The articulation of relgious identities and their boundaries in Ethiopia: labelling difference and processses of contextualization in Islam

Processes of contextualization in Islam are constantly raising questions about self-perception and the 'other', thus challenging the concept of an 'authentic' identity and its boundaries. Innovations and their appropriation or rejection currently play a significant role in Harar,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religion in Africa
Main Author: Desplat, Patrick 1971- (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2005
In: Journal of religion in Africa
Year: 2005, Volume: 35, Issue: 4, Pages: 482-505
Further subjects:B Ισλάμ (μοτίβο)
B Äthiopien
B Ταυτότητα (μοτίνο)
B Άσκηση των θρησκευτικών καθηκόντων
B Äthiopien Harar Ισλάμ (μοτίβο) Religiöse Praxis Soziokulturelle Faktoren Ταυτότητα (μοτίνο)
B Κοινωνικοπολιτισμικός παράγοντας
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Summary:Processes of contextualization in Islam are constantly raising questions about self-perception and the 'other', thus challenging the concept of an 'authentic' identity and its boundaries. Innovations and their appropriation or rejection currently play a significant role in Harar, an urban community in Eastern Ethiopia where local saints constitute a key element of everyday religious life. Islamic reform movements have been able to enter Ethiopia since the downfall of the socialist regime in 1991 and have been provoking disputes concerning the 'true' Islam, focusing on saints and related 'un-Islamic' practices. The majority of the Harar community has rejected this essentializing tendency, partly because of the influence of a Harari scholar who presides over the Lebanese organization Hasbashiyya. However, the contemporary role of religious networks and the quest for authenticity must be embedded in both the historical and contemporary socio-political context. (J Relig Afr/DÜI)
ISSN:0022-4200
Contains:In: Journal of religion in Africa