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Paper short abstract:

Focusing on ongoing processes of modifications of exclusivist positions within Salafism, the paper offers finetuned analyses of ongoing discourses within Ethiopian Salafism, pointing to the need to pay attention to such dynamics and their role in producing what we call global Salafism.

Paper long abstract:

Various Salafi movements in Africa are undergoing processes which entail modifications of previous exclusivist positions. While these dynamics may be informed by global discourses, this paper argues that local developments often are more important. With Ethiopian Salafism as the case in point, the paper offers finetuned analyses of situated dynamics, pointing to the need to pay attention to such dynamics and their role in producing what we call global Salafism. Salafism appeared in Ethiopia as an exclusivist movement that focused on correct ritual practice and personal piety, that refrained from getting involved in the affairs of the larger Muslim community, and that shunned societal and political engagement. Departing from such positions, Salafis has over the last years become much involved in the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council (EIASC); the main representative organization of Ethiopian Muslims. Analyzing this change, the paper points to how Salafis’ participation in the EIASC – and, their engagement with the broader Muslim community – has made them revisit earlier isolationist positions. At the same time, the Salafis’ entrance to the EIASC has met much resistance and accentuated existing intra-religious tensions. It has introduced Salafism and Sufism as new terms in the local vocabulary, where representatives of the latter are accusing the former of seeking to impose what they see as extremism in Ethiopia. Situating these developments locally, the paper demonstrates how socio-economic changes have impacted internal Salafi discourses – which in turn have enabled the Salafis to negotiate their stigma vis-à-vis the state.