Scriptural exegesis and religious change in modern EthiopiaThe case of šayḫ Zäkkarǝyas and his Christian reading of the Qurʾān

14 October 2024, 10:00 am

Seminar

Monday 14 October 10:15-12:15

Universität Hamburg, HLCEES, Alsterterrasse 1, Seminar und Besprechunsgsraum 129

Tentative outline

10:15-10:35 šayḫ Zäkkarǝyas in history and research (Alessandro Gori, University of Copenhagen)

10:35-11:20 šayḫ Zäkkarǝyas’ hermeneutics: Historical, Textual, and Theological aspects (Fantahun Melaku, Friedensau Adventist University)

11:20-12:15 Q&A and discussion

Summary

šayḫ Zäkkarǝyas (d. 1920), a Muslim scholar from Bägemdǝr, embraced Christianity and initiated a movement of conversion from Islam. He also authored a text where he tried to support and prove the Christian basic dogmas and tenets by analyzing and comparing passages of the Bible and the Qur’ān. Originally conceived in Arabic, Zäkkarǝyas’ work was translated into Amharic. A bilingual version, where Arabic is written in fidäl, was also produced.

Research on this fascinating representative of the Ethiopian multi-religious landscape has been intriguing scholars and students of many different fields: from social history to theology, from linguistics to anthropology. After the first contribution of Donald Crummey and the later text publications by Alessandro Gori, interest for šayḫ Zäkkarǝyas has now revived at the German Adventist University in Fridensau, where a MA-thesis is currently under preparation by Fantahun Melaku.

The seminary aims at presenting šayḫ Zäkkarǝyas, his biography, and his exegetical activities from different perspectives with a special focus on Fantahun’s new research project.