{"id":59107,"date":"2025-08-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/2025\/08\/20\/muslims-in-ethiopia-make-history-first-free-islamic-elections-with-13-million-voters\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T00:00:00","slug":"muslims-in-ethiopia-make-history-first-free-islamic-elections-with-13-million-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/2025\/08\/20\/muslims-in-ethiopia-make-history-first-free-islamic-elections-with-13-million-voters\/","title":{"rendered":"Muslims in Ethiopia Make History: First Free Islamic Elections with 13 Million Voters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Muslims in Ethiopia Make History: First Free Islamic Elections
\nwith 13 Million Voters<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

In an
\nunprecedented event, Ethiopia witnessed the first elections for the Supreme
\nCouncil of Islamic Affairs, with the participation of more than 13 million
\nvoters across more than 49,000 mosques that were transformed into polling
\nstations\u2014marking a milestone in the country\u2019s and its Muslims\u2019 history.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Unprecedented Participation and Fair Representation<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The
\nelections lasted three days and covered all regions of Ethiopia, resulting in
\nthe selection of 19 senior scholars and leaders, in addition to 120 members
\nrepresenting various areas.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Around
\n65% of seats were allocated to scholars and Islamic leaders, while 35% were
\nreserved for youth and women\u2014considered a clear sign of diversity and balanced
\nrepresentation within the Muslim community.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A Historic Day for Muslims<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Sheikh
\nIbrahim Tufa, President of the Supreme Council, described the event as \u201ca
\nlong-awaited historic moment,\u201d affirming that Muslims had \u201cmoved from
\nmarginalization to genuine representation for the first time in their history,\u201d
\nafter decades of lacking official support and living under the dominance of the
\nChurch in public life.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Political and Social Dimensions<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The
\nelections were not merely a democratic exercise but carried profound
\nimplications for consolidating the values of consultation and participation.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Observers
\nnoted that choosing mosques as polling centers carried significant symbolism,
\nlinking the mosque\u2019s historic role in building Islamic societies with its
\nmodern role in strengthening democracy.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Solidarity with Gaza and a Message to the World<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

In an
\nemotional sermon in Addis Ababa, Sheikh Kamil Shamsu expressed the solidarity
\nof Ethiopian Muslims with the Palestinian people, stressing the need to support
\njournalists exposing what is happening in Gaza, where \u201cinnocent people are
\ndying of hunger before the eyes of the world.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Official Recognition and a Promising Future<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The
\nelections came after the Ethiopian government officially recognized the Supreme
\nCouncil as an independent body, as part of reforms launched by Prime Minister
\nAbiy Ahmed since 2018. These reforms included the establishment of Islamic
\nbanks, participation in state institutions, and the founding of an Islamic
\nuniversity in Ethiopia\u2019s Somali region, welcoming students from both inside and
\noutside the country.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

With the
\nsuccess of this experience, Muslims in Ethiopia are now stepping into a new
\nphase of effective representation and political participation in a country of
\nmore than 120 million people, of whom Muslims constitute more than half.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(<\/span>Source:
\nAl Jazeera<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>)<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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* \u0644\u0644\u0627\u0637\u0644\u0627\u0639
\n\u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u062a\u0631\u062c\u0645\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0643\u0627\u0645\u0644\u0629 \u0644\u0644\u062e\u0628\u0631 \u0628\u0627\u0644\u0644\u063a\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0639\u0631\u0628\u064a\u0629<\/span><\/b>\u060c \u0627\u0636\u063a\u0637 (\u0647\u0646\u0627<\/a><\/span><\/b>).<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Muslims in Ethiopia Make History: First Free Islamic Elections with 13 Million Voters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":59427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[414],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-news-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}