Ethiopia expels 2 Arabs amid tension with Muslims

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

Ethiopia's government has expelled two Arabs who flew in from the Middle East after the pair went to a mosque and tried to incite violence, an official said Saturday.

The two men visited Addis Ababa's Grand Anwar Mosque on Friday and disseminated materials and made inflammatory statements, said Shimeles Kemal, state minister of communications.

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Islam was introduced to Ethiopia in 615 AD when the followers of Prophet Mohammed, including his wife sought refuge in Aksum. The king of Aksum welcomed them, respected their religion and offered them protection.

They later settled in Negash, east of Tigray, which has become one of the most important places for the Islamic faith in Ethiopia.

Prophet Mohammed ordered his followers not harm Ethiopians. Islam spread to the east of the country mainly the Harar region, which was established by Sultan Abu Beker Mohammed in 1520 and became the Holy City for the Muslims.

Harar also became an important city for trade, famous for its Islamic architecture such as the City Walls and a centre of Muslim scholarship.

www.ethiopiantreasures.co.uk...

It'll be interesting to watch and see just how far this goes with Ethiopia.

It's always seemed unusual to me that Ethiopia has recently been on the battlegrounds fighting Muslims, considering the details of their shared history.

If I am missing something, I'd sure like to be made to understand.

Saint Frumentius (died ca. 383) was the first Bishop of Axum, and he is credited with bringing Christianity to the Aksumite Kingdom. He was a Syro-Phoenician Greek born in Tyre.

According to the 4th century historian Rufinus, who cites Frumentius' brother Edesius as his authority, as children Frumentius and Edesius accompanied their uncle Meropius on a voyage to Ethiopia.

When their ship stopped at one of the harbors of the Red Sea, people of the neighborhood massacred the whole crew, with the exception of the two boys, who were taken as slaves to the King of Axum.

The two boys soon gained the favour of the king, who raised them to positions of trust, and shortly before his death, gave them their liberty. The widowed queen, however, prevailed upon them to remain at the court and assist her in the education of the young heir, Ezana, and in the administration of the kingdom during the prince's minority.

They remained and (especially Frumentius) used their influence to spread Christianity. First they encouraged the Christian merchants present in the country to practise their faith openly; later they also converted some of the natives.

en.wikipedia.org...

As soon as the Icthyophagi (Fish Eaters) arrived from Elephantine, Cambyses, having told them what they were to say, forthwith despatched them into Ethiopia with these following gifts: to wit, a purple robe, a gold chain for the neck, armlets, an alabaster box of myrrh, and a cask of palm wine.

The Ethiopians to whom this embassy was sent are said to be the tallest and handsomest men in the whole world. In their customs they differ greatly from the rest of mankind, and particularly in the way they choose their kings; for they find out the man who is the tallest of all the citizens, and of strength equal to his height, and appoint him to rule over them.

The Icthyophagi on reaching this people, delivered the gifts to the king of the country, and spoke as follows:-

"Cambyses, king of the Persians, anxious to become thy ally and sworn friend, has sent us to hold converse with thee, and to bear thee the gifts thou seest, which are the things wherein he himself delights the most." Hereon the Ethiopian, who knew they came as spies, made answer:-

"The king of the Persians sent you not with these gifts because he much desired to become my sworn friend- nor is the account which ye give of yourselves true, for ye are come to search out my kingdom. Also your king is not a just man for were he so, he had not coveted a land which is not his own, nor brought slavery on a people who never did him any wrong.

Bear him this bow, and say 'The king of the Ethiops thus advises the king of the Persians when the Persians can pull a bow of this strength thus easily, then let him come with an army of superior strength against the long-lived Ethiopians- till then, let him thank the gods that they have not put it into the heart of the sons of the Ethiops to covet countries which do not belong to them.'

So speaking, he unstrung the bow, and gave it into the hands of the messengers. Then, taking the purple robe, he asked them what it was, and how it had been made. They answered truly, telling him concerning the purple, and the art of the dyer- whereat he observed "that the men were deceitful, and their garments also."

Next he took the neck-chain and the armlets, and asked about them. So the Icthyophagi explained their use as ornaments. Then the king laughed, and fancying they were fetters, said,

"the Ethiopians had much stronger ones."

Thirdly, he inquired about the myrrh, and when they told him how it was made and rubbed upon the limbs, he said the same as he had said about the robe. Last of all he came to the wine, and having learnt their way of making it, he drank a draught, which greatly delighted him; whereupon he asked what the Persian king was wont to eat, and to what age the longest-lived of the Persians had been known to attain.

They told him that the king ate bread, and described the nature of wheat adding that eighty years was the longest term of man's life among the Persians. Hereat he remarked, "It did not surprise him, if they fed on dirt, that they died so soon; indeed he was sure they never would have lived so long as eighty years, except for the refreshment they got from that drink (meaning the wine), wherein he confessed the Persians surpassed the Ethiopians."

classics.mit.edu...

reply to post by michaelbrux


sounds quite dark...i'll remember to never let them in my house.