged to comment.
Both the author of the article and Surat raised important issues and there are valid comments that one can make but certaintly yours is not one of them. All you did is to unfairly belittle and bad-mouth Surat and twist history to your own liking.
Whatever the topic of discussion, people who think the way you do can, in fact, be the cause of constant conflict in Ethiopia let alone advance intellectual discussion, or encourage us to be tolerant to one another and contribute to the overall betterment of the country.
Wherever one religion is dominant there is descrimination and violence over the other. This is a hisorical fact todate not only in Ethiopia but all over the world. In the Ethiopian case the dominant religion varies from region to region even from wereda to wereda. In the norther part christianity is dominant and thus the right of muslims (and protestant christians) is violated. In eastern and some parts of Oromia and southern regions Islam is dominant and thus the rights of christians (and orthodoxs particularlly) is violated. The influence of local officials religious affiliation is a major factor for the abuses as recognized by the ruling party itself. We know how many mousqs built when Ali Abdo was the head of Addiss. We know how hard for christans to secure land for church in Adama and arsi and how hard for muslims to secure land in some part of christian dominant areas.
In my obsevation the key to solve the problem is mainly in the hand of the government and religious leadres. Otherwise as the magnitude of the problem is concerned relative to other countries we can say we have a much better equal treatment of both religions. If there is vilation it is mainlly all inclusive human right and poletical freddom violation in Ethiopia. Fanning the (insignificant) religious inequality will only help the government to devide the people along religious lines.
Be united to defend all incusive human right. Don’t fall in the traps of inside and outside enemies of our country.
salam
I am not sure where to start, but I agree with Fekade, and most of the discussions that followed are interesting. Each picturing Ethiopia based on the selective story from his or her experiences. It reminded me one of the stories I learned in my second grade education where six blind individuals were asked to describe an elephant after touching the various parts of the animal. They all came up with six different descriptions based on the part they touched.
I agree with those who are cautious about the future role of religion in the region. There is some danger looming in our region far greater than what we have seen so far since 1974, for believers and non believers of all faiths. Western and Eastern powers are spending billions dollars and equally our neighbors are matching it with their petro dollar spending to ignite religious wars in our region.
I grew up in Ethiopia at a time when religion differences were mere token based with the kind of meat we ate. If a Moslem person killed a sheep, the meat became ‘moslem meat’ and Christians were not suppose to eat it, and if that same sheep was to be slaughter by a Christians, then Moslem did not to eat the meat it became ‘christian meat’. When the animal was alive it was neither Christian nor Moslem. Beyond that there was no fundamental difference between Moslems and Christians in our neighborhood. Our parents boiled coffee and invited one another and we played marbles and football together, we were all poor, but life was simple and peaceful. We did not understand what the Bible or the Quran said about any thing, those were left to the priests and sheiks to understand and interpret and argue among them, far removed from ordinary people daily lives. Religion was not based on knowledge of versus from old book but simple faith, respect to elders and you neighbors and the needy if you can. There was a simple direction from the Emperor, regarding religion and nationality. “Haimanot yegil new, Hager yegara new”.
Would any one believes me if I tell a story that Haile Selassie, the “Christian King” built a brand new Mosque and a brand new Church side by side in Gode, a brand new town in Ogaden in 1971? When I was growing up you can stop an aggressor by simply saying ‘Be Haile Selassie Amlak or Behig Amlak’ and the person even a police man or a soldier will stop mistreating you. We had simple law of the king to follow and respect, and now we are left with laws of the jungle, no respect for private property, belief or life. Cheating others has become a virtue, the more you cheat and lies then you are considered as smart person and if you play by the rule of law you are fool.
Since 1974 our region has seen nothing good except tragedy moving from one crisis to another. There is no equality nor democracy for the poor, Christian or Muslim .The political flue have never left our region exploding at various corners and change to a major deadly pneumonia. The Western Churches the Baptists, the Pentes etc and Wahabis, the Sunnis and Shiites are preparing us to a major battle of religious wars, by replacing our simple religions of Christianity and Islam that allowed people of believers and non believers to leave as good neighbors in peace for centuries. As we kill one another they are robbing our lands and other human, nonhuman resources. Yes in 60s and 70s we shouted ‘Land to the Tiller”, we demonstrated for religious equality etc. we were young and idealists,but the king cautioned us not to rush and behind the noise there were foreign hands pushing the youth to destroy the country. I remember ‘ye wuch eji alebet’, and indeed there were foreign powers pushing us to disaster. ‘Yechekolech afisa lekemech’.
Let us stay alive otherwise we all shall end up as Muslims or Christians dead meat. We need to cleanup our common history. The fictitious history that praises one religion or tribe and demonizes the others would not take us any where. ‘Yefukiker Bet Sayzega yadral’.
One has to appreciate Fekade Shewakena for raising the issue in such a bold manner and equally Surat S for lifting it to a higher level of understanding. Anticipating religious issues will wither without a through deliberation is a serious disaster to the people who are inhabiting the country. For sure the government uses such sensitive issues to it’s end whenever and wherever the opportunity arises and therefore it should not be left for the government to interfere.
This is the time that Ethiopian scholars of all faiths should sit together and address the issue head on before undesirable consequence erupt that could not be controlled.
Mr. Anonymous, your comment is full of ignorance covered with chauvinistic diatribe. It never occurs to you that your views are reflective of your own upbringing and based solely on your “own experience”. You never let yourself open to an opposing view, you just dismiss it as silly because you are so self-assured and think you know it all. I am not either sure were to start with your comment but let me try. Surat raised a number of issues that affects the daily lives of Ethiopian Muslims and why did you not try to address them rather than dismissing it as his own isolated experience and giving us your own twisted life-experience in return.
1. You wrote, “I grew up in Ethiopia at a time when religion differences were mere token based with the kind of meat we ate.” That may be the case for you and for many other Christian Ethiopians who cannot go beyond acknowledging the suffering of the Muslims and refuse to deal with the real problems. Orthodox Christianity was and a still is the official religion of the country even though the government tells us otherwise. That would not have mattered if did not come at a terrible price and at the expense of Ethiopian Muslims. The bottom line is there never was religious equality in the nation and it is disingenuous on your part and quite condescending to boil down the systemic oppression of the Muslims as a “mere token based with the kind of meat we ate.” It might surprise you to know, but this is the kind of difficulty that Ethiopians Muslims have to go through whenever they demand equality under the law. You wrote down that except for their eating habits, “… there was no fundamental difference between Moslems and Christians in our neighborhood”. I do not know in what region of the country you grew up, but there is a ton of difference between the life of a Muslim and a Christian in Ethiopia even to this day. You don’t even have to dig deeper, you will see over the nation.
2. And then, you wrote, “There was a simple direction from the Emperor, regarding religion and nationality. “Haimanot yegil new, Hager yegara new”. Yes, the emperor is credited with saying those words, but those words meant nothing to him and to you as well. If religion is up to the individual, then why was Orthodox Christianity the official religion of the state? If the king was true to his words, why did he not take religion out of the affairs of the state? I know it has become sort of fashionable in some circles to look back to the time of the king and be nostalgic about it. And the emperor might have a good political reason to build a mosque and a church in Gode to appease the local Muslim population, but I know for a fact that the church was trying hard to dismantle the Grand Mosque in merkato to expand the Raguel church in the neighborhood. It just happened that we have governments that are worse than the king in succession, but that does make the rule of Haile Sellasie any more democratic and the people any more free. Except for a miniscule part of the population, no one is looking to return the throne to power; and you better believe that!
3. Again, you wrote, “ … The Western Churches the Baptists, the Pentes etc and Wahabis, the Sunnis and Shiites are preparing us to a major battle of religious wars, by replacing our simple religions of Christianity and Islam that allowed people of believers and non believers to leave as good neighbors in peace for centuries.”. I hate to knock down your experience but Christians and Muslims have never enjoyed rights as equals in the nation and therefore change is going to be for the betterment of everyone. There is nothing wrong if followers of any faith respect each other as equal stakeholders in the nation and teach their followers and expand their religion in the nation. The only reason we might have a religious war is if extreme elements are having their way and if we are not tolerant and respectful of each other. The country is witnessing a rebirth of religious activity among Muslim, Christian and Evangelists because people are more enlightened and knowledgeable about their beliefs and we should not be afraid to embrace that.
4. You mentioned that the change that the nation had to go through was instigated by outsiders despite the warning of the emperor. Yes, I have heard this line of argument recently but why don’t you enlighten us and tell us who the outsiders and the insiders are. I bet the info is not that difficult to get, but rather than day-dreaming, why don’t you give us a clue? Please before you hit your keyboard, just take a moment to make sure that what you write make sense.
Ilias Kedir
This is what I am talking about. I am talking about the importation of an ideology peacefully and the rascal that you are, trying to twist the topic by pretending that you didn’t understand what I mean. Even the dogs in ethiopia know that it was the ideology not the people that were imported.again I am talking about the atrocity that grange as his name is, committed on his people. Yes after that the harmony ad been disturbed because the same extremist kings like you have converted and harassed muslims. Here we are talking about religion but u twisted the issue into talking about how menilik killed a million oromos so that should make gragn’ crime so minute. Focus on one issue of discussion, which is religion. I tell it like it is and I have nothing to hide I am not hypocrite like many of you. We know for a fact that muslims are suppressed but it is also a region that wants to be accepted by force. Why don’t u tell me if as a person coming from a country that allowed islam and its followers a sanctuary, would saudi arabia allow me to pray legally in a church any where in saudi. Is islam the chosen one by god. Yes I have to change my name to travel and work in arab countries.but we have been receiving arab immigrants to live and work in ethiopia up until haileselassi’ time if it was that bad why did they come. No no I am not extremist I have been eating muslim food I have muslim friends I consider brothers but your types could not live with their own mothers because u like to go back and digg stuff but believe me if you keep digging remember to dig your s**t too. At a time when things are getting somehow better for the muslims fueling issues is not what allah may like. Don’t try to open barrel of worms.evangelists are all over affecting both orthodox christianity and muslim faith but you know that is not illegal and what we can do about it is work hard so that people don’t become poor and prone to any religion that gives them money and hope. If u think you are genius know that no one can win religious arguments. If there is respect for law it doesn’t matter if Iike your religion or not. Any ways we are at a time where even families could have division and bitterness among them so don’t expect heaven on earth. Please don’t twist issues. Most people with minimum IQ know what u mentioned and don’t tell me there wouldn’t be ethiopia if menilik didn’t kill million promos, d u mean there would be no muslim religion gragn M. Didn’t commit atrocity by killing and harassing. Let us keep our diacussion current so that we do the godly thing and live happily ever after.
I am glad that my good friend Fekade brought this issue to the forefront. This is an issue that everyone has been talking about behind close doors for many years. The issue is not simple and requires a sober mind. Few months after the tragic incident in Jimma, I was in BESHASHA (few miles from Jimma) where the tragic incident took place in 2006 between our Muslim and Christian brothers. I spoke to both sides and both sides tell two different stories. I was extremely saddened to see armed guards around religious ceremonies in Jimma to protect both Christians and Muslims since then. How did we get to this point? I know the answer is complicated. In my experience in Ethiopian politics, there is always dismissive and evasive approach we take whenever we face challenging questions instead of dealing with difficult isuues. If someone claims that someone’s rights has been violated, instead of willing to listen what the problem is, we take a defensive approach and attack the person or the group that raises the issues. That is how we got in to too many civil wars. There is a real problem, there is a real issue. Before it gets out of hand, let us study what the problem is. As a Christian, I might know what the problem my Muslim brothers and sisters are facing on the surface, since I am not a Muslim I do not really know what it feels like and there may be issues I do not know and do not understand. Whatever the problem is whether actual or perceived, let us talk about it. Let is not be defensive. Let our Muslim brothers air their grievances, let us understand what the problem is first, then, find a solution that is right for both Muslims and Christians. I would like to share one story to make my point.
I was seating in a cafeteria, when one Muslim brother said that the Ethiopian Millennium does not concern the Muslims. One of the individual seating next to him was angry and accused the guy being un-Ethiopian. I was listening from distance. Out of curiosity, I approched and asked my Muslim brother why he felt the way he did. He said, The Millennium is, 2000 year after the birth of Christ, and said this is a celebration for Christians not Muslims. Whether he was right or wrong is not the issue. The issue is, since then I understood that for some Muslim Ethiopians the Millennium celebration had different interpretations. We need to understand what is going on before jumping to offer a solution. Because our Muslim brothers co-existed with Their Christian brothers in Ethiopia peacefully with centuries does not mean they have no grievances or they have been happy with what was happening. Let us listen please and have an intellectual discussion without brutalizing each other in a web gorilla warfare. I know this is a sensitive issue, but we need to open up and discuss it without trashing the individuals, the religions or the country. Thank you Fekade.
T. Samuel
Dear Mr. Kedir, first let me apologize for offending you by my remarks about religion and nationality in Ethiopia based on my own experience growing up. However, I wrote the truth and some times the truth is bitter. Let me answer some of the questions you raised. I was born and grew up in Addis a place called filwuha, now some people call it Finfine. Therefore, I am “yefilwuh lij” or some people referred to us ‘yefiwuha duriye’. In my neighborhood, Christians and Moslems lived side by side. The Moslems were mostly from Gurage and the Christians from all regions. Then I grew up in Dessie and went to school at Woizero Shin School where there was a large Moslem student population. I attended high school and university in various part of the country for free, did not pay a dime. Thanks to Haile Selassie free education for all Ethiopian children. When I finished school, I worked in Ethiopia I traveled in every corner of the country where my Toyota Land Cruiser could take me, from north to south, east to west for more than four years. Therefore, I have met every tribe religion you can think of in Ethiopia. If you may not think as bragging, I can say there was no a single Ethiopian who traveled in the country as I did in those days. Religion wise I have heritage from Moslem, Christians (orthodox), Evangelist Lutheran, and Catholics. Believe me I have blood relatives from all these religious background first cousins and distance cousins. In addition, in filwuha we worshiped the famous “Filwuha Adbar” every year Moslems and Christians together!
You accused me of not addressing what Suraje’s remarks about religion oppression in Ethiopia. Frankly speaking, what he was writing was his problem of getting permission for land to build a Mosque or a place a place of worship in the university. To tell you frankly I do not give a dam if people build a mosque or a church with marble or gold and where they build it. That will not change the lives of poor Ethiopians Moslems or Christians.
Now let me write about the alleged religious oppressions in Ethiopia during Haile Selassie’s régime. I have never met an Ethiopian who was denied education, job or land or a license to trade in his time. If you know, any one brings the proof. People were free to choose whatever profession they wanted to pursue given the limited opportunities in the country. Those in the cities and towns, most Moslems gravitated to trade or merchandizing. Their standard of living was relatively better than most Christians who gravitated to civil services or other professions. In the rural areas the standard of living Moslem or Christians were the same be nomads raising animals or subsistence farming they were all poor regardless of their religion.
In education it was true many Moslems may not have pushed them selves in that area, preferring to start in trading at early age. When I was at Woizer Shin Schools every morning before class we used to stand on line and sing the national anthem to hoist the flag. Right after that Moslem students left to assemble for Morning Prayer with the sheik who lead their prayer. After Moslem student left an Orthodox priest, lead the prayer to the Christians. After the prayers, we all went to our respected classes. Once a week we had, a class called ‘Gebre Gebnet’ Moral, when Moslem and Christian students separated to be thought by the respected religious leaders. That was public school in Ethiopia, where ‘Hager yegara new Haimanot yegil new’ practiced under Haile Selassie. . Now you may think I making these stories, but ask any one who went to that school during those years. I know it has become a fad or fashionable to blame every Ethiopian problem to the king, but the truth is far from my experience. I was one of those who demonstrated against his administration, but looking back, I must admit many young students and I were wrong.
I know at the university level those who wanted such education were equally accepted as any Christians or any other religion. There were no affirmative actions or quota system based on religion or tribe. Even those who complained the most about Haile Selassie government Eritreans students motivated by their national politics were at least a fourth of the university population. Logically if Haile Selassie was to help his own tribe and religious kens, he would have concentrated every higher education facility in the country at Ankober, and not built them in Jima, Ambo, Alemaya, Harar, etc. He would have built an asphalted road to Menze and not to Nazret. In his time the Amara land was the least acceble region in his time. I have seen several ruined schools all over Ogaden destroyed by war between Ethiopia and Somalia in 1960s. I have seen elementary schools built in every village of the country, Moslem and Christian communities with the help of Swedish development aid and the local population.
You also wanted a proof of involvement foreign powers during Mengistu. If you have lived during the “Red Terror”, then you do not need any. The Red Terror was supported and sponsored by Soviet Union and East Germany the controlled the security apparatus of the country during his régime. The last massacre Ethiopian witness was during the Italian occupation in 1935, when Graziany the governor ordered residents of Addis Ababa slaughtered after the failed attempt on his life by the two Eritreans. Graziany whipped out the few educated Ethiopians at the time and Mengistu with the help of his advisors whipped a generation of Ethiopian students to bring equality of religion and economic freedom to the poor! So that Ethiopian Moslem could have as many mosques as Christian churches!
I could write volumes about the role of Ethiopian Orthodox Church and its administration, the so-called massive wealth of land etc. Suffice to say it was the poorest church materially but the richest church in its services to the poor following to the teaching of the prophets. Therefore, Mr. Kedir take a time to learn the true history of your country and people before you keep repeating allegations that designed to break the Ethiopian societies. I am not sure how old you are, but I am sure there are several Ethiopians living in this time that went through similar experiences as I did. Unless they are blinded by hatred of the late king, there will not be any one that refutes what I wrote. Last, I am more worried about Ethiopians losing their land than what or where they worshiped.
ke Selamta gar