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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The sanctuary of Shaykh Husayn and the Oromo-Somali connections in Bale (Ethiopia)
Author:Braukämper, U.ISNI
Year:1989
Periodical:Frankfurter afrikanistische Blätter
Issue:1
Pages:108-134
Language:English
Geographic terms:Northeast Africa
Ethiopia
Somalia
Subjects:Islam
cults
ethnic relations
Oromo
Somali
Sufism
Abstract:The author investigates the evolution and historical relevance of the cults devoted to Shaykh N¯ur .Husayn (the patron saint of the Muslim Oromo in Bale, Ethiopia) and their effects on ethnic relations, notably between the Oromo (formerly called Galla) and the Somali. First, evidence is presented for N¯ur .Husayn's chronological position at the turn of the 13th century. He was presumably of Somali-Arab origin. The second Somali link with the sanctuary of N¯ur .Husayn was the revitalization of the cult and the creation of the foundation for a new religious organization in Annajina (Bale) by a Somali missionary, Aw Mu.hammad, at the end of the 18th century. From then on, Shaykh .Husayn's importance steadily increased and finally resulted in the rise of his sanctuary as one of the most remarkable spiritual centres of northeast Africa. The intensification of the cult at the end of the last century and in this century can to some extent be explained as a reaction to the political and economic changes during this period, which resulted in a desperate search for a new cultural orientation. This was particularly true for the Oromo. Culturally, the Oromo of Bale have almost more in common with the neighbouring Somali than with the western and central Oromo, and Shaykh .Husayn stays as a symbol of these close Oromo-Somali connections. Notes, ref.
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