The Hararis are a Muslim Habesha ethnic group in Ethiopia. Hararis traditionally live in the city of Harar, situated in the Harari Region of eastern Ethiopia. They speak Harari, a member of the Ethio-Semitic branch within the Afroasiatic family.
Natives of Harar refer to it as Gēy Ritma "language of the City" (Gēy is the word for how Harari speakers refer to Harar, whose name is an exonym). Harari was originally written with a version of the Arabic script, then the Ethiopic script was adopted to write the language. Some Harari speakers in diaspora write their language with the Latin alphabet.
Composing just under 10% within their own city, Harari people have moved throughout Ethiopia, mainly to Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa, establishing families and businesses. The Harari people have also spread throughout North America, mainly to Washington D.C., Atlanta, Toronto, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Memphis. Furthermore a minority of the Harari people lives in Europe in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Great Britain. In Melbourne Australia, Harari communities such as Sây Harari Afocha is active.
Virtually all Harari are Muslim. The earliest kabir or Islamic teacher in the community was Aw Sofi Yahya. He arrived in Harar in 1216 as part of Abadir's retinue. Yahya subsequently established the area's first Qur'an gey or madrasa around 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the south of the city center.
The Harari people speak the Harari language, an Ethiosemitic language referred to as Gey Ritma ("Language of the City"). It is closely related to the Gurage languages. After the Egyptian conquest of Harar, numerous loanwords were additionally borrowed from Arabic. Gey Ritma was historically written using the Arabic script. More recently, it has been transcribed with the Ge'ez script. The 1994 Ethiopian census indicates that there were 21,757 Harari speakers. About 20,000 of these individuals were concentrated outside Harar, in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. Most Harari people are bilingual in Amharic and Oromo, both of which are also Afro-Asiatic languages. According to the 1994 Ethiopian census, about 2,351 are monolingual, speaking only Harari.
Due to severe violation of Harari rights during Abyssinian rule, Hararis made several attempts to cut ties with Ethiopia and unify Hararghe with Somalia. Launching the nationalist Kulub movement linked to the Somali Youth League. These events led to the Haile Selassie governments systematic displacement efforts on Hararis, to break their dominant control of Harar. Harar Oromo proverb, allude to this occasion as:"On that day Hararis were eliminated from earth." Haile Selassie's overthrow by the Derg communist regime made minor differences for the Harari, they describe it as "little more than a transition from the frying pan into the fire".The surviving Harari relatives of the members to the Kulub movement would join the Somali Armed Forces and some having been promoted high ranking military officers, fought in the Ogaden War to free Harari/Somali territory from Ethiopian rule. After Ethiopians won the war in Ogaden, Derg soldiers began massacring civilians in Harari areas of Addis Ababa for collaborating with Somalis. Today Hararis are outnumbered in their own state by the Amhara and Oromo people. The ruling Ethiopian government ushered in 1991 has favored Hararis tremendously. They now control their Harari Region again and have been given special rights not offered to other groups in the region.
Natives of Harar refer to it as Gēy Ritma "language of the City" (Gēy is the word for how Harari speakers refer to Harar, whose name is an exonym). Harari was originally written with a version of the Arabic script, then the Ethiopic script was adopted to write the language. Some Harari speakers in diaspora write their language with the Latin alphabet.
Composing just under 10% within their own city, Harari people have moved throughout Ethiopia, mainly to Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa, establishing families and businesses. The Harari people have also spread throughout North America, mainly to Washington D.C., Atlanta, Toronto, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Memphis. Furthermore a minority of the Harari people lives in Europe in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Great Britain. In Melbourne Australia, Harari communities such as Sây Harari Afocha is active.
Virtually all Harari are Muslim. The earliest kabir or Islamic teacher in the community was Aw Sofi Yahya. He arrived in Harar in 1216 as part of Abadir's retinue. Yahya subsequently established the area's first Qur'an gey or madrasa around 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the south of the city center.
The Harari people speak the Harari language, an Ethiosemitic language referred to as Gey Ritma ("Language of the City"). It is closely related to the Gurage languages. After the Egyptian conquest of Harar, numerous loanwords were additionally borrowed from Arabic. Gey Ritma was historically written using the Arabic script. More recently, it has been transcribed with the Ge'ez script. The 1994 Ethiopian census indicates that there were 21,757 Harari speakers. About 20,000 of these individuals were concentrated outside Harar, in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. Most Harari people are bilingual in Amharic and Oromo, both of which are also Afro-Asiatic languages. According to the 1994 Ethiopian census, about 2,351 are monolingual, speaking only Harari.
Due to severe violation of Harari rights during Abyssinian rule, Hararis made several attempts to cut ties with Ethiopia and unify Hararghe with Somalia. Launching the nationalist Kulub movement linked to the Somali Youth League. These events led to the Haile Selassie governments systematic displacement efforts on Hararis, to break their dominant control of Harar. Harar Oromo proverb, allude to this occasion as:"On that day Hararis were eliminated from earth." Haile Selassie's overthrow by the Derg communist regime made minor differences for the Harari, they describe it as "little more than a transition from the frying pan into the fire".The surviving Harari relatives of the members to the Kulub movement would join the Somali Armed Forces and some having been promoted high ranking military officers, fought in the Ogaden War to free Harari/Somali territory from Ethiopian rule. After Ethiopians won the war in Ogaden, Derg soldiers began massacring civilians in Harari areas of Addis Ababa for collaborating with Somalis. Today Hararis are outnumbered in their own state by the Amhara and Oromo people. The ruling Ethiopian government ushered in 1991 has favored Hararis tremendously. They now control their Harari Region again and have been given special rights not offered to other groups in the region.
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