WTF is wrong with some Ethiopian Muslims...???

[MidriGeez]

Excluding Afar and Ogaden Brothers and sisters.

The Sheikh Nur Hussein Shrine in Eastern Ethiopia has been a site of pilgrimages for years, but it's coming under increased criticism by conservative Muslims, endangering the pilgrims.

Millions of Muslims are in Saudi Arabia right now, participating in the annual pilgrimage known as the Hajj.

The main destination for the Hajj is the holy city of Mecca. But some Muslims believe there are other locations that fulfill the Koran’s requirements. There's a remote shrine in eastern Ethiopia where pilgrims who can’t afford the trip to Mecca have gathered to worship.

Sheikh Nur Hussein Shrine is the final resting place of a twelfth century holy man. In recent years more conservative Muslims have destroyed similar tombs in the area. But this shrine, located on the edge of the massive Bale mountain range, got a face lift with the help of the US government.

But the shrine remains controversial for some Muslims.

Set on the edge of a dusty plain two days drive from the capitol, the shrine’s white-washed compound feels like it sits at the end of the earth. A tinny recording of prayer music greets visitors as they enter the main compound.

Inside, guide Kadir Haji Ahmed points out an Arabic inscription above the door to the holy man’s tomb.

“This writing, when translated, reads ‘Sheikh Nur Hussein, rich to anyone who calls on your name,’” he said, adding includes Muslims, Christians and foreigners.

That’s the controversial thing about this shrine. Traditional Ethiopian Muslims follow the Sufi-style belief that the spirits of holy men can grant blessings to anyone who prays to them. Over the past two decades, teachers from the Saudi peninsula have swayed many here to a more fundamentalist reading of the Koran, one which holds that only god, Allah, answers prayers, and only from the faithful.

Kadir said those believers are trying to suppress the worship of saints — sometimes violently.

“Around the Bale area alone the fundamentalists destroyed nearly 33 graves of holy people,” he said in Amharic, the local language. “And when people came for their pilgrimage on the holidays, they were beaten up, sometimes kidnapped."

Conservative Muslims deny they’ve attacked pilgrims. They say worship at the shrine is decreasing because people are giving up backward beliefs.

In the courtyard of a mosque down the road from Sheikh Hussein, Burka Jigiru Tadessa said Ethiopian Muslims have allowed cultural practices to pollute their worship.

Burka Jigiru said he used to make sacrifices and hold ceremonies at his father’s grave, before he learned such practices aren’t in the Koran. He said young people especially are giving up the old ways.

"They are willing to die to defend the true religion, because they understand it now," he said.

This remote conflict is starting to draw attention from far away. The Ethiopian government has stepped up protection for pilgrims traveling to the shrine. And the United States embassy recently bankrolled a major preservation project. Shrine guide Kadir Haji Ahmed said those moves have inspired locals who have held onto traditional Ethiopian Islam.

“Now the government is cracking down,” he said. "People see that and they’re more willing to stand up to the fundamentalists.”

The kind of conflict happening here at the shrine between different interpretations of Islam is playing out all over Ethiopia.

Conservative Muslims complain officials are picking sides in a religious dispute.



**** Wallahi that is sad , I just want to understand one thing, why do those Morons worship Shrines but claim they are still muslims??? If its ignorance i understand and god bless them when they fix their mistakes but some know its Haram and shirk but still prefer to cover themselves under the "Islam" umbrella. From what i observed The best Muslims are the afars and Ogadeni and few Oromos while the worst are habesh and other oromo's.

[bareento]

Brother Midrigeez,
I believe u lack enough information on the life and history of muslim ethio to give sound opinion;
I respectfully advise u from doing swift generalization... besides its unnecessarily hurtful.

B.

[Alphanumeric]

Them being Ethiopian has nothing to do with it. This occurs in countless places all over the world where true knowledge of the deen is limited. However, you may now find yourself the target of some users on this site.

[quark]

Them being Ethiopian has nothing to do with it. This occurs in countless places all over the world where true knowledge of the deen is limited. However, you may now find yourself the target of some users on this site.

True.

[accident]

Them being Ethiopian has nothing to do with it. This occurs in countless places all over the world where true knowledge of the deen is limited. However, you may now find yourself the target of some users on this site.

Leave Somali Sufis alone. They don't worship shrines.

[SahanGalbeed]

Midri , I respect you as a brother but I respect the ethiopians the same way I do you . Please do not expect ME to pick sides between an ethiopian muslim and an eritrean muslim , not right . Let's focus on Kenya

[Jaidi]

SMH Midigreez is trying to export anti Ethiopian everything here Midigreez I seriously doubt that there aren't any sufis in Eritrea. This isn't something unique to Ethiopia or any specific type of people, this can be found everywhere.

[Beenaale_No1]

Ogadens do produce more Sheikhs than most other Somali clans, and I dont think this practise is limited to Ethiopians only.

Afars are pseudo-Somalis anyway [but dont say that to them].

[St8OuttaDirree]

**** Wallahi that is sad , I just want to understand one thing, why do those Morons worship Shrines but claim they are still muslims??? If its ignorance i understand and god bless them when they fix their mistakes but some know its Haram and shirk but still prefer to cover themselves under the "Islam" umbrella. From what i observed The best Muslims are the afars and Ogadeni and few Oromos while the worst are habesh and other oromo's.

A Muslim is a Muslim. You have no right or power to say, Afar and Ogadenis are better Muslims then Habeshas and Oromos.
You find good and bad in all Muslims. Some really religious, and others who were misguided.

[Aliyyi Oromada]

First of all, when you talk about Islam, don’t start a sentence with “WTF”. You sound like a jaahil teenager. Second of all be smart. Just because the media shows you some grave worshippers and calls it traditional Ethiopian Islam, it doesn’t mean it is. There is something called a war on Islam, where they are trying to redefine the religion. They are trying to tell us what is “traditional” and what is “foreign”. They use this traditional/foreign argument because they’re bankrupt and have no Islamic text on which to base their argument. From the clashes in Jimma, to the uprising in Dirre Dhawa this past summer, there is an Islamic revival going on and the Americans are there spending money to try and stop it. After crowds of Muslim youth attacked and shut down the red light district in Dirre Dhawa in June, this was the last straw. The gov’t is trying to impose Sufism on the population. They’re funding jamaatul Ahbaash (a small sufi sect) and cleansing the puppet “Supreme Islamic Council” of all non-sufis. Even their salafi slaves can’t be trusted.

They’re also funding this wacky Sheikh Hussein cult in rural Baale, and as you can read in the article, the locals are the ones opposing it. But according to the media, when you stop prostrating to graves you become a “Saudi wahabi”. To be “traditional” you have to pay tribute to the miracles of the holy man, Sheikh Hussein. Kneel down and eat the dirt in his tomb, and rub your face on the ground and cry for sheekanaa Hussein. And jump up and down and clap from side to side. That’s how you remain traditional. That is what pleases God. Do the Americans and Ethiopian regime actually believe this. Of course not. They think its despicable. But they encourage it so that they can keep Muslims backwards and silly, while they take our resources and turn our countries into their vacation redlight districts. And they probably wont stop short of arming these wacky cults like they did in Somalia, if the situation gets out of hand.

[AhlulbaytSoldier]

This is something I feel uneasy about the sufism.
How can they pray to "saints" when they claim to be possessors of knowledge about quran, hadith and the pure islamic monotheism?
We should only worship Allah swt, ask His help alone and no one ones.
But whoever adds something to this then he is not from the true followers of prophet Muhammad pbuh.

Allah humiliate them! How can they worship deceased people who cannot benefit them nor harm them. How can they( suufis) forget that muslims only call upon Allah swt, not prophets, angels or believers.
The one that knows about this yet calls upon dead human, worships them then such person committed shirk, wal iyyadu billah. He is no better than a christian or hindu. It is our responsibilty to make dawah to them.
But the ignorant suufi who does this thinking it is true islam, we should pray for him/her and educate them.


Some verses and ahaadith which makes most suufis uncomfortable because they know what they do have no backing from islamic sources. What they invoke is nothing but lie
Allah Says:
"If you call upon them, they hear not your
call, and if (in case) they were to hear,
they could not grant it (your request) to
you. And on the Day of Resurrection, they
will disown your worshipping them" [35:
14]

And when my slaves ask you [O,
Muhammad!] about me, [inform
them that] verily, I am near [i.e . in
His Knowledge, His Hearing and His
Seeing]. I answer the request of
every supplicant when he calls upon
Me" (Qur' an 2:186 )

All mosques belong to Allah: So call not on
anyone beside Allah." (72: 19).

On the authority of Abu 'Abbaas
'Abdillaah bin 'Abbaas (radiAllaahu
anhumaa) who said : One day I was
behind the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi
wa sallam) [riding on the same mount]
and he said :
O young man, I shall teach you some
words [of advice]: Be Mindful of ALLAH
and ALLAH will protect you. Be
Mindful of ALLAH and you will find
Him in front of you. If you ask, then
ask ALLAH [alone]; and if you seek
help, then seek help from ALLAH
[alone]. And know that if the Nation
were to gather together to benefit you
with anything, they would not benefit
you except with what ALLAH had
already prescribed for you. And if they
were to gather together to harm you
with anything, they would not harm
you except with what ALLAH had
already prescribed against you. The
Pens have been lifted and the Pages
have dried.

However we need to know how to handle suufis. If you treat the sufis very hostile like shiskebab does by digging out their scholars, calling them mushrikeen and killing their scholars ,da3wah works will not succeed.

[MidriGeez]

Brother Midrigeez,
I believe u lack enough information on the life and history of muslim ethio to give sound opinion;
I respectfully advise u from doing swift generalization... besides its unnecessarily hurtful.

B.

Worshipping a shrine and accusing who oppose as "wahabist" doesn't happen all over the world. If i oppose it and called wahabist then it shall be then, This is Kufr you can't sugar coat it.

[MidriGeez]

Midri , I respect you as a brother but I respect the ethiopians the same way I do you . Please do not expect ME to pick sides between an ethiopian muslim and an eritrean muslim , not right . Let's focus on Kenya

I am not picking on Ethiopians..Im picking on those who use The name islam to worship shrines, I love Eritrea But not as much as i love Islam. and Never compare muslims from Eritrea and ethiopia Trust me i see and know both, we call Most Ethiopian muslims "Muslims by day and christian by night" but this is another level.

[MidriGeez]

SMH Midigreez is trying to export anti Ethiopian everything here Midigreez I seriously doubt that there aren't any sufis in Eritrea. This isn't something unique to Ethiopia or any specific type of people, this can be found everywhere.

Singing and praising allah swt and his prophet in your wedding and worshipping a shrine is 2 different things, you ask a shiekh and he would probarly tell you one is most likely an easy ticket to kufr.

[MidriGeez]

First of all, when you talk about Islam, don’t start a sentence with “WTF”. You sound like a jaahil teenager. Second of all be smart. Just because the media shows you some grave worshippers and calls it traditional Ethiopian Islam, it doesn’t mean it is. There is something called a war on Islam, where they are trying to redefine the religion. They are trying to tell us what is “traditional” and what is “foreign”. They use this traditional/foreign argument because they’re bankrupt and have no Islamic text on which to base their argument. From the clashes in Jimma, to the uprising in Dirre Dhawa this past summer, there is an Islamic revival going on and the Americans are there spending money to try and stop it. After crowds of Muslim youth attacked and shut down the red light district in Dirre Dhawa in June, this was the last straw. The gov’t is trying to impose Sufism on the population. They’re funding jamaatul Ahbaash (a small sufi sect) and cleansing the puppet “Supreme Islamic Council” of all non-sufis. Even their salafi slaves can’t be trusted.

They’re also funding this wacky Sheikh Hussein cult in rural Baale, and as you can read in the article, the locals are the ones opposing it. But according to the media, when you stop prostrating to graves you become a “Saudi wahabi”. To be “traditional” you have to pay tribute to the miracles of the holy man, Sheikh Hussein. Kneel down and eat the dirt in his tomb, and rub your face on the ground and cry for sheekanaa Hussein. And jump up and down and clap from side to side. That’s how you remain traditional. That is what pleases God. Do the Americans and Ethiopian regime actually believe this. Of course not. They think its despicable. But they encourage it so that they can keep Muslims backwards and silly, while they take our resources and turn our countries into their vacation redlight districts. And they probably wont stop short of arming these wacky cults like they did in Somalia, if the situation gets out of hand.

well that is the idea, keeping muslims in ethiopia backwards, but why don't the islamic council in ethiopia say something, is it because they are a wing of the government???