This chapter is written by Michele Petrone

¶ Over the first quarter of the 20th century, the area of Jimma became one of the most intellectually vibrant areas for Ethiopian Muslims. This was due to a combination of factors. First, there is the Islamization of large parts of the so-called Five Gibe Kingdoms¹ in the second half of the 19th century, due to increasing trade and the consequent presence of Muslim merchants and clerics. The second element is the rise and expansion of the kingdom of Jimma under the rule of Abbā Jifār (d. 1269/1855), who …