ASC-TUFS Working Papers
Online ISSN : 2436-1607
Print ISSN : 2436-1542
ISSN-L : 2436-1542
Where Muslim Spirits Possess Christian Mediums
The Hadra Meeting in Boset, Ethiopia
Yasuo Matsunami
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JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS

2022 Volume 2 Pages 261-274

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Abstract
Christians are in the majority in the religious composition of Ethiopia, but the number of Muslims has been increasing in recent years. Historically, Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodox) has been the major religion of the highlanders in the north, the political centre of the country. Islam has expanded mainly among the Oromo, living in the lowlands. However, while this dichotomy illustrates the contrasting situation from a broad perspective, religious practices, which are an integral part of people’s lives, are not clearly divided into Islam and Christianity. For instance, many Christians participate in the hadra meeting, originally derived from Islam, which is prevalent in the Oromo communities of the East Showa region. They chant the name of Allah and praise Muslim saints during the ritual. This study focuses on the religious complexity of the ritual and how it relates to ethnicity and local history.
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© 2022 African Studies Center - Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

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