The Development of Islamic Education System in Ethiopia: Its Features, Relevance and Influence on Muslim Culture With Reference to South Wallo

Yassin, Ali (2015) The Development of Islamic Education System in Ethiopia: Its Features, Relevance and Influence on Muslim Culture With Reference to South Wallo. Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.

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Abstract

The prime purpose of this study was to understand the development of Islamic education system and its influence on Muslim culture in Ethiopia by taking the case of South Wallo. To achieve this objective, data were collected from South Wallo administrative Zone through the duration of two months of field observation in fiqh, mosque and madrasa schools. Data were also collected using interviews in an extended period of two successive years to understand how Islam (Islamic education) influenced the political, socio-cultural, educational and economic aspects of the people. The interview participants were sixty-four including Sheikhs, religious students, community elders, historians and teachers. Both Muslims and non-Muslims were included in the study. Moreover, data from textual analysis were included through direct quotations from the rich Islamic religious scriptures intertwined throughout the thesis. Data from spontaneous recordings were also included to reflect the views of divergent and current Islamic cultural movements as exhibited during Muslim holidays in 2012. The participants were purposely selected using snowball sampling technique based on their knowledge, roles, concern, responsibility, willingness, and cooperativeness on a particular issue. Since the study was conducted from qualitative research perspective, the data were presented in narrative forms based on the participants’ understanding and interpretation in addition to my own reflective analysis based on the voices of the participants and documentary evidences. The conclusions of my study revealed that (1) Islam has got significant influence on the political aspect of the nation. That is assumed to reach its climax during the expansion and hegemony of the Muslim Sultanates in the sixteenth century particularly during the reign of Imam Ahmed, the Sultanate of Adal and the confrontation with the Christian Kings. The efforts to unify the country religiously resulted in twin failure from either side as attempted by the Imam and Yohannes. Other than such sporadic clashes between Christian rulers and Muslim Sultanates, however, the Christian Muslim encounter has been peaceful. Cognizant of this, the Emperor included an article of religious freedom in the country’s written constitution. The Shari’ah courts were also established and the translation of the Qur’an into Amharic was done by the will of Emperor Haile Silassie I. During the Socialist regime, the discriminatory phrase “Muslims who live in Ethiopia” was changed into full recognition of their citizenship as “Ethiopian Muslims” following an historical Muslims-demonstration at the downfall of the monarch. Following their protest and demands, the three grand Islamic holidays were recognized to be celebrated at national level. Then followed the foundation of the Mejlis in Ethiopia. During the FDRE Government, the federal political administrative system gave impetus for Muslims (just like the rest social groups) to practice and develop their cultural values. Hence, the public appearance of Islamic identities increased more than ever before. Madrasa schools and Islamic publication institutions proliferated. This, however, was not considered as healthy by different stakeholders. There is still unresolved tension between certain Muslim groups (who called themselves Salafis) and the Ethiopian government after the Muslim protests conducted nearly for the last two years confined in mosques before the crackdown by anti-riot police forces. Its influence on socio-cultural aspects of the life of the people especially on personal and family life of Muslims (like dietary, dressing, marriage, spiritual life, mourning practice, conflict resolution and healing practices) is significant. Especially the conflict resolution practice among Muslims in the region is proving how they are influenced by the Islamic values of forgiveness, mercifulness, and peacefulness contrary to their depiction on hate-mongering media. The Sheikhs and the elderly people are able to stop blood feuds and the practice of revenge, a practice that is difficult to enforce even in modern courts. It is fascinating to learn to live peacefully with a person who murdered your father or brother without any sense of revenge in your heart. A lot of lesson can be taken from this for peace education in this conflict torn world. Islamic education also influenced the business practice of many Muslims since they were observed shunning away from selling alcoholic drinks and abstaining from saving in banks with interest rates. A few Pensions owned by certain Muslims were observed demanding any couple to show their marriage certificates which otherwise they could be prohibited from hiring beds. They did so in order not to permit prostitution in their business. That revealed the intra-faith influence. There was also significant interfaith influence particularly through the practice of exogamy, healing tradition, neighborhood relations and cooperation in work and business life. This proved the age old religious coexistence, mutual respect and tolerance in Ethiopia despite sporadic clashes. The collaboration and mutual respect between ix the two faith groups during the times of adversity and prosperity is so high that it could be described using terms beyond tolerance: “unity”, “agreement” and “trust”. Consequently, the interfaith influence is significant and intolerance for the mainstream Muslims and non-Muslims is a myth. (2) Even so, there were (and still are) considerable misconceptions on Islam among both Muslims and non- Muslims, particularly the consideration of the meat served by either of the faith groups as a taboo which has no basis in the scriptures and foreign dietary traditions of same faith groups; the depiction of Islam as the cause of violence and terrorism by observing the evil agenda of al-Qaeda-related aggressors. Any aggression done by any person or group is not accepted in Islam;(3) there is also a misconception of addressing Muslims as “Islamoch”, failing to differentiate the people from their faith. (4) There was (and still is) transformation within the Islamic tradition partly as a consequence of modern education and partly the global Islamic awakening. As a result, you may find young people who possessed certain knowledge of modern education rejecting certain acts like veneration of Saints and celebration of the Birthday of Prophet Muhammad. Such people equally reject certain traditions like the zar spirit, magic and fortune telling probably common among the traditional Sufis. This does not, however, mean that they are extremists or terrorists as long as they practice their faith according to the law of the land. Here lies the misunderstanding between the Muslim protests and other stakeholders. (5) Tradition and modernity are coexisting side by side and hence they are two sides of the same coin especially when faith and science are compatible. That is, as far as Islam (or Christianity?) is concerned, the revealed knowledge and the reasoned knowledge do not necessarily contradict one another especially in their description of experienced and objective knowledge that could be proved by the senses. The chasm between the two approaches of knowledge is created when dealing with issues beyond the senses. The use of traditional healing techniques and modern biomedical treatments side by side by the local people also proved how tradition and modernity coexist. The future implications are (1) modern educational institutions should work beyond awarding certificates i.e. they should not evaluate graduates based on knowledge acquisition per se. Other important competences like moral intelligence and self-discipline should also be considered formally or informally as experienced in religious education. Character education should be designed separately from political education for developing values like honesty, love, patience, tolerance, equality, responsibility and the like among the school generation; (2) There is a need to balance the process of acculturation with enculturation. Ethiopian modern education is known for its Western or Eurocentric values from its inception. This has for long created problem of socialization. That kind of approach has also deprived the country of the opportunity to advance its cultural heritages. That has to be balanced if not reversed since tradition is as important as science; (3) There is a felt need to rethink the concept of development by considering the moral alternative along with the materialistic, individualistic, consumerist and western science and technology perspective. The normative dimension of education from different faith related values may serve to reduce the moral recession observed on the modern world. Violence, business fraud and the mistrust between and among peoples and even nations might all result from greedy motives which may be fixed by the values derived from world religions which have got age-old experience of self-transcendence, coexistence with, mutual respect and tolerance to the Other and recognition of other faiths; (4) There is a need to understand the culture of the self and the other for mutual respect and dialogue. This may facilitate the possibility of exerting efforts of peoples of different faiths towards common goals: peace, development and safeguarding the sovereignty of the country. N.B. Key words include Islam, religion, culture, Islamic education, Qur’an, Sunnah, and Fiqh.

Item Type: Thesis (Masters)
Subjects: L Education > L Education (General)
Divisions: Africana
Depositing User: Kabiru Wallace Ndung'u
Date Deposited: 16 Aug 2019 06:14
Last Modified: 16 Aug 2019 06:14
URI: http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/9410

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