Ethiopian Tiǧāniyya in Context

Abstract

The presence of the Tiǧāniyya in Ethiopia is well attested since the mission of Enrico Cerulli in early twentieth century.Since then the studies about the presence and diffusion of this order in Ethiopia have been based mainly on oral sources and fieldwork. The aim of this study is to present a very first overview of Tiǧānī literature in Ethiopia as found in the recent missions of the Islam in the Horn of Africa Project. Local literary production shows that Ethiopian masters and authors aimed to show to their disciples and readers a broader picture of the ṭarīqa, counterbalancing the local dimension of devotional piety.

Keywords

• biography
• hagiography
• historiography
• manuscript
• saints
• Islamic saints