Islam as an Ideology of Resistance among the Oromo of Ethiopia

Abstract

Before I embark on the main subject, three caveats are in order. First, this article deals with two themes that are indirectly related, but necessary, to understanding why the Oromo, who have had contact with Islam since at least the fourteenth century, embraced it mainly during the nineteenth century. Notwithstanding their recent conversion, today the Oromo are the single largest Muslim community in Ethiopia. The article will explore their rapid conversion during the second half of the nineteenth century in conjunction with Emperor Menilek II’s conquest and occupation of their land and its impact upon every aspect of their existence. Second, in this paper I have heavily drawn on a paper I presented at a conference held at the University of Edinburgh in 1999 and another one published in 1992. Third, the paper is divided into seven unequal parts, preceded by a short introduction.