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[Introduction]
[…]
Islam in the nineteenth
century Wallo was in a state of ferment.
With or without the patronage of Muslim
dynasty, it was reasserting itself after
a long period of quiescence. The principal
exponent of Islamic reform and revival were
a number of militant scholars whose reputation
for intellectual resourcefulness, piety
and religious devotion went beyond the confines
of their own localities. The earliest of
these reforming pioneers was Shaykh Muhammad
Shati b. Muhammad (fl. c. 1743 –
1806) of Albukko in Qallu […]. The
second prominent figure in the revival of
Islam in Wallo was al-Haj Bushra Ay Muhammad
of Gata (d. 1863) (13) whose lifelong struggle
against nominal Islam earned him widespread
recognition as an uncompromising defender
of Orthodoxy. (14)
The immediate predecessors and contemporaries
of Shaykh Talha from whom he drew much inspiration
included Shaykh Husayn Jibril (d.
1915) (15) of Warra Himano in whose poetry
and claim to clairvoyance he found a weapon
for waging a passive resistance to Yohannes’s
policy of mass conversion of the Wallo
Muslims, and Shaykh Ali Adam who fought
some local detachments of Yahannes’s
army in one of which he lost his life (16).
Further afield, in northwestern Shawa and
in Hadiya, Hasen Wadajo of Darra
and Hasen Injamo of Qabbenna
instigated in 1878 major revolts using Islam
as a rallying point (17).
Family and Educational Back Ground
[…]
Oral informants and the editor of the published
religious manual composed by Shaykh Talha
believes that Talha was born at the village
of Arera Fura in Argobba in eastern Qallu
(22). He acquired the spirit of devotion
and piety from his religious training, while
his later militancy was a response to the
hardship
and persecution to which the Muslim
community in Wallo was being subjected in
the 1880s. There is a tradition that Aba
Asiyya [his illustrious and saintly
grandfather, Shaykh Yusuf Qanqe alias
Aba Asiyya, d. 1835/36] made a prophecy
about the birth of Talha and his struggle
for the cause of Islam. The same tradition
asserts that although Aba Asiyya had other
sons older than Jafar, Talha’s father,
he arranged for the marriage in order to
fulfil the prophecy (23).
Shaykh Talha received his early Islamic
education in various parts of Wallo (24).
Although he is believed to have been taught
by several clerics, only one is remembered
by name: al-Haj Bashir of C’anno
[ch'eno] who instructed him in Quran
exegesis at the village of Arraf Lebbe (25).
The most notable consequence of his intensive
training as a religious scholar and his
most enduring legacy – was his effective
use of Amharic in the teaching of the fundamentals
of Islam (26) and in the composition of
several manuals on theology and other related
fields.
Shaykh Talha’s only published work,
Tawhid enna Fiqh (Theology and Law),
clearly reveals his ardent desire to disseminate
the basic doctrines of Islam among ordinary
Amharic-speaking Muslims through the medium
of simple but coherent Amharic poetry […].
The Shaykh’s attempt at bridging the
vast gulf between the scholarly erudition
of the local ulama’a (28) and the apparently
superficial knowledge that Muslim commoners
had about their religion, constitutes a
significant contribution to the cultivation
and development of Islam (29).
The work – originally entitled Hadiyyat
al-Subyan (Gift to the Youth) or Tuhfat
al-Ikhwan (Gift to the Brethren) –
is divided into various sections which include
the “Six Pillars of Faith” (Arkan
al-Iman), the “Five Pillars of
Islam”, ritual cleanliness, the obligatory
and voluntary prayers, alms-giving, fasting,
pilgrimage and penitence. These topics are
discussed in a dramatic and forceful manner.
This handy and useful religious manual introduces
the reader to Islam as an integral system
of belief and practice in a way that a formal
oral preaching in a mosque or instruction
at school cannot. The description of doctrine
and rituals is lucid and incisive (30).
A related contribution of Shaykh Talha,
especially in the literary field, is his
use of the Arabic script in writing of his
works in Amharic. Such a literary genre
is styled locally ‘Ajami (lit. = non-Arabic)
and is widespread throughout Muslim Wallo
(31). It is possible that such type of local
literature flourished because of lack of
access to Amharic writing literature and
its identification with Christian culture
(32).
Perhaps the most monumental of Talha’s
work is the Prophet Muhammad’s [pbuh]
biography in four volumes of manuscript.
This work deals with the Prophet’s
life and career until his death. It was
written, as usual, in Amharic with Arabic
characters, and in verse (33). A full-fledged
Amharic transformation of the Quran is also
attributed to Shaykh Talha (34).
[…]
Shaykh Talha’s strict adherence to
the precept of Islamic orthodoxy is reflected
both in his teachings and writings. An informant
who knew him in C’arc’r [ch'erch'er]
relates that one of the reasons why the
Shaykh preferred to spend the rest of his
life in eastern Ethiopia, among people who
know little about him, was his indignation
against his becoming an object of popular
veneration while he was in Wallo, and the
fear that after his death, his tomb would
be turned into a shrine and a place of ritual
sacrifice (37). The following couplets epitomize
his condemnation of all manifestations of
popular belief and transgression of the
divine law:
Here, Shaykh Talha is denouncing the traditional
practice of slaying animals during burial
ceremonies or even in the name of the Prophets
Isa and Muhammad [pbut], other than for
the One God.
Shaykh Talha also urged those around him
to relate to their children accounts the
glory and life of the Prophet [pbuh] and
his pious and heroic companions in order
to instil in their minds a sense of confidence
and pride in their faith, and to inculcate
courage and perseverance (39).
The Period of Struggle
The most eventful period on the life and
career of Shaykh Talha spans the reigns
of Emperor Yohannes and Menilek II (r. 1889
- 1913). Following the
Council of Boru Meda in May/June
1878, Yohannes sent in October Christian
clerics and troops to implement the policy
of conversion of the Wallo Muslims by compelling
them to build churches, pay tithes to the
Church (40) and quarter imperial troops.
(41)
According to local and foreign sources,
Shaykh Talha organized his first major revolt
in mid-1884 (42). However, […], his
reconciliation with Menilek took place after
the Battle of Adwa (43), by which time Shaykh
Talha had waged an armed struggle for seventeen
years, on which there is consensus among
all informants (44). Hence, his first rebellion
can be dated between 1879 and 1880.
Shaykh Talha is believed to have escaped
from the massacre of a large number of Muslims
in the hands of the forces of Yohannes at
Bakke in Qallu in 1298 A. H. /1880-81 A.D
(45). These Muslims had preferred death
to abjuration of their faith. Shaykh Talha
then established his base in his home district
of Argobba in eastern Qallu (46), from where
he declared an all-out Jihad (47). That
the Wallo Muslims revolted was neither an
isolated phenomenon nor thte earliest uprising
can be seen if one keeps in mind the fact
that from April to June 1878, a revolt under
the leadership of Hasan Wadajo was
raging in Darra. Yohannes led an unsuccessful
campaign against Hasen although he obtained
considerable booty. In June 1878 Hasen succeeded
in defeating the forces send by Yohannes
and Menilek led, respectively, by Mika'el
and Masasa (48).
The principal cause for the armed insurrections
which engulfed eastern Wallo in the early
1880s were, firstly, the attempt of Yohannes
and his vassals to impose the Christian
faith on the Muslim population of Wallo,
secondly, the heavy economic burden which
local Muslims were made to bear by maintaining
a Christian clerical, administrative and
military class through their labour and
tribute; and, thirdly, the severity and
ruthlessness with which the policy of conversion
was carried out - all of which sparked off
a spontaneous and widespread popular revulsion
and reaction. This was articulated and channelled
into a religious-political opposition led
by the local Muslim religious notables and
political leaders. Islam was thus not merely
a rallying point of such uprising; it was
itself the motive force behind them.
The period from 1880-81 to 1884 was one
of organisation of the movement led by Shaykh
Talha and of recruitment of follower. In
order to consolidate his power before proclaiming
the 1884 revolt, Shaykh Talha employed three
strategies: firstly, appealing to the religious
sentiment of the ordinary people, mainly
of eastern Qallu; secondly, established
contact with disgruntled elements of the
local aristocracy; and thirdly, mobilising
support for his cause among the 'ulama'a
and balabbat of Albukko, Qallu
and Reqqe who are believed to have sworn
oath of allegiance to him (49). It is perhaps
after this development that he established
his earliest relation with, and sought assistance
from, the Mahadists (50), although his collusion
with them came later. Shaykh Talha was able,
through his organising skill and power of
persuasion, to build a small but formidable
striking force which operated in the lowlands
of Qallu and Garfa. This prompted Yohannes
and Menilek to launch an expedition from
Tahuladare towards the frontier of Adal
in March 1880 (51). A year later, another
joint campaign was organised and led by
the two potentates (52) to suppress a religiously
inspired uprising. The revolts in Wallo
continued throughout the next two years.
According to Gabra Sellase, Menilek's chronicler:
"… since
the Wallo Muslim had taken refuge in Qallu,
Argobba and Garfa, they [Yohannes and
Menilek] issued a proclamation of mobilization
of the army for a campaign aimed at annihilating
al the Muslims. On 19th Hedar [28 October,
1882], they left Boru Meda on an expedition
to Argobba and Qallu and having destroyed
the Muslims as far as Dawwe, they returned
to Boru Meda on 19th Terr [26 January
1883]." (53)
This is confirmed by a local tradition:
on 24 Muharram 1330 (5 December 1882), an
expedition to south-eastern Qallu in order
to put down a Muslim uprising led to the
death of a number of 'ulema'a, including
Shaykh Abboye, Shaykh Talha's paternal
uncle (54).
Although the role of Shaykh Talha in these
uprisings cannot be clearly established,
he was certainly the leading figure in the
revolt which broke out in Argobba in 1884.
the chronicler relates that because the
Argobba Muslims, under the leadership of
Shaykh Talha - whom he disparagingly calls
a fuqra (sorcerer) - had refused to pay
tributes, Yohannes launched a campaign to,
and ravaged, the area although the rebels
could not be apprehended (55).
The early followers of Shaykh Talha, after
the Bekke massacre, were the Muslim peasants
and semi-nomads of the peripheral districts
of eastern Wallo (56). Later on, he recruited
the Rayya and Azabo. This occurred after
his escape from a Christian punitive expedition
which had inflicted a heavy defeat on the
Muslim forces at Manakuse in Qallu in 1884
(57).
Both oral and written sources emphasize
the diversity of the Shaykh's followers.
They included people from Argobba, Callaqa,
Gedem, and Ifat (58), the Danakil of Awsa
and the Azebo Oromo (59).
[…]
A major revolt was proclaimed by Shaykh
Talha in June 1884 (66). His base of military
operation was Garfa from where he made known
his intention of waging a Jihad against
the Christian forces. In November, Menilek
left Boru Meda on a punitive campaign but
Talha fled to the lowlands. Menilek returned
to his camp having ravaged Qallu, Garfa,
and Warra Babbo. Although the uprising coincided
with the absence of Ras Mika'el who had
gone to the north to attend the signing
of the Hewett Treaty at Adawa (67), Talha
could not face Meniliek's superior force
and risk defeat and capture. Such a recurrent
retreat and elusiveness was characteristic
of Talha's tactics throughout the period
of his armed struggle.
The second major Muslim revolt in Wallo
took place in November 1885 in which two
representatives of the Warra Himano ruling
class - Mastayat [Mestawot ?] and
Abba Jabal - took part (68). It is
most probable that Shaykh Talha was also
an active leader of this revolt, although
some writers say that he had fled to the
Sudan in 1885 (69). The Italian commissioner
at Assab for 1895/96, Giannini, wrote that
when in late 1885 Yohannes ravaged Garfa
and the surrounding districts in Awsa, Talha
intercepted some columns and inflicted heavy
losses on them (70), for which the Sultan
of Awsa was grateful. Talha's response to
the Yohannes-Menilek offensive was not always
a retreat to the eastern lowlands. He also
launched offensive operations by burning
down churches which the local Muslims had
been compelled to build and by harassing
the Christian priests who had been sent
to instruct the new converts (71). He led
destructive raids against Yohannes's commanders
of the local regiments. During one such
raid he scored a decisive victory over the
column led by a certain Bajarwand Nawte.
The following poem portrays the outcome
of the battle fought at Kilkillo in Dawway
and highlights the role of Shaykh Talha:
So serious was the revolt of 1885/86 that
both Yohannes and Menilek ravaged Reqqe,
Argobba, and Garfa (73). The joint punitive
campaign lasted three months until January
(74) and was accompanied by unprecedented
destruction of life and property (75).
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