Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives - Islamic Books ...

2 2 6Islam i n World Cult u r e sOutside the Grand Mosque in Addis Ababa. (Ricki Rosen/CORBIS SABA)doubtedly improved under the Italians for Harar’s Muslims, who also experienceda revival of Islamic practice. In the wake of Menilek’s conquest, someHarari had begun to switch from agriculture to trade, first serving as assistants toGreek, Armenian, Arab, and Indian traders and later running their own shops.This shift increased markedly under Italian tutelage, and the improved economicprosperity affected Harari society in a variety of ways. Greater funding forIslamic education set them apart from Christians and their generally lesslearnedMuslim neighbors in the rural countryside. The distinctive gey ganafipants, an attractive fashion unique to Harari women, were redesigned to displaylarger amounts of expensive imported cloth. Travel outside the city became easierand more affordable. Perhaps most significantly, class distinctions within theHarari community became more pronounced and visible.World War II forced the Italians to give up Ethiopia in 1941. After EmperorHaile Selassie was restored to power, he continued his own policies of modernization.One of the minor projects involved in this process was widening themain street in Harar. The episode allegedly resulted in the destruction ofHarari personal property and of such Islamic holy sites as mosques and saints’shrines—acts that further alienated the Harari (Waldron 1980, 255). The socialand political tensions in the town and region later culminated in the centraldefining event of twentieth-century Harari history: an affair and movementknown today as Kulub or Hanolato.