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

Religion, Language, and Nat i o n a l i s m 2 4 1meeting to mark the 111th anniversary of the Battle of C’alanqo, when Hararlost its independence. The meeting was held in a large public lecture hall thatwas decorated with toilet paper, balloons, and banners; representatives fromeach of the five neighboring regions spoke, reciting poetry and makingspeeches in Harari, Oromo, Somali, and Amharic. The common theme wasthe long-term peaceful coexistence and shared historical experience of oppressionunder Christian Ethiopian colonialism. Undoubtedly, there is an underlyingcurrent of political expediency to this discourse, but it is a notablephenomenon considering the normal emphasis on ethno-linguistic differenceamong government critics, as well as many ordinary Ethiopians’ past resentmentof Amharic as a public, official language.More narrowly, other events focus on only certain ethnic groups. For example,in late June 1998, the Harari National Council, the city’s dominant politicalparty, and the policy-making branch of the Harari People’s National RegionalGovernment hosted the Harari History, Culture, and LanguageSymposium. Presenters included local Harari, both independent individualsand members of the regional administration, and scholars invited from AddisAbaba. Also, Abdullahi Ali Shariff, a resident of Harar who had worked exceptionallyhard to establish a private museum that was more impressive thanmany similar government institutions, set up a selective but extensive displayof his considerable collection. This symposium led to a number of interestingdiscussions about the relationship between regional people and the centralgovernment, discussions in which religion was often a theme. For example,the Federal Ministry of Culture, based in Addis Ababa, had earlier come toHarar to take photographs of churches, mosques, clothing styles, and varioushistorical materials relating to a l l groups in the area. After returning to thecapital to develop their film, however, the federal authorities only sent backpictures of the churches, claiming that all the others had failed to turn outp r o p e r l y. In Harar, this incident was interpreted as just another example ofcontinued domination of the central government agencies in Addis Ababa, despitenew and generally welcomed policies since 1991, by Christians who inpractice are hostile to Islam.Muslim Cultural Celebrations in HararGreater political autonomy and increased attention to and respect for allEthiopian languages have inspired many Ethiopians to reconsider various aspectsof their religious, ethnic, and other identities. In Harar, as elsewhere, Islamicrevivalism and ethno-linguistic resurgence have tended to parallel onea n o t h e r. At the same time, other cultural practices also encourage and reinforcethese processes. Although weddings, funerals, and public observances of