Sheikh Hussein (saint)

Sheikh Hussein was a 13th-century Oromo Muslim proselytizer who lived in Ethiopia and was from the bale zone of Oromia, one of the power jurisdictions and cultural centers of the Sultanate of Bale. He is now honored as a saint.[1].[2]

Sheikh Hussein
Sheikh Hussein's shrine in the town of Sheikh Hussein.
Born
Bale, Ethiopia
DiedSheikh Hussein, Ethiopia
NationalityEthiopia
OccupationScholar
TitleSheikh

History

Hussein was born in Mogadishu.[3] He is credited for introducing Islam to the Sidamo people living in the area at the time.[4] He is also credited for founding and establishing the Sultanate of Bale and is said to have performed many miracles.[5] A number of these feats have been recorded in a hagiography published in Cairo in the 1920s, entitled Rabi` al-Qulub. He gave his name to the town of Sheikh Hussein, which is now within the homelands of the Oromo people. The city is a popular destination for approximately 50,000 Muslim pilgrims from various parts Ethiopia, who congregate there twice a year during the Islamic months of Hajj and Rabi' al-Awwal.[6] The first pilgrimage in February–March is to celebrate Sheikh Hussein's birth; the second in August–September is to commemorate his death.[1] The pilgrims traditionally carry cleft sticks known as "Oulle Sheikh Hussein", which are too small to serve as walking sticks and are not utilized for any practical purpose. Once they arrive at the shrine, the pilgrims take their turn entering the saint's tomb by crawling through a small doorway.[7]

References
  1. Gish, Steven; Thay, Winnie; Latif, Zawiah Abdul (April 2007). Ethiopia. Marshall Cavendish. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-7614-2025-5. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  2. journal|last=Reese|first=Scott S.|date=2000|title=Review of Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-Based Society|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London|volume=63|issue=2|pages=324–325|issn=0041-977X|jstor=1559579|doi=10.1017/S0041977X00007606}}
  3. Beckingham and Huntingford, Some Records, p. lxxxix. Trimingham offers the date of 1780 for Nur Husain's departure from Mogadishu.
  4. Braukamper, Ulrich; Braukämper, Ulrich (2002). Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays. ISBN 9783825856717.
  5. Østebø, Terje (October 2020). Islam, Ethnicity, and Conflict in Ethiopia. p. 52. ISBN 9781108839686.
  6. J. Spencer Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), pp. 253-256.
  7. "Local History in Ethiopia" Archived 2011-05-28 at the Wayback Machine The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 2 November 2011)
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