Islam in Ethiopia

Islam started to enter Ethiopia in early 7th century when Prophet Mohammed sent one of his daughter and some followers to Aksum for refugee so that they could escape the persecution in Arabia. Those refugees converted few locals to Islam and build the earliest Mosque in Africa and also none-Arab areas. They were kindly treated by the then Aksumite King and when Islam was firmly established in central Arabia to expand to the rest of the world, Prophet Mohammed told his followers to leave Ethiopia alone and not wage Jihad as long as Ethiopia didn’t do harm to them.

The entry of Islam to Ethiopia was vis 2 gateways. Those are by,
- Dahlak islands in Red Sea
- Zelia port on Gulf of Aden coast

The penetration of Islam via Dahlak islands into interior Ethiopia was minimal because of the presence of a strong Christian communities in north Ethiopia. But the expansion of Islam via Zeila port into the coastal areas and interior Ethiopia was successful because there weren’t Christian communities and continuous Christian state control in the area.

Unlike most other areas where Islam expanded early on and medieval times, Islam expanded to Ethiopia peaceful and the Islamic communities of Ethiopia didn’t lost their own language and culture.

The sultanates that developed in Ethiopia are,
- Shewa (founded in 896 AD)
- Dahlak (founded in 10th century)
- Ifat (founded in mid 13th century)
- Hadiya (founded in 13th century)
- Bali
- Sharka
- Dawaro (founded in 10th century)
- Dera
- Arbabini, also known as Fatagar (founded in mid 13th century)
- Adal (founded in late 14th century)

Among the above sultanates, Ifat and Adal were the most powerful one and fought many destructive battles against the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia.

In 14th and 15th centuries, all the sultanates except Adal were conquered by the Christian state of Ethiopia.

Ahmed Gragn (Ahmed the left handed) waged a Jihad on Christian Ethiopia in late 1520s and laid waste to it for 14 years (1529-43). His army destroyed and looted almost all of Ethiopia churches, monasteries, texts, settlements, paintings, relics, etc..... Many ppl were killed, sold to slavery and Islamized.

Islam expanded rapidly into pagan and Christian areas between 16th-19th centuries as a result of the weakness of the Christian state of Ethiopia. Muslims now make 35% of the population of Ethiopia.

The town of Harar in east Ethiopia is the 4th holiest Islamic center after Mecca, Cairo and Jerusalem.

- The below map shows the Christian state and different Muslim sultanates of Ethiopia by the beginning of 14th century.

Wow, i'm glad to see you are still here educating people . How are you?

fanficgirl:
Wow, i'm glad to see you are still here educating people . How are you?

Hey fanficgirl , how are you? I’m fine. Why did you disappeared?

I’ve responded to you in the other topic.

Hati13:

Hey fanficgirl , how are you? I’m fine. Why did you disappeared?

I’ve responded to you in the other topic.

Hi! School got to me. My grades were starting to suffer and so I had to take a step back. i also had plenty of other issues going on. How are you?

fanficgirl:

Hi! School got to me. My grades were starting to suffer and so I had to take a step back. i also had plenty of other issues going on. How are you?

Sorry to hear that. How is your school situation and other issues now?

I’m fine

N..L was a big addict to my education has it got close to exams i had to quit it with fb so i could focus i guess is not only me then....


But i still want to ask if Ethiopians where never colonized how come u all speak english

gregyboy:
N..L was a big addict to my education has it got close to exams i had to quit it with fb so i could focus i guess is not only me then....


But i still want to ask if Ethiopians where never colonized how come u all speak english

English is the instruction of education from grade 7 onwards. But not all speak it fluently but only few can. Most either knew few words or don’t understand it at all

Hati13:

English is the instruction of education from grade 7 onwards. But not all speak it fluently but only few can. Most either knew few words or don’t understand it at all

Why not full adopt it make it official language in education

I heard you pple also have offical language nd writting for all Ethiopians if it true ...then adopt that fully instead of teaching english or probably make English an official language in the country nd make the local offical language next to line

Hati13:

Sorry to hear that. How is your school situation and other issues now?

I’m fine

Are you feeling any better? Any depression? The school situation is better now. I'm actually transfering somewhere else right now. Its fine lol it wasn't a big deal its just I had to start reading again. How is everything?

Hati13:

English is the instruction of education from grade 7 onwards. But not all speak it fluently but only few can. Most either knew few words or don’t understand it at all

True ,recently I have been getting friend request from habeshas on Facebook but when I try to say hello ,there is always a communication hitch . Many speak Amharic and only a few understand English

gregyboy:


Why not full adopt it make it official language in education

I heard you pple also have offical language nd writting for all Ethiopians if it true ...then adopt that fully instead of teaching english or probably make English an official language in the country nd make the local offical language next to line

Up to Grade 7, students learn all subject except English by their native languages. From Grade 7 onwards, all subjects (except Amharic and others who require non-English languages) are given in English. So you can say that English is the official language for education for most subjects from Grade 7 onwards.

After the current government came to power, we don’t have official language and writing system, but the de facto one is Amharic language and Ethiopic (Geez) script.

I really appreciate if Amharic language and Ethiopic script are made official but people like Tigray are against Amharic while Oromo are again both Amharic language and Ethiopic script.

I understand your reason but English shouldn’t be made official language of the country in any circumstance in Ethiopia.

fanficgirl:

Are you feeling any better? Any depression? The school situation is better now. I'm actually transfering somewhere else right now. Its fine lol it wasn't a big deal its just I had to start reading again. How is everything?

Reading is the best thing. When you transfer, do you have plan to change the department you are studying now?

My depression is gone. Everything is normal.

Afobear:


True ,recently I have been getting friend request from habeshas on Facebook but when I try to say hello ,there is always a communication hitch . Many speak Amharic and only a few understand English

I think most understand what hello means or did you also said other words or statement/s alongside hello?

Hati13:

I think most understand what hello means or did you also said other words or statement/s alongside hello?

yeah ,when the beauty got to my eyes ,I initiated a convo with hello plus other prefix

Hati13:

Reading is the best thing. When you transfer, do you have plan to change the department you are studying now?

My depression is gone. Everything is normal.

That's amazing! Are you back in school now? I'm glad! What helped change it? Yes, i'm switching it but it will still be in the sciences. Hbu? History still?

[quote author=Hati13 post=67586307]
Up to Grade 7, students learn all subject except English by their native languages. From Grade 7 onwards, all subjects (except Amharic and others who require non-English languages) are given in English. So you can say that English is the official language for education for most subjects from Grade 7 onwards.

After the current government came to power, we don’t have official language and writing system, but the de facto one is Amharic language and Ethiopic (Geez) script.
I really appreciate if Amharic language and Ethiopic script are made official but people like Tigray are against Amharic while Oromo are again both Amharic language and Ethiopic script.

I understand your reason but English shouldn’t be made official language of the country in any circumstance in Ethiopia.[/quote

Yea you have ur reason better the way the sysetem is...it was like that in nigeria then schools taught with local diakect but it killed our English so school later let go of local dialect but its still been practise in some state in nigeria we also have a general language the pidgin English mixture of slangs nd ebglish and we have our local dialect each with our offical language English