Pilgrimages and syncretism: Religious Transformation Among the Arsi Oromo of Ethiopia
Currently, the majority of the Arsi Oromo are either Muslims or Christians. However, most of them still practice their traditional beliefs passed down through generations by their forefathers, such as Waaqeffannaa, and attend various rituals related to it. Waaqeffannaa is a religion based on belief in one God known to the Oromo as Waaqa, which according to the Oromo is the creator of the entire universe with all its living and non-living entities. One of the practices in Waaqeffannaa is the act of making pilgrimages to the Abbaa-muuda (father of anointment). Because of the decline of Waaqeffannaa and the Abbaa-muuda, the Arsi Oromo have diverted their pilgrimages to shrines established by various local saints in different parts of the region. The shrine of Sheikh Hussein in Bale, the Sof Umar Guutoo pilgrimage center in western Arsi, and the Faraqqasaa pilgrimage center in eastern Arsi are among the most frequently visited pilgrimage centers by the Arsi Oromo. In addition to the above shrines, large numbers of Arsi Oromo also take part on in the Irreecha (thanksgiving) ritual by Lake Arsadi in Bishoftu town. As the belief systems and rituals at the shrine of Sheikh Hussein, Sof Umar Guutoo, Faraqqasaa, and the Irreecha ritual indicate, religion among the Arsi Oromo can be arguably perceived as highly syncretistic and in constant transformation as a result of various religious, social and political developments throughout time. The factors that have contributed for religious change among the Arsi Oromo thereby transforming their religious landscape include: the introduction of Islam to Ethiopia and eventually to Arsi; the conquest of the Arsi Oromo by the Christian Shewan Empire towards the close of the nineteenth century and the eventual proselytizing activities of the Orthodox Church as of the 1940s; the activity of Protestant missionaries since the last decade; and the emergence and spread of the Salafi movement (Wahhabism) in the 1970s. Islam became the religion of the majority of the Arsi Oromo in the 1970s, thereby decreasing the importance of the Waaqeffannaa religion and leading to the emergence of syncretistic cults.
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