Critique and Emancipation in the Religious Sphere? Revisiting Ethiopia’s Modernity through the Däqiqä Ǝsṭifanos

The Däqiqä Ǝsṭifanos offer an alternative sourceofEthiopian philosophy that predates the ḤatätasofZär’aYa‛ǝqob and Wäldä Ḥǝywät, containing essential ideas regarding the relationship between the public and private spheres, the critical role of religion as a redemptive form of discourse, as well as a utopian imagination that radically interrogates existing human relations. Their texts reflect their efforts to revolt against dogmatism in fifteenth-century Ethiopia’s religious thought and practice. They can thus be read as a revolutionary movement that problematises how Orthodox Christianity has been perceived in Ethiopia. This paper argues that the study of Ethiopian philosophy needs to be set against the background of these precursors of modernity and that there is a need to extend the foundations of modern Ethiopian philosophy beyond Zär’aYa‛ǝqob’s Ḥatäta. While the Däqiqä Ǝsṭifanos have historically been associated with a kind of mediaeval “Geist”, valuing religion as an ideological means and expressing life through metaphysical abstractions, a concerted social critique is disclosed within their writings in a revolutionary and systematic manner. Abba Ǝsṭifanos and his followers exhibit a covert critical attitude wherein we can find historical and ahistorical potential for refuting the irrationality of authorities of mediaeval and modern societies. This chapter explores the historical and political significance oft he Däqiqä Ǝsṭifanos movement and their philosophical relevance in redefining Ethiopian and African critical traditions. In doing so, it also brings out its bearing on the liberation discourses of religion in the contemporary world.