Introduction, Expansion, and Practice of Islam among the Muslim Communities of Illubabor

Abstract

Focusing on southwestern Ethiopia, this study explores how Islam took root, spread, and became part of daily life among the Oromo of Illubabor from the nineteenth into the early twentieth century. It finds that Islamization was neither a simple adoption of an outside faith nor a purely internal development. Instead, it resulted from a dynamic interaction: the internal weakening of the socio-political and spiritual order of the Gadaa system created an opening, while external agents—primarily Jabarti and Afkala Muslim merchants and preachers from the north—provided the new religious framework. The analysis highlights two key pathways for this spread: the commercial networks of long-distance trade and the crucial political patronage of local rulers, most notably Chali Shone. The paper further examines how Islam became locally anchored through the establishment of enduring institutions. The shrine (Quba) of Sheik Mohammed Sultan and the network of mosque-centered schools served as vital centers for community gathering, learning, and spiritual practice, ensuring the religion’s deep integration. Methodologically, the paper draws on qualitative historical analysis, archival documents, and carefully cross-referenced oral histories to address a notable gap in the regional history of Islam in Ethiopia. By detailing this case, the paper contributes to wider Africanist scholarship on religious conversion, emphasizing the synergistic relationship between local readiness for change and the external diffusion of religious idea.