A general scene from the annual iftar for Muslims in Addis Ababa (Al Jazeera)

Addis Ababa

- Yesterday, Wednesday, the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, witnessed a collective Iftar, the largest of its kind in the country, in which thousands of fasting people participated, amid an official presence led by the President of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Ethiopia, Sheikh Ibrahim Tofa, and a number of sheikhs, scholars, and representatives of diplomatic missions in Addis Ababa. .

Sheikh Ibrahim Tofa delivered a speech at the collective breakfast organized by the Council in its fourth edition, in Revolution Square in the center of the Ethiopian capital, stressing the importance of Muslim unity and promoting the values ​​of tolerance and peace among all Ethiopians.

In his speech, Tofa stressed the necessity of reviving virtuous Islamic values ​​and urging cooperation and solidarity among members of society. He said, “Ethiopia has been known for tolerance, peace, and peaceful coexistence among all its peoples and religions throughout the ages.”

In a carnival scene, dozens of fasting Muslims from Addis Ababa flocked before breakfast through the main streets leading to Revolution Square, to participate in the breakfast organized by the Council in cooperation with a group of Islamic charitable institutions and young volunteer Muslims from the capital.

Islam is the second religion after Christianity in Ethiopia, and some estimates indicate that the percentage of Muslims constitutes no less than 33% of the country’s population of about 115 million people, although other estimates indicate that Muslims occupy a population area much higher than this percentage. They constitute a majority in Oromia, Ethiopian Somalia and Afar regions.

The Palestinian Keffiyeh is present at the iftar of the Islamic Council in Ethiopia (Al Jazeera)

Solidarity with Gaza

For his part, Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the Fourth Annual Iftar, Abu Bakr Ahmed, said that this year’s Iftar comes to affirm unity for the sake of the country, considering the occasion an opportunity for the Muslim community to express its solidarity and unity. He added, “The Iftar has become a crucible in which Ethiopian Muslims meet to strengthen their unity.”

Ahmed, who is also an advisor to the President of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Ethiopia, explained in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that the Council has traditionally organized and held the annual Iftar to strengthen the bonds of communication between the Muslim community and demonstrate its role in the country, noting that the Iftar is attended by all Islamic groups and sects from all regions of Ethiopia. .

The Palestinian issue was not absent from the scene of the annual iftar for Ethiopian Muslims, as it was present in the keffiyeh and messages of solidarity with Gaza and the vulnerable peoples. Ahmed said that the conditions that the Islamic world is experiencing in various parts of the world require support and that everyone pray during these blessed days for God to lift the affliction from the oppressed and occupied peoples, stressing the importance of solidarity with the Palestinian people and the Gaza Strip.

Great presence

For her part, the director of the “Bab Al-Khair” Association in Ethiopia, Hanan Mahmoud, expressed her happiness at the wide participation witnessed in the annual iftar, and said that the participating crowds of hundreds of fasting men and women among Ethiopian Muslims in the iftar confirms the unity and cooperation among Muslims in Ethiopia.

Hanan added to Al Jazeera Net, "Our association participated in this iftar, and this is an achievement and pride for us that Muslims have now had a large and appreciated presence in the country."

She pointed out that the “Bab Al-Khair” Association is a humanitarian initiative that was established in late 2019, to support the poor, the needy, and refugees, especially during the holy month of Ramadan. She added that today it has become a destination for the poor and needy, men and women, and the number of beneficiaries has reached 3,000 people, and the scope of its food services has expanded. To treatment and financial aid.

Hundreds of fasting men and women participated in the annual iftar in Addis Ababa (Al Jazeera)

Acquired rights

Last week, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that “classifying Ethiopian Muslims as second-class citizens is an outdated matter,” stressing that his government “considers all Ethiopians as citizens with equal rights and duties regardless of their religion.”

Abiy Ahmed explained, during his speech at an iftar he organized for the leaders of the Islamic Supreme Council in Ethiopia, that his government’s recognition of the council and allowing the opening of Islamic banks “are acquired rights for the Muslim community in Ethiopia, and they should not be thanked for them.”

Abiy Ahmed added that his government “granted the Muslim community more than 120 plots of land to build mosques, but this matter was not done in the desired manner.”

Since Abiy Ahmed assumed the prime ministership of Ethiopia in 2018, the country has witnessed reforms that have consolidated the gains of Ethiopian Muslims, most notably the official recognition of the “Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs” as a sovereign religious institution independent of the executive authority, after it had been registered for decades as a civil society organization. Authorizing the opening of 5 Islamic banks for the first time.

Performing the Maghrib prayer at Iftar in the capital, Addis Ababa (Al Jazeera)

Source: Al Jazeera