N E G A S H I - OJ

[Reporter] Lower birth rate and high death rate especially from HIV/AIDS are the factors causing lower population increase rate in the Amhara regional state, a controversial study by the Population Census Commission revealed this week. The head of the census office, Samia Zekaria, told parliament on Thursday that her office had been re-examing the data collected during the 2007 census for the past several months and found out that there was no visible mistake made by data collectors.

She said that experts at the office have tried to identify the reasons why the population growth in the Amhara region only was lower than the others.

Due to HIV/AIDS and other reasons, life expectancy in Amhara region is lower than in other regions.

In addition, Amhara region witnessed a lower birth rate - the second lowest next to Tigray - which according to Samia, contributed to lower population growth rate in the region.

• Read more: Census inquiry report raises controversy

Radio Negashi Special Coverage on the life and career of the late Prof. Hussein Ahmed. To start with the coverage directly scrol to 22′

In the Name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate

STATEMENT OF CONDOLENCE

[NEME] It is with great shock that I learnt about the sudden death of the renowned Professor of Ethiopian History, the late Professor Hussein Ahmed. On behalf of the Network of Ethiopian Muslims in Europe (NEME), I would like to express my grief on the loss our indispensible brother, Prof. Hussein, and my deepest sympathy and sincere condolence to his wife, children and member of his whole family, friends and the nation at large.

• Read more: Statement of Condolence - Network of Ethiopian Muslims

ፕሮፈሰር ሁሴን አህመድ ከአባታቸው አቶ አህመድ ሀጂና ከእናታቸው ከወ/ሮ አሚናት ሲራጅ በደቡብ ወሎ ዞን ቃሉ ወረዳ ልዩ ስሙ ገዳም አንቻሮ በሚባለው ስፍራ መስከረም 12 ቀን 1945 ዓ.ም ተወለዱ። እድሚያቸው ለትምህርት ሲደርስም የቁርዓን ትምህርታቸውን በዚያው በተወለዱበት ቦታ አጠናቀዋል። ከዚያም መደበኛ ትምህርታቸውን አንቻሮ ከጀመሩ በኋላ ወደ ደሴ በመሄድ በእቴጌ መነን ትምህርት ቤት የአንደኛ ደረጃ ትምህርታቸውን ተምረዋል። ከዚያም ወ/ሮ ሲሂን ሁለተኛ ትምህርት ቤት ገብተው እስከ 11ኛ ክፍል ከተማሩ በኋላ በነበራቸው ከፍተኛ ዉጤት በወቅቱ በዕደማርያም ይባል ወደነበረው ትምህርት ቤት የመግባት እድል አግኝተው ወደ አዲስ አበባ መጡ። ከዚያም የተሰጣቸውን ትምህርት በሚገባ አጠናቀው በአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ትምህርት ክፍል ፋካልቲ በመግባት የታሪክ ትምህርት ተምረው በ1969 ዓ.ም የመጀመሪያ ዲግሪያቸውን በከፍተኛ ማዕረግ አግኝተዋል።

በዉጤታቸው ከፍተኛነት የተነሳ በአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የማስተማር ዕድል አግኝተው ከመስከረም 1970 ህይወታቸው እስካለፈበት ግንቦት 30 ቀን 2001 ዓ.ም ድረስ ለ31 አመታት ከፍተኛ ዉጤት ያመጣ የማስተማርና የምርምር ስራ አከናውነዋል።

ፕሮሰር ሁሴን አህመድ የነበራቸውን እውቀት ለማሻሻልና ለአገራቸና ህብረተሰባቸው የሚኖራቸውን አገልጋሎት ለማሳደግ በነበራቸው ልዩ ፍላጎትና ለዚህም ባደረጉት ከፍተኛ ጥረት በእንግሊዝ አገር ከሚገኘው በርሚንግሃም ዩኒቨርሲቲ በ1974 ዓ.ም በታሪክ የማስትሬት ዲግሪያቸውን ከዚያም በታህሳስ ወር 1978 ዓ.ም የዶክትሬት ዲግሪያቸውን ተቀብለዋል።

ፕሮፌሰር ሁሴን በተለይ የእስልምና ሀያማኖት በወሎ ስለነበረውና አሁንም ስላለው ሁኔታ ሰፋ ያለ ጥናት በማካሄድ ከ35 የጥናት ዉጤቶችን እዉቅ በሆኑ የጥናት መጽሄቶች (ጁርናል) ላይ ያሳተሙ ሲሆን በ1995 ዓ.ም. ባሳተሙት Islam in the 19th Century Wallo - Revival, Reform and Reaction በሚለው መጽሀፋቸው አለም አቀፍ እዉቅናን በማግኘት ታላቅ ምሁረታቸውን አስመስክረው አልፈዋል። በተለያዩ አገሮች በተዘጋጁ የኢትዮጵያና የታሪክ ጥናት ጉባኤዎች ላይ የምርምር ውጤታቸውን በማቅረብ ንቁና ውጤታማ ተሳታፊ ከመሆን አልፈው ለኢትዮጵያ ጥናትና ምርምር መጎልበት ሌት ተቀን ይሰሩ የነበሩ መሆናቸውን የስራ ባልደረቦቻቸውና የጥናት ውጤታቸውን የተከታተሉ ይናገራሉ። ፕሮፌሰሩ በማስተማርና የምርምር ስራቸው ያሳዩትን ታታሪነትና ትጋት እንደዚሁም በየጊዜው ላሳተሟቸው የጥናት ዉጤቶች ከፍተኛ እውቅና በማግኘት ከአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ በየካቲት 1995 የሙሉ ፕሮፌሰርነት ማዕረግ ተረክበዋል።

ከማስተማርና የምርምር ስራቸው በተጨማሪ ፕሮፌሰር ሁሴን የቅድመና ድህረ ምረቃ በአገር ዉስጥና በውጭ ሀገር ተማሪዎችን የማማከር አገልግሎት በመስጠት ለአገራቸው እንደዚሁም ለታሪክ ትምህርት እድገት የራሳቸውን አስተዋጾን አበርክተው አልፈዋል። በዩኒቨርሲቲው ባገለገሉበት ወቅት ከመደበኛ ስራቸው በተጨማሪ የአስተዳደር ሀላፊነቶችንም በመረከብ የዩኒቨርሲቲው የማህበረሰብ ሳይንስ ፋካልቲ ረዳት ዲንና የታሪክ ትምህርት ክፍል ሊቀመንበር በመሆን አገልግለዋል።

ፕሮፌሰር ሁሴን በህይዎት ዘመናቸው ትሁት፣ ስራ ወዳድና ተግባቢ የነበሩ ሲሆን የእስልምና ሀይማኖት ግደታ የሚያደርገውን የሀጂ ጉዞ በህዳር ወር 2000 ዓ.ም ወደ መካ በመጓዝ አከናውነው ተመልሰዋል።

ፕሮፌሰር ሁሴን ከወ/ሮ ፋጡማ ሀሰን ጋር ትዳር መስርተው ሶስት ሴቶችና አንድ ወንድ ልጅ አፍርተዋል።

ፕሮፌሰሩ በድንገት ባጋጠማቸው ህመም ምክንያት በጥቁር አምበሳ ሆስፒታል የህክምና አገልግሎት ሲደረግላቸ ቆይቶ በተወለዱ 56 አመታቸው ግንቦት 30 ቀን 2001 ዓ.ም ከዚህ አለም በሞት ተለይተዋል። የቀብራቸው ስነ ስርዓትም እሁድ ሰኔ 01 2001 በኮልፌ በሚገኘው የሙስሊሞች መካነ መቃብር ቤተሰብ፣ ወዳጅ ዘመድ፣ የስራ ባልደረቦትቻችውና ተማሪዎቻቸው በተገኙበት ተፈጽሟል። አላህ ነፍሳቸውን በጀነት እንዲያሳርፍልን ዱዓ እያደርግን፤ ለቤተሰቦቻቸውና ወዳጅ ዘመዶቻቸውም መጽናናትን ይሰጥልን ዘንድ ፈጣሪያችንን እንለምናለን።

Allah (swt) tells us in his Quran that every soul will test death and no one can skip it. However some remain alive though they are no more with us physically. The nation is morning the loss of a unique person who devoted his every thing for for the service of his country and its people. Professor Hussien will be remembered and remain alive thanks to his unique accomplishments.

Against the odds of the system he was operting and the biased tradition and style of scholarship he brought up in, he successfully made his way to be the ONLY man is the study area which for long was left out and buried deep. The late professon published a book: Islam in the 19th century Wollo: Revival, Reform and Reaction that shatterred centuries old biasness towards the study of Islam in Ethiopia and Ethiopian Muslims. As per the info we could retrieve from the AAU deparment of History and Heritage Management, the late Professor published several articles covering diverse subjects. He wrote on Historical and contemporary Islam in Ethiopia, Islamic literatures, the Yemeni community, Slave trade, Mysticism, Addis Ababa University and Muslim-Christian Relations, History in Africa, about the life history and career of Several Muslim Religious Scholars and Resistence Fighters, …. and was working on several projects. These of his works makes him eternal in what is otherwise transitory world. Below are some sample materials from his works.

• The Existing Literature on Islam: A Review of Some Features and Trends

• ISLAM IN WALLO (1850 - 1890): CONTAINMENT AND REACTION

• THE LIFE AND CAREER OF SHAYKH TALHA B. JAFAR

Other of his works include:

• Faith and Trade: The market stalls around the Anwar Mosque in Addis Abeba during Ramadan

• Islamic literature and religious revival in Ethiopia (1991-1994)

• Islamic literature in Ethiopia: A short overview

• Recent Islamic periodicals in Ethiopia (1996-1998)

• Islam and Islamic discourse in Ethiopia (1973-1993)

• Trends and issues in the history of Islam in Ethiopia

• The cross and the crescent: State and culture in Ethiopian history

• The historiography of Islam in Ethiopia

• Two Muslim shrines in South Wallo

Insha Allah, Negashi OJ will soon bring to you a detailed info. on his life history and his accoplishments. stay tunned!

The late Prof. Hussien Ahmed, Authority of Islam in Ethiopia and Northeast Africa. He died on Saturday night, June 06, 2009.

ዛሬ ኢትዮጵያና የኢትዮጵያ ሙስሊሞች አንጋፋውን የታሪክ ምሁር አጥተዋል። ፕሮፌሰር ሁሴን አህመድ በሞት ተለይተዋቸዋልና!! በአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርስቲ የታሪክ ተመራማሪና ምሁር የነበሩት ፕሮፌሰር ሁሴን አህመድ ትናንት ቅዳሜ ሌሊቱን ከዚህ ዓለም በሞት የተለዩት ባደረባቸው ድንገተኛ ህመም ነው። አንዳንድ የአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርስቲ ሙስሊም ተማሪዎች ከሁለት ቀን በፊት ፕሮፌሰር ሁሴንን ላይብራሪ አካባቢ ማየታቸዉን የገለጹ ሲሆን ከመሞታቸው በፊት በህመም የቆዩት ለህለት ቀናት በቻ መሆኑን በለቅሶው ላይ ከነበሩት አንዳንድ በቅርብ ከሚያውቁዋቸው ሰዎችች ለመረዳት ተችሎዋል። ፕሮፌሰር ሁሴን ባለትዳርና የአራት የልጆች አባት ነበሩ። የፕሮፌሰሩ የቀብር ስነ ስርባት በዛሬው እለት ከዝሁር ሰላት በሁዋላ ኮልፌ በሚገኘው መካነ መቃብር እንደሚፈጸም ከአንዳንድ ሙስሊም ወንድሞች ለማወቅ ችያለሁ። በቀብሩ ላይ ለመገኘትም በርካታ የስራ ባልደረቦቻቸዉና የሚያውቁዋቸውና ሞታቸውን የሰሙ የአዲስ አበባ ሙስሊም ነዋሪዎችና ተማሪዎች 4 ኪሎ የመምህራን አፓርታማ ላይ ከሚገኘው ቤታቸው ፊት ለፊት ተሰብስበው የአስከሬኑን መውጣት በመጠባበቅ ላይ እንደነበሩ ተመልክቻለሁ።

ኢና ሊላሂ ወኢና ኢለይሂ ራጂዑን!!!

ማሳሰቢያ፡ ውድ ውንድሞቼና እህቶቼ ሞት ለማናችንም የማይቀር ጉዳይ ቢሆንም ከአንዱ ሞት ሌላው ትምህርት ሊወስድና እራሱን ለማይቀረው ሞት ዝግጁ ሊያደርግ ይገባዋል። …ሁሉም ነፍስ ሞትን ቀማሽ ነች…ነገ አላህ ፊት ቆመን ከመመርመራችንና መጥፎ ሰርተን ከሆነ በስራችን ከማፈራችንና የማይጠቅም ጸጸት ከመጸጸታችን በፊት እራሳችንን ነገ ለማይቀረው ሞት ዝግጁ እናድርግ። አላህ የሙስሊም ወንድማችንን ቀብር የጀነት ጨፌ እንዲያደርግላቸውና እንዲያሰፋላቸው እንለምነዋለን!!! አሜን!

 by Ahmed Ibrahim

Recently, we have witnessed seemingly long forgotten slogan posted in big fonts in the streets of Addis Ababa and some public institutions as well as in T-shirts. True Ethiopians whatever their religious affinity were shocked. “Ethiopia is an Island of Christianity“, was one of the most disgusting slogans. Well, if the statement is true, then what? Islam is not afraid of Christianity. It has talked a lot about Christianity in its basic sources. It advices Christians to follow the way of all Prophets, including Jesus, peace be upon him, that is: ISLAM.

Neither are the Ethiopian Muslims afraid of Christianity. They have survived centuries of religious coercion under so called Solomonic monarchs. But slogans without context always create confusion, mistrust and anarchy. Ethiopia as a political entity had been able to establish an old and long tradition of Christian monarchy until it finally collapsed by its own people in 1974. This does not mean that the country as a whole was a majority Christian nation. Even alien minorities can lead a majority. What is important is to show the legacy of thousand years of Christian rule for the country in all spheres of life, cuturally, politically and economically. Hollow slogans cannot change the reality in the ground. If we are proud to be Christians, we have to respect our neighbours, stop antagonizing our compatriots. Otherwise, to claim being a Christian without following the Master’s way is ridiculous.

Now to the slogan: Ethiopia is an Island of Christianity. I just let you read a citation from a prominent Ethiopian nationalist scholar, Professor Getachew Haile, to show us the context of this slogan. It reads:

” ሀገረ መንግስት” (የመንግስት ሀገር) የሚሉት “ዳር አገር” የማይሉትን፤ ማእከላዊ መንግስት (ንጉሡ) የራሱን ሰው በነጋሪት (በዐዋጅ) የሚሾምበትን ክፍለ ሀገር ነው፤ ሁለቱን አስተዳደሮች አንዱን ” ሀገረ መንግስት” ሌላውን ” ምድረ ግብር” ይልዋቸው እንደነበረ በዘርአ ያዕቆብ ታሪክ ውስጥ ይታያል፤….” ሀገረ መንግስት” …. ደምቢያን፡ ስሜንን፡ ጎጃምን፡ ሸዋን፡ ትግሬን፡ ምድረ ባህርን (”ኤርትራን”) ይጨምራል፡፡…. በሁለቱ አስተዳደሮች መካከል ያለው ልዩነት የዳራገሮቹ ራሳቸው ፈላጭ ቆራጭ ባላባት ነበራቸው፡፡ “በእስላም ባሕር ዉስጥ የክርስቲያን ደሴት ” የሚሉት አነጋገር የሚያመለክተው ጠቅላላውን ኢትዮጵያን ሳይሆን በተለይ ንጉሡ በዚህ “ሀገረ መንግስት/ ጽዮን” በሚባለው ክፍለ ሀገር የዘረጋውን አስተዳደር መሆኑ ነው፡፡ (ፕ/ር ጌታቸው ሀይሌ - የአባ ባሕርይ ድርሰቶች 1997 E.C., pp. 106-107, footnote no. 8 ) [empasis mine]”

Some historians ascribe to Emperor Minilik II to have declared, “Ethiopia is an island of Christianity in the sea of pagans” The writer, a European, comments that by “pagan” he meant the Muslims and others….

Thus, there is no way to claim the present day Ethiopia or the ancient Ethiopia (which is predominantly Cushitic) as an island of Christianity if we are not ready to designate the word Ethiopia to a very few pockets of the central government power houses. Look, the insensibility and ignorance after the recent slogan: “Ethiopia is an island of Christianity” from the perspective of history and true Ethiopian nationalism.

Ethiopia is a proud host of Christianity as it is to Islam. Both religions have immense potential for developing mutual respect unless hijacked by pseudo-religious people nd interest groups like the ‘Mahbera Qudusan’ and Majlis, the… Supreme Affairs…

Dr Zaki Sherif

Every society has a jewel, a shining star, a golden child, a brave soldier, a fearless hero, and an unyielding warrior. For Ethiopian Muslims and for Badr, beyond any measure of sacrifice or tenacity, this family jewel, the backbone of our culture and our identity as well as our image is well and alive. This jewel stands out in stark contrast from the rest of the society. The identity of this jewel will be revealed later. For now, please read until the end of this article.

• Read more: The Jewels of the Modern Era: A Shining Tribute

 Ahmed Ibrahim

I recently come across an archive of an Ethiopian Muslim Web site. It posts one of the miscalculations and obsessions of Mahbera ‘Qudusan’ ( I am not sure whether it is humble to designate one self as Qudus in the Orthodox tradition) about what they and some misguided people of all faith write and talk about - Sufi versus Wahhabi Islam. The Quran respects human differences and diversity even in one and same religion and yet it recognizes them all as one Islam. If not for our ignorance, what you call Wahhabi and Sufi Islam have nothing basic to disagree.

I want to tell every body that what they call Sufi Islam was much strong than what they call Wahhabi. Mahbera Qidusan is a band of illogical, anti-Ethiopia dabtaras who happen to get some kind of uncritical western academics. It is a pity that this group do not know the great Ethiopian Emperor, Imam Ahmed bin Ibrahim, was a Sufi soldier and freedom fighter. We may also mention the great  Muslim warriors from the four cornerns of the country.  All Islamic forces that stood in opposition to the Atse administration, both past and recent, were Sufis. A Sufi Muslim is not a Muslim who, out of subjugation, had to accompany Tabot. This is nonsense.

I pray that all Ethiopian Muslims become Sufis in its real sense, not in a twisted definition. However, I am against any adjective, Sufi or Wahhabi, in naming the Muslims. This has create a lot of discord and we have to discard it. I use these terms only for academic purposes, not in support of seemingly sectarian ideas.

In sum, it is our responsibility as Muslims to talk to Mahbera Qudusan leadership if they are to reconsider their stubborn ideas and submit to the spirit of the great teacher Jesus, son of Mary, peace upon them, who teaches to love the enemy - if they consider the Muslim as enemy.