The Sufi–Salafi conflict in South Wollo, Ethiopia: agents of Salafism, reactions of the Sufis, and countering extremism

This paper aims to analyze the Sufi-Salafi conflict in the context of South Wollo of Ethiopia, with a particular focus on the role of generations of Salafi preachers and on how the Sufi reaction functioned as a form of counter-extremism. The research depends on qualitative data gathering tools, and both primary and secondary sources were consulted. The ascendancy of Salafi in the traditionally Sufi-dominated South Wollo stemmed from its sustained outreach among dynamic segments of the Muslim community – particularly the youth, merchants, and educated urban Muslims – over the past two decades. The securitization of Salafism, alongside the importation of Ahbash as a counter-Salafi ideology in post-2011, witnessed the decline of Salafi influence due to state-imposed structural measures under the guise of combating religious extremism. Following the regime change in 2018, the desecuritization of Salafism, coupled with the incumbent’s use of a hybrid Mejlis leadership drawn from the two sectarian currents, could potentially induce a harmonizing effect on intra-religious relations in the Muslim community of South Wollo in particular, and Ethiopia in general.