In: Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, ed.

by Svein Ege, Harald Aspen, Birhanu Teferra and Shiferaw Bekele, Trondheim 2009

Spirit Possession and Pilgrimage The Formation and Configuration of the Tijjn Cult in Western Oromoland
Minako Ishihara1
This article aims to explain how the Tijnya, despite its reformist mission, has been indigenized by the western Oromo in the first half of the 20th century forming a Tijjn Cult. This Cult developed in a unique way centering on the veneration of Al-Faki Ahmad Umar, and creating a network of centers, related to the life history of Al-Faki, scattered in western Oromoland. The configuration of the Cult becomes visible in the performance of pilgrimage (ziyra) and the diffusion of spirit possession.

1. Introduction The Tijnya, one of the Islamic mystic orders (tarqas) born in the 19th century Maghrib, is often referred to in the context of being part of the so-called neo-sufistic trend2, along with other tarqas founded in north and northeast Africa, such as the Sammnya, Slihya and Sansya (Rahman 1979: 209, Levzion & Voll 1987: 10). The Tijnya is especially known for having a reformist bent, and is against excessive practices of venerating saints (`auliy)3 and the custom of visiting both living saints and their tombs or shrines (ziyra). In addition to this, Ahmad at-Tijn, the founder of the order, is said to have prescribed that his followers should refrain from joining other Sufi orders (Abun-Nasr 1965: 40). Consequently the Tijnya is regarded as having an exclusive attribute, and the leaders of the order, when they have charismatic authority, are capable of militant mobilization under internal or external pressures (Levzion & Voll 1987: 10). Despite these characteristics, apparently a product of the political atmosphere in West Africa in the 19th century, the Oromo people of western Ethiopia have accepted the Tijnya in their own way. This article aims to explain how the Tijnya, despite its external origin and reformist mission, has been indigenized by the western Maa Oromo in the first half of the 20th century to become a Tijjn Cult4. I differentiate the
1 2 3

Nanzan University, 18 Yamazato-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Pref., 466-8673, JAPAN. Authors email address: ishihara@nanzan-u.ac.jp The author is well aware of the controversy in the definition of the concept neo-sufism(OFahey & Radtke 1993). Although the word saint has been utilized as a translation for wal(e.g. Gellner 1969), there is a well-known argument against its use, owing to the difference in character between the Christian saint and the Muslim wal (cf. Turner 1974). Some scholars have preferred to use holyman instead of saint (McHugh 1994, Ishihara 1997). In this article, I use the word saint for technical reasons with quotation marks acknowledging the inappropriateness in the strict sense of the word. The Oromo people seem to have their own way of pronouncing the name of the order, Tijnya with a stress on `j. This article is based on research conducted intermittently since 1992. Research was mainly conducted under a series of projects funded by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Project Leader: Professor Katsuyoshi Fukui of Kyoto University). Research was also funded by the Nanzan University Pache 505

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Tijnya order and the Tijjn Cult, in order to show that the Tijnya introduced in the western Oromo society developed in a unique way closely associated with the accomplishments of Al-Faki Ahmad Umar (d. 1953). The Tijjn Cult formed in western Oromo society is, so-to-speak, a regional cult5 centering on the veneration of Al-Faki Ahmad Umar, and creating a network of centers, related to the life history of Al-Faki, scattered in western Oromoland (Map1).

Map 1. Location of sites related to the Tijjn Cult and the Cult of Shaykh Nr Husayn. The regional (or supra-communal) aspect of the Tijjn Cult and the difference in character of the sites contributed to the multi-dimensional formation of the Cult involving Muslims and Christians, the religious elite and the general populace, both men and women. Moreover, the dynamic interplay with other contemporary cults gave the Cult credibility in terms of social and cultural acceptance. These factors resulted in the formation of the Cult, with its configuration becoming visible in the performance of pilgrimage (ziyra) and the diffusion of spirit possession. However, I readily acknowledge the differentiation between the Tijnya and the Tijjn Cult to be a technical (or analytical) one, and the Oromo people, including the religious elites who have been granted the ijza (permission to recite the obligatory wirds or litanies), do not recognize any distinction between the two. These people, although a minority, form the core members of the Cult, while the majority are easygoing members, who join the at-chewing sances (hadras)6, recite the Tijnya

Research Subsidy (I-A) for 2005. In Ethiopia, the Institute of Ethiopian Studies of AAU granted administrative support for the research. And I owe many thanks to Ato Liqu Petros, my research assistant, and his family who supported me in every respect. The Tijjn Cult is a regional cult in the extent that the Cult has an inclusive characteristics (even open to Christians), with diffuseness and ephemeral, weak, even uncertain centralization (Werbner 1977: XIV). The concept implies that the cult involves flows of goods, service, information, and people through [a] network of centersstructure and maintain internodal relations (Smith 1976 cited in Werber 1977:XI). at (Catha edulis Forsk.) is a plant used mainly for religious purpose among the Muslims in Ethiopia. The leaf has a stimulating effect and prevents the chewer from falling asleep in the midst of religious rites.

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litany, the Salt al-Ftih, but, not having accepted the ijza, do not recite the obligatory ones7. Therefore, in this sense, the Tijjn Cult is open even to Christians. 2. Al-Faki Ahmad Umar as qallea Traditionally, the Oromo religion consists in the belief in the high god (Waaqa) and supernatural beings (ayaana), the latter being a particular manifestation of the former, to borrow Bartels words (Bartels 1983: 118). The eastern Maa Oromos recognize certain people, called either qallu or qallea8, who have the ability to become possessed by particular ayaanas. The Qallu or qallea is regarded as an intermediary between man and the high god, and the ayaanas serve as a channel to express the divine will of the high god (Knutsson 1967: 76). Regarding the origins of spirit possession, Knutsson states that the phenomenon itself is a new element for the Maa Oromo, possibly due to the decline of the Gada system and the consequential cessation of contact with the ritual expert, Abba Muda, in southern Ethiopia (Knutsson 1967: 71, 205). Bartels, however, suggests that the possession of the qallu or qallea by the ayaanas is a pagan reaction to Christianity (Bartels 1983: 123). Because the decline of the Gada and the reception of world religions such as Christianity or Islam go hand in hand, these two interpretations represent two sides of the same coin. Whatever the relationship with the Gada system may be, the phenomenon of possession by Muslim spirits, namely rhnyas, emerged in western Oromoland only after the advent of Al-Faki Ahmad Umar9. The Tijnya order was introduced to the western Ethiopia by Al-Faki Ahmad Umar, a Tijnya shaykh (religious leader) from Bornu (Nigeria), in the early 20th century (Ishihara 1997). Al-Faki, after a brief stay at Beni-Shangul, set up his residence (respectfully called masara, literally meaning royal compound) in the 1920s at Minko (Syo wrda, Western Wllga Zone), where he settled for about 25 years. The western Maa Oromo people, either pagan or recently converted Christians, welcomed Al-Faki as a qallea, and called him Abba Qoria, literally meaning medicine man (sorcerer). Al-Faki, never exhibited spirit possession himself, but became well known for being able to gain access to the service of spiritual beings (rhnyas), similar to the traditional qallea. He treated the ill not only with herbal medicine but also by magical means and sometimes by communicating with spiritual beings (jinns). The following episode is an anecdote from Bb al-Wusl, an unpublished biography of Al-Faki written by Hajj Ali Abba Ganda, one of his close disciples from Jimma. He (Al-Faki) showed a lot of jinn to the man for two days continuously. The man was a Muslim from Wllga. The man was affected by leprosy and some part of his body was decaying. Though he knew he could not be cured, he asked Al-Faki for any kind of medicine that would cure him. Al-Faki told the man to come to a certain place at a certain date with one of his wives. When the man came along
7

Those who have received the ijzas are obliged to recite certain litanies after some of their obligatory prayers. Among these include is the most extolled litany unique only to the Tijnya order, namely, the Jawharat al-Kaml (Abun-Nasr 1965: 52, 187). Knutsson differentiates qallu and qallea, and defines the former as designating the traditional high priests, normally restricted to those belonging to a certain kinship category. On the other hand, qallea represents an anti-social or anti-traditional role, having a low status (Knutsson 1967:66). Although the possession by rhnyas is a new phenomenon in western Ethiopia, Muslim rhnyas (those with superior status called auliya) who serve the public through human mediums are quite wellknown in Eastern and Central Ethiopia. According to some of my informants in this region, the Muslim rhnya corresponds to wuqabi in the Christian context. 507

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with his wife to the place as he was told to, a number of jinns showed up in front of them. Al-Faki asked the jinns what the medicine would be to cure the disease. The jinns hesitated as if waiting for one another to answer his question. Then AlFaki started to beat the jinns until one of them yielded consent. He told Al-Faki that there was no remedy for the disease because the man killed a buffalo ridden by a jinn. The jinn told Al-Faki that he will only be cured by taking a perfume called Haqq al-Bahr. Al-Faki asked who would fetch the perfume for him, and the jinns promised that they would bring it in two days. Two days later the man and his wife appeared with a calf. They saw the jinns giving the bottle of perfume to Al-Faki with their own eyes. They also saw the jinns devouring the calf and disappearing as they finished eating it (Hajj Ali 1943: 46). I have come across a number of oral traditions relating similar episodes of Al-Faki treating illnesses caused by jinns. And moreover, Al-Faki was known to have a powerful Muslim spiritual being (rhnya) as a close assistant, to whom he was often heard talking to. This Muslim spirit called Shaykh Idris (pseud.), was transferred to a little girl named Tayiba (or Harme Sadiya, d. 1996) after the death of Al-Faki. 3. The emergence of spirit mediums in western Wllga During the lifetime of Al-Faki, two little girls were brought up in his compound at Minko with his family. One of the two girls was Tayiba. These two girls grew up to become mediums of two rhnyas, Shaykh Idris and Shaykh Jibril (pseud.), the former considered to have the superior status. When Al-Faki moved to Kusaye in 1942/43, he had already married off the two girls, now in their early teens, to two Muslim local men. After they both gave birth to children, they lost their husbands. It was on becoming widows and ending their sexual lives that they became fully engaged spirit mediums. Harme Sadiya, the medium of Shaykh Idris, had her compound built just above the hill where the Minko masara of AlFaki is built. Harme Shafi, the medium of Shaykh Jibril lived in Bondo, a village just across the road of Minko. When I first visited Minko in 1994, I encountered five spirit mediums other than the first two. The remaining five spirit mediums (including one male) all had become fully engaged mediums only after acquiring the blessing of Shaykh Idris, the most powerful rhnya who used to serve Al-Faki. When I revisited Minko in 2005, the number of spirit mediums had grown to fifteen (including two men), and there were other novices who had not yet received the blessing of Shaykh Idris, whose medium had died in 1996. Since the death of Harme Sadiya, people could communicate with Shaykh Idris only through indirect means. Thus, I got the impression that the phenomenon of possession by rhnyas was gradually expanding. The process of becoming a spirit medium is quite similar to those encountered worldwide. The first sign of possession comes in the form of a recognizable ailment, which may be a stubborn headache or an abnormal sort of illness. After some efforts to find remedies for the disease, the patient is brought to one of the spirit mediums, who summons the spirit possessing the patient, and forces it to identify itself. If the spirit is judged to be harmful and difficult to cope with, it is expelled. However, if the medium reckons the spirit could be of use to the patient and to the public, the medium advises the patient to meet the demands of the spirit. If the patient is a pagan or a Christian, these spirits, usually Muslims, first demand them to convert to Islam10. After that, the spirit may request the patient to make a sacrifice of a certain type
10

By definition, a rhnya is a Muslim, and I have never encountered a medium with a pagan or

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of cattle or sheep on a certain date, or demand the patient to hold sances (hadras) on certain days of the week. After some months or years, the rhnya may demand the holding of public sances, which is expressed as opening a sance (maad baasu)11. This step is taken only after the spirit medium and the spirit are granted permission and blessing by the paramount spirit, Shaykh Idris, still believed to be working under the orders of Al-Faki. On obtaining the blessing (eebbisu) from Shaykh Idris, the name of the rhnya is called by the honorific title of Shaykh, and gives remedies to those who attend the sance and ask advice from him. The rhnya and the medium are now eligible to accept money from the clients for the advice given and supplications (du) they make. This economical aspect of the maad is implied in the dual meaning of the word, referring both to the hadra in which at is used, as well as to the income which the medium acquires in order to support their daily life. Broadly speaking, there are two types of spirit possession among the mediums possessed by rhnyas in this area. On the one hand, there is a widely recognized type which concerns mediums getting possessed with their consciousness completely altered and falling into a state of amnesia (Bourguignon 1973: 12). This type of spirit possession is found universally and most of the possessions I encountered in western Wllga fit into this type. On the other hand, some mediums remain conscious while being possessed. For example, in the case of Harme Sadiya, when Shaykh Idris came to her, she did not fall into the `altered state of consciousness (ASC) which usually accompanies spirit possession. The voice of Shaykh Idris was heard from around her stomach and she not only retained her consciousness but could also speak with other people and with the Shaykh himself, simultaneously. To give another example of this exceptional type of possession, a man called Abba Imam (living in Kella, where the late Abba Rahmata12, a loyal disciple of Al-Faki, built a mosque and a hut [khalwa] for prayer on behalf of Al-Faki), communicates with his rhnya, whose name is Shaykh Idris-Mawiya without anyone hearing its voice. He listens to and talks with the rhnya as if he were making a conversation on a telephone. When the medium opens a sance, he/she is required to keep certain rules (`adab). First of all, the medium is required to purify herself/himself with ablution13. Taking an appropriate seat, the medium is usually possessed by the rhnyas only after having chewed a certain amount of at, which is also considered an act of purification14. Each rhnyas had their own preferences and some preferred the smell of incense, and others a certain kind of perfume. For instance, Harme Yusuf (living in Limmu, ca. 5km from Minko) had a habit of eating incense sticks when being possessed, pressing lighted
Christian spirit in Sayo wreda. However, I do not deny the possibility that a spirit medium with a pagan or Christian spirit may exist in this district, because my research in this district was highly selective and restricted to those who belong to the Tijjn Cult. Maad is a name of the wooden plate, on which meal is served. However, this word is also used to refer to the clean cloth on which at is laid. As at is regarded as a holy vehicle by which divine grace (baraka) is visually distributed and ingested, the cloth on which it is placed should be ritually clean (Douglas 1966). It is interesting to say that the wife of Abba Rahmata, namely Harme Rahmata is also a spirit medium. The mediums are not possessed by the rhnyas when they are contaminated by blood of any sort (including blood caused by menstruation, homicide and birth). Contamination is also caused by sexual intercourse and attending funerals. These contaminations could be cleansed by ablution. Other participants also refrain from attending the sances when they are unclean in this sense. I have heard some of the informants comparing the chewing of at at sances with turning on the radio. As such, at is not only used as a means to keep the participant awake, but also as a symbolic substance with which the user is tuned in to communicate with the invisible world in which supernatural beings reside. 509

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incense sticks on her tongue. As the medium chewed her at with her clients, both Muslim and Christian, they recited the Tijn litany, Salt al-Ftih. The rhnya which possesses her is called Shaykh Uthman. The instant Shaykh Uthman came, her voice and behavior turned mannish. The language the rhnya speaks is afaan Oromo (Oromo language) with a mixture of Arabic, which is the habitual way the local learned Muslim Oromo men with honorific titles of shaykh and hajj speak. He then exchanges greetings with each of his clients attending the sance anew in Arabic, as-salm alaikum, wa `alaikum as-salm, and asks after the clients family and their health, as if they had not met for a while. I was surprised to hear that Shaykh Uthman remembered me ever since I visited him nine years ago. Sometimes Shaykh Uthman carries a message from Shaykh Idris, whose voice was not heard ever since Harme Sadiya died in 1996. However, recently Shaykh Idris happened to approach Harme Zahra (living in Ripa, just across the road from Limmu), who was already a medium of two other rhnyas. The rhnya who usually came first to Harme Zahra, after falling unconscious, was Shaykh Jibril15. The second rhnya to come was Shaykh Nuruddin whose voice is heard from around her breast. In addition to these two, Shaykh Idris started to show up as if he were sitting next to Shaykh Jibril. The medium slightly bends her neck to the right when Shaykh Idris speaks, and the voice is very much similar to the one we used to hear from Harme Sadiya. The fact that the number of female mediums exceeds male mediums reminds us of the sex war principle, developed by I. M. Lewis from the case of the sar in Northern Somaliland. According to Lewis, women are more prone to spirit possession than men are because they are put under psychological stress, which is caused by the social structure itself (Lewis 1971). However, my interviews with some of the female spirit mediums reveal that the troubles they experienced with their spouses were caused not before the outcome of the diseases caused by spirit possession but only after it had been revealed that the disease was caused by spirit possession. After the causes of their illnesses are identified, they cannot carry on their sexual roles as normal wives if they are to be cured. They are restricted from having sexual intercourse with their husbands and they are prohibited from conducting housekeeping routines, such as cleaning houses, fetching water and preparing meal. If the mediums do not comply with these rules, they will fall ill as before. Moreover, the spirits persistently ask the husbands to cooperate. They are obliged to provide sacrificial animals for the mediums, support their wives in holding weekly sances16, and comply with the rules of the hadra. If the spouse of the spirit medium regards this ordeal as impossible to face, the husband of the spirit medium either divorces her, or marries a second wife, without divorcing the first. However, these consequences caused by possession do not resolve the question, why women are more prone to be possessed by spirits than men. Although I have not yet noted any clandestine pattern of succession of spirits between kin17, there is a tendency, when the mother is a medium, for the daughter to be a medium of another spirit, and close sisters may be mediums of different spirits. Another point that was revealed to me by one of the spirits, when I inquired into this topic, was that the spirits, being pious Muslim shaykhs, were contributing to the Islamization of the Oromo society. The Muslim spirits not only obliged those who were
15 16 17

Although the name of the rhnya is identical to the one possessing Harme Shafi, the two rhnyas are considered to be different. These include building a hut for hadras, and buying incense (etan and nadd) and at. The succession of spirits I have in mind is the type found in the Mayotte Society (Lambeck 1988).

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possessed to become Muslims but also forced them to abide by the obligatory rules of praying and fasting. When the time of the obligatory prayer arrived, while the hadra was being held, the mediums and those attending the hadra were reminded by the spirit to conduct the prayers. The composition of the hut of hadra was arranged to suit this purpose (Fig. 1). Whereas women are required to stand behind men at prayer, the medium, being a rhnya shaykh and a woman at the same time, faced the qibla (the direction of Makka, the north) collaterally with male participants, the two spaces partitioned by a screen. Other women participants take their positions behind the male participants.

Fig. 1. Standing formation of men and women at prayer In western Wllga, the Muslim population has been and still is a minority and Islamization is only undergoing its initial phase (Trimingham 1952). Although nowadays most Muslims in the region respect the rules of restriction against eating meat slaughtered for non-Muslim, and conduct the fasting of Ramadan, they, especially the women, seldom conduct the obligatory prayers. Responding to my question regarding why the rhnyas tend to choose women as their mediums, one of the spirits told me as follows: That is because men, when told not to do this or that, are apt to obey, while women frequently disobey and make mistakes. That is why rhnyas choose women instead of men. We (rhnyas) guide them (mediums) to the righteous paths and enhance their faiths. This statement is interesting in the sense that a similar case of rhnya-possession is reported from East Africa (Kikuchi 1999). An increasing number of people in Mijikenda of Kenya, are becoming Muslims, being possessed by rhnyas. Spirit possession is being accepted as a pretext for converting to Islam. Regarding the origins of the rhnyas, reports from Kenya and Comoro Islands claim they come from the sea. However, in western Wllga, the only rhnya claiming to have come from the ocean was the paramount chief of rhnyas, Shaykh Idris. The remaining rhnyas were converted to Islam by Al-Faki and Shaykh Idris. According to a shaykh who knows much about Shaykh Idris, Al-Faki said as follows, As God gave four Sahbas (Companions) to the Prophet Muhammad, he gave Shaykh Idris to me. The reason why God sent me Shaykh Idris is because Habasha (Ethiopia) is
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inhabited by a lot of qallus and jinnis. Because they (the local people and the spirits) dislike performing the prayers and are hovering about in the darkness, God sent Shaykh Idris to me. We (Al-Faki and Shaykh Idris) whipped them (the local people and spirits) into the righteous path of Islam. And explaining how these spirits became Muslim, this shaykh commented, Previously, this region neither had Islam nor Christianity, and AlFaki traveled here and there converting spirits to Islam without being known. These spirits are nevertheless, converts, and are unlike the selected one (like Shaykh Idris) that came with Al-Faki. Rhnya possession, with its religious overtones serving as a catalyst between Oromo religion and Islam, is becoming a vehicle of Islamization. And Islamization in this region is proceeding hand in hand with the spread of the Tijjn Cult, which is soto-speak a veneration cult of Al-Faki Ahmad Umar. 4. The ziyara (pilgrimage) to Yaa The veneration of Al-Faki Ahmad Umar, as saint (wal) is best expressed in the customary practice of pilgrimage (ziyra). The custom of visiting religious leaders considered as saints, whether dead or alive, is a common phenomenon found universally in the Muslim world. Although nowadays, criticized as heretical (bida), by Islam reformists (locally called Wahabiyas) in Ethiopia, the pilgrimage custom remains central to the religious lives of Muslims (Ishihara 1996). During his lifetime, people came to visit Al-Faki to ask for his supplication. He was believed to be able to gain access to and distribute divine blessing through supplication. Episodes of the ill being cured and the dead revived were transmitted orally, and people, both Muslim and Christian, flocked to his side. At the same time, Al-Faki also became revered as a sophisticated mystic and scholar among the Muslim Oromo public living in the Jimma area, and was given the honorific title, Sheekota Dembi (the great religious leader of Dembi Dolo). Although some religious leaders in the Jimma area already had accepted the Tijnya order18, they were waiting for a person who could renew and revise their licenses, which could only be attained by a religious leader with a higher grade of spirituality. This was what was expected from Al-Faki, who met their needs more than they had expected. Until the 1920s, Jimma, due to the diplomatic advocacy of Abba Jifar, its charismatic leader, was able to resist the attempt of the Ethiopian Empire to incorporate and administer the region. Jimma became a center of Islamic education and became an emporium for Muslim scholars and mystics. Visiting Jimma in the late 1920s, Cerulli reports that in Jimma, Tijnya was predominant along with Qdirya (Cerulli 1927-28: 96). However, in 1932, when Abba Jifar died, the autonomous status of Jimma was abrogated, and the ban on building churches in the region was lifted. Grief over the ongoing situation spread, and many learned Muslim Oromos in and around Jimma left their homeland for Minko (10km from Dembi Dolo), to seek salvation from Al-Faki. Along with the local Oromo residents who converted to Islam for the love of Al-Faki, Muslim Oromo immigrants from the Jimma area founded a Tijjn community centering in Minko (Syo wrda), where his masara still exists. The same kind of masara was built on behalf of Al-Faki wherever he stayed, though some have been abandoned (e.g. the masara built in the hinterland of Affallo, Gera wrda). Before and after his death
18

The Tijnya was first introduced to the Jimma area in the beginning of the 20th century. According to my research, it was Hajj Mahmd Abbakr (alias Sheekota Tijje, d.1911/12) who was first to introduce the order to the area, followed by Hajj Ysuf (alias Sheekota Chekorsa, d. 1937/38).

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at Yaa (Tonga wrda, Beni Shangul & Gumuz Regional State) in 1953, those Muslims determined to live at the side of Al-Faki, gathered and formed a small community around his mausoleum. This was the foundation of Yaa, referred to as the paradise in the wilderness (ybarahaw gnnt)(Eshetu 1978), a major pilgrimage center of the Tijjn Cult. The traditional Oromo custom of visiting the holy shrine every eight years to have the Abba Muda conduct the anointment ceremony for them under the Gada system, had already been transfigured into a Muslim practice of visiting (ziyra) mausoleums and saints (dead or alive) in the syncretic customs of the veneration of the 13th century wal, Shaykh Nr Husayn, or Sheekana Huseen (Asmarom 1973: 9-10). One of the branches of the descendants of Shaykh Nr Husayn settled in Gomma (a district adjacent to Jimma)19, and people venerating the Shaykh (enthusiastic venerators conventionally called Garba) were abundant in the area. They made one of the main streams of people making pilgrimage to Anajina (the location of the mausoleum of the Shaykh) on Muslim holidays (Map 1). It is clear that the cult of Shaykh Nr Husayn was reflected in the Tijjn Cult. Several aspects of the Tijjn pilgrimage to Yaa were modeled on the pilgrimage to Anajina. A village was built around the mausoleum at Yaa just like the one founded in Dirre Shaykh Husayn (Anajina). The residents of the mausoleum village served as guardians of the mausoleum and caretakers of pilgrims. Enthusiastic venerators of AlFaki were called Sagra, instead of Garba. The emblems the pilgrims to Yaa carried was a bamboo stick with remnants of branches sticking out alternatively on both sides, whereas in the case of the Shaykh Husayn cult, the Garbas carry Y-shaped sticks as emblem for making pilgrimage. Thus, these two mausoleums, Anajina and Yaa, are the two main pilgrimage centers the Muslim Oromos in the Jimma Zone head for on Muslim holidays. Both are located on the (eastern and western) periphery of Oromoland, in an out-ofthe-way place. Anajina is on the borderland of Oromo and Somali, whereas Yaa is located near the Sudan border, surrounded by the Nilo-Saharan peoples of Fadhasi, Mao and Bertha. Those who cannot afford to make the pilgrimage customarily visit the mausoleums of their descendants located in the Jimma area. Most of the descendants of Al-Faki live in the Jimma area, where they, both men and women, are extended considerable respect, called by the honorific title, Sayyid and Gifti. Some, who are believed to have inherited the spiritual power of Al-Faki, have mausoleums built after their deaths. The most venerated among the descendants of AlFaki is his eldest son, Sayyid Hassan, whose mausoleum is located at Sadi (Gomma wrda, near the border to Gera). The other locale, which many people visit to celebrate Muslim holidays, is Obba (Gera wrda, near the border to Kafa area), where the last living son of Al-Faki, Sayyid Abdulkarm still lives. On the other hand, those who venerate Shaykh Nr Husayn visit the mausoleum of Waruko (Gomma wrda). People visit these places especially if they have vowed to do so or have a vow to fulfill. They make votive offerings (nazri) and spend a night or two in the vicinity of the mausoleum (or the residence, if the wal is still alive), attending hadras and making supplications. Although appearing to have similar features, having a village established around the mausoleum, inhabited by residents responsible for the maintenance of the mausoleum, the interactions the residents have with the pilgrims at Yaa contrast sharply with those
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The Awalini, the hereditary clan of the king (moti) of Gomma, is believed to be one of the descendant branches of Shaykh Nr Husayn. 513

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at Anajina. At Yaa every pilgrim is considered as guests seeking baraka (divine grace) through the intercession of Al-Faki and are served with a meal, which is never the case with Anajina. The pilgrims are served with injra and meat stew, regarded as dawwa (medicine). This meal is normally served once on the eve of the Muslim holidays (Arafa, Mirj, and Mawld an-Nab). Thus, throughout the year, the residents of Yaa, are obliged not only to engage in agriculture for subsistence, but also to subject themselves to various kinds of labor which contributes to the feasting rituals of the pilgrims20. As Yaa is considered the Ethiopian center of both the Tijnya and the Tijjn Cult, the rituals required for the Tijnya are devotedly performed by those residents who hold the qualifications. 5. Conclusion This article is an attempt to describe the historical formation and geographical configuration of the Tijjn Cult, which developed in Western Oromoland in the 20th century. I have attempted to show the Cult as having three dimensions. First, the Cult has a center in western Wllga, where Al-Faki first settled. Here, the Muslim population was a minority, and Al-Faki was accepted as a sorcerer, or healer by the pagan or Christian Oromos. Although during his lifetime a number of Muslim communities were formed around his residence, Islamization was still in its initial phase when he left the area. After his death, a number of spirit mediums claiming to have spiritual relationships with Al-Faki and his spiritual partner Shaykh Idris emerged, succeeding Al-Fakis role as healer. Those being possessed by Muslim spirits are increasing, contributing to the expansion of Islam, the other facet of Al-Fakis contribution in the area. The second center of the Cult is the Jimma area, where most of the descendants of Al-Faki chose to reside after Al-Faki passed away. The Oromo population of the Jimma area is known to have Islamized in the 19th century and regarded Al-Faki as a reverential Muslim scholar and mystic. The Muslim population in the Jimma area believe the descendants, both male and female, have inherited some of the divine grace of Al-Faki, and are called by the honorific title, Sayyid and Gifti. Some, though not all, of the descendants, have mausoleums built after their deaths, and have become local centers of the Tijjn Cult. The third center of the Tijjn Cult is Yaa, where a village inhabited by migrant members of the Cult is built around the mausoleum of Al-Faki. Although the residents of Yaa are invariably Muslim Oromo from Jimma, Illubabor or Western Wllga, pilgrimage to Yaa is open to anyone, including Christians, who believe in the intercessory power of Al-Faki and have votive offerings to make. The pilgrimage center and symbolic paraphernalia attached to the pilgrimage ritual, conceivably, is modeled on the syncretic cult of the 13th century wal, Shaykh Nr Husayn, with significant features distinctive from the cult in the interaction between the residents of the mausoleum village and the pilgrims. This divergence is caused from the individual tendency of Al-Faki, renowned for his generosity, itself a gift from God. In other words, the topography of the Tijjn Cult itself consists of the deeds and contributions of Al-Faki Ahmad Umar himself. Al-Faki Ahmad Umar, though physically invisible, becomes visible in the Cult itself, his role as healer, scholar, mystic, and generous giver, being passed on to the Cult members themselves.
20

Yasuo Matsunami, a graduate student of Anthropology at Nanzan University, made an ethnographic film, entitled, Pilgrimage to Yaa based on his fieldwork at Yaa, conducted in 2006.

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