Coexistence and/or Confrontation? Towards a Reappraisal of Christian-Muslim Encounter in Contemporary Ethiopia

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Periodical article

Title:	Coexistence and/or Confrontation? Towards a Reappraisal of Christian-Muslim Encounter in Contemporary Ethiopia
Author:	Ahmed, Hussein
Year:	2006
Periodical:	Journal of Religion in Africa
Volume:	36
Issue:	1
Pages:	4-22
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ethiopia
Subjects:	interreligious relations Christianity Islam 1940-1949 1950-1999 Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft History and Exploration
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/27594361.pdf
Abstract:	Following a brief description of the genesis and development of Christian-Muslim relations in Ethiopia from the earliest times (AD 615) onward, this paper reviews the position of Islam and its role in the events that unfolded from 1941 to the present, with an emphasis on post-1974 developments: the revolution that toppled the imperial regime, the policies of the military government and its successor, the conflict over the construction of mosques, Christian polemical writings and Muslim reaction, Islamic revival and the incidents of the 1990s. The main thesis of the article is to critique the long-held notion of Christian-Muslim tolerance and peaceful coexistence and to show that, behind the façade of smooth relations between the two communities, there were also occasional tensions, conflicts and clashes which deserve a closer scholarly scrutiny. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]