Periods of pilgrimage

There are six major periods when large numbers of pilgrims congregate at Faraqqasaa.

One of the most important and revered of all these periods is October 29 of each year, which is the commemoration of the anniversary of the death of Aayyoo Momina. It is also believed that it was on this day that she arrived in Faraqqasaa. The other periods that attract large crowds of devotees from all corners of the country as well as devotees living outside of Ethiopia are associated with Islam. They include Mawlid, the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday and Id al-fitr, which is the festival of the breaking of the Muslim period of fasting. Large numbers of pilgrims also gather at the shrine on 28 December and 27 May (St. Gabriel’s days), and the month of Pagumen.²⁴⁷ In addition to these major periods of pilgrimages, pilgrims can visit the center at any time of the year.²⁴⁸

5.6 Rituals

During the major periods of pilgrimages, many rituals are performed at the shrine. One of the important rituals is the handing over of silat/silata (votive offerings) in return for wishes that are fulfilled with the help of the shrine and/or its founder and one of its former and/or current spiritual leaders. Votive offering is defined as “an act of the virtue of religion by which the offerer expresses recognition of God’s supremacy and, at the same time, submits to his will” (Meagher et al., 1979: 3695). The purpose of any type of offering is to give weight to someone’s prayer. The offering is not done with the aim of bribing God but as an incentive to promote the feeling of proper prayer in the mind of the offerer (Meagher et al., 1979:

3695). The view shared at Faraqqasaa conforms to this explanation. Votive gifts are promised and offered by devotees at Faraqqasaa to prove their devotion and to give strength for their prayers.

Votive gifts are presented at Faraqqasaa for the wishes which pilgrims claim have been fulfilled by invoking Momina’s and/or Tayye’s karaamaa. These gifts are in the form of:

cash, animals such as cattle, camels and/or sheep, joss sticks, incense, perfume, carpet, gold, silver, umbrellas, butter, honey, milk, coffee beans, and other items. In addition, pilgrims also hand over gifts when they make a wish with the aim of increasing the probability of its fulfillment (Gemechu J. Geda 2009: 73-74).

247 The Ethiopian calendar has thirteen months and Pagumen is the thirteenth month. It is made up of only five days and it has six days every four years.

248 Mohammad T., 16 February 2011 at Faraqqasaa.

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The animals brought by pilgrims as votive gifts are slaughtered. The most favored colors of sacrificial animals are red, grey, white, and black, though nobody seems to know the reason for these preferences. Some of the blood from the sacrificial animals is mixed with perfume and sprinkled around the pilgrimage center while the rest is kept in a little hut near Momina’s shrine as a feast for spirits. There is also a kind of feast for the darmu (hyena) in which part of the meat from the sacrificial animals is given. This induces the darmu not to attack horses, mules, and donkeys belonging to pilgrims and animals brought as votive offerings. Hyenas also restrain themselves from attacking pilgrims, who mostly sleep on the plateau around the pilgrimage center in the evening.²⁴⁹

Votive gifts are offered at Faraqqasaa in return for wishes related to receiving children, wealth, and health that have been fulfilled by using the center and/or any of the spiritual leaders as intermediaries between pilgrims and the supernatural. Once pilgrims’

wishes are fulfilled, they bring what they originally promised and hand it over publicly while announcing the aja’bat (miracle). They usually do this during one of the major pilgrimages, but occasionally they may come outside of the pilgrimage periods. Sometimes, pilgrims who promised to offer gifts upon the fulfillment of their wishes may not be able to show up during the pilgrimages due to various personal, family, and social problems, such as sickness, weddings, funerals and other problems. If confronted with any one of the above situations, pilgrims can give the gift to a relative, a friend, or any other pilgrim travelling to the shrine.

The delegated pilgrim then publicly announces the miracle as told by the sender and hands over the gift. It is widely believed that if pilgrims fail to hand over their vows as promised, the individual, his family member, or one of his relatives could be confronted with negative consequences.²⁵⁰ The hymn below, one of many hymns sung at the center during the pilgrimages, clearly indicates the dire consequences of failing to deliver according to the promises one made:

The woman begged Momina

To give her a baby and not to live barren

And if she gave birth she promised to travel to Faraqqasaa with her baby Before the baby is named and his hair is shaved

Soon she became pregnant

Since Momina listens to everybody’s prayers Unless one betrays her after calling her name

249 Kebede A., 18 February 2011 at Faraqqasaa.

250 Wondimu K., 21 February 2011 in Abbomsa.

160 Soon the woman gave birth

In less than a year and without any suffering

Some people are loyal until their wishes are fulfilled After she gave birth, she forgot her promise

Postponing it day after day and a year had passed And she did not bring the baby to our mother’s house The work of the saints is very surprising

They take care of what belongs to them and they save them from a fire One day, the woman laid the baby down and went to fetch water Soon her house was engulfed with fire

Neighbors came to retrieve some of her property

They could retrieve her property, let alone approach the house They retreated back in fear of the blaze

When the mother of the baby heard

She was terrified because her baby was still inside and she came running She wanted to jump into the raging fire

And perish together with her baby People around stopped her

There were many elders around her And they scolded her saying,

“What is the problem if a baby dies?

God will replace him in the future”

She suddenly came to her senses And remembered our mother, Momina

“I asked you to give me a baby and not to burn him Do not make all my effort fruitless”

As she knew that her baby could not survive the fire She asked the people to search for him

In case its bones survived the fire And to bury him for her properly This is better than leaving him there

After the house was fully consumed with fire and burned down The roof and the wall collapsed to the ground

The house was totally consumed and only ash remained

161 People began to search for the baby The heat did not let them get closer

And they did not know how the baby could survive such an inferno After a while, the fire was extinguished

And they began to search for the baby Shibbash’s karaamaa extinguished the fire And the baby was found well asleep

Immersed in sweat as a result of the heat from the fire It was saved without even having burned his clothes The work of the Woliyis (saints) is very surprising

The mere mentioning of their name saves (us/people) from a lot of misery There is nothing more frightening than fire

Their name saves us/people from fire As he survived the fire

Protect us as well, Momina (Gemechu J. Geda 2009: 74-76).

During the pilgrimages, pilgrims burn incense and joss sticks under big trees that are considered holy (adbars), and they smear them with butter because it is believed that Momina sat under their shade, healed the sick and performed various other miracles. They are so revered that worshippers have to take off their shoes before sitting and praying under them, and they must anoint them with butter and perfumes. Pilgrims bow down and kiss the adbars as well as the ground around them. These performances indicate pilgrims’ devoutness and veneration for Momina. Devotees believe that this practice would enable their prayers to be heard by Momina’s karaamaa.²⁵¹

251 Alemitu B., 22 February 2011 in Abbomsa.

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Figure 27: a pilgrim smearing an adbar with butter.

Photo by Gemechu J. Geda, May 2006.

Another important ritual performed at Faraqqasaa is the wadaajaa ritual. It refers to a religious assembly in the hadraa masgid (hadraa or religious assembly mosque). The wadaajaa ceremony is led by the hadraa-mari (leader of hadraa or religious assembly). The wadaajaa ritual existed among the Arsi Oromo long before the coming of Momina to Arsi.

According to Trimingham (2008: 262), the wadaajaa is the main religious event of the Oromo. It is a family or collective prayer, which is accompanied by a feast, drinking coffee and occasionally sacrifices of sheep. However, at Faraqqasaa it refers to praying, chewing khat, drinking coffee, and singing of songs reciting the life and miraculous deeds (qissaa) of Momina and Tayye (Gemechu J. Geda 2009: 77). It is widely believed that taking part in a wadaajaa ritual and reciting the names of Momina and Tayye is one way of healing various physical and mental sicknesses and alleviating other problems. Taking part in this ritual also helps to expel evil spirits such as budaa and jinni (djinni) and harmonize guardian spirits with the possessed.²⁵²