HUSSEIN, SHEIKH
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Nur Hussein ibn Ibrahim al Malkai of Balé (now the province of Mendebo in southeast Ethiopia), a sheikh, a Muslim mystic and teacher of the Sufi order, and a revered saint of Arusi, is a historically elusive figure.
Competent historians have located him variously in the 7th, 12th, 15th, 17th, and second half of the 19th centuries! The evidence, however, points to an early date, ranging from the middle to the later part of the 12th century AD. The principal source about the life of this unique personality is the hagiography (collection of lives of the saints) of unknown authorship entitled The Springtime of Hearts.
Included in this work is a genealogy of unknown date, tracing Nur Hussein to the family from the Hijaz (a region on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia) of Agil in Abi Talib, cousin of the Prophet Muhammad and brother of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the last Orthodox Caliph of Islam (reigned 656-661). Nur is presented in the 11th generation after Aqil, who lived in the 7th century AD. Equally, the genealogy of the Somali saint, Sheikh Othman of Morka, who lived in the 16th century AD, traces back nine generations to Nur Hussein, and this, as above, would place Nur in the 12th century AD.
It is generally accepted that Sheikh Hussein introduced Islam to Arusi, and to the kingdom of Balé, scutheast of Arusi. Galla tribes, invading in the 16th century, mixed with Islam many earlier Galla Kushitic religious elements. His teachings were accepted enthusiastically, and there are some today who consider Nur Hussein to have supplemented the Muda (supreme religious authority) of the Arusi Galla.
Sheikh Hussein was known for many miracles, and his teachings included acceptance of an all-pervading concept of non-aggression. His followers in the 1970s numbered about 30,000 men, women, and children. They traveled as poor people, drumming and singing the Galla poetry which tells of his teaching and miracles. With their symbol, the Y-shaped staff they were found throughout Harar province, Arusi, Jemma, and Agaro, that is east and south of Addis Ababa, and along the Kenyan border. His sanctuary, located on the plain of Goba, consists of the valley of Kachamsaré, and a village containing his tomb. It is a place of pilgrimage in February each year.
HARVEL SEBASTIAN
