Muslime in Äthiopien - Die Heiligenverehrung in Harar in Auseinandersetzung mit islamischen Reformströmungen

Changes in Islam are decisively shaped through external contacts. In a process of innovation and appropriation certain elements are transferred, modified or rejected by local Muslim communities. Accordingly the spectrum of different forms of faith and practices which can be found in Ethiopia, can be understood in a historical way. The author uses the Muslim community of Harar as an example for the continuity of the veneration of saints in an urban context. The stability of this practice depends on a complex interaction of socio-economic factors. However, this practice has recently been subject to further debates. With the revolution of 1991 the formerly repressive attitude of the Ethiopian state to religion became more liberal and the global connection became the determining element for Muslims in Ethiopia. New Islamic movements provoked disputes about the 'real' Islam, which in particular regard the religious practice of the veneration of saints as non-Islamic. Up to now the Muslim community of Harar could defend itself against the essentialising tendencies from outside. However, a change in religious practice can currently be observed, which is not necessarily ascribed to the introduction of new doctrine, but is also shaped by general social change.