Orthodox Christianity Is Closer To Islam Than European Christianity by Reno Omokri
This is my daughter at an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Addis Ababa, on the Sabbath Day, which, for those who may wish to know, is from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday (this was taken this Saturday).
That is my wife in the background. We are currently in Ethiopia to celebrate the Orthodox holiday of Timket.
Notice how they are dressed? They are covered from head to toe. This is how Orthodox Habesha (the real name for Ethiopia) Christian women have been dressing to go to church for almost two thousand years since Aksum (the pre-Christian kingdom of Abyssinia) became a Christian nation.
Christianity in Ethiopia began after the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts Chapter 8 was converted by Phillip and returned home to Abyssinia with the message of the Gospel.
If you look carefully, you will see that this church looks like a mosque. Why? The Habesha people have been building churches like this for almost two thousand years. Even before prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alayhi Wasalaam, was born.
They also have priests or monks who call out worship times similarly to how Islamic muezzin call out the Mu’min to prayer.
When prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alayhi Wasalaam, had his encounter with the angel, one of those he sought guidance from was Waraqah ibn Nawfal, a Christian priest, who was aware of the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia in Aksum.
And so, when the Quraysh of Mecca wanted to kill the first Muslim converts and companions of the prophet, called the Sahabah, the prophet urged them to seek refuge in Aksum with Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo.
That was the first Hijrah in Islam, not the Hijrah to Medina. The Hijrah to Medina was in 622 CE, and the Hijrah to Aksum was in 615 CE.
When the Quraysh sent emissaries to the Negus (king) of Aksum, asking him to surrender the Mu’min to them, the Negus refused and said that the Mu’min were like Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christians. According to the Negus, the only difference is that the Mu’min believe Yeshua (Jesus) is a prophet, while Tewahedo Christians believe He is the Son of God.
According to the Negus, all other differences between Tewahedo Christians and Islam were trifles.
The Negus gave the Mu’min a town called Harar as a refuge city, and from that time till today, Harar, in Ethiopia, is the fourth holiest city in Islam.
The name by which the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is called, Tewahedo, has exactly the same meaning as the central article of faith in Islam, Tawhid.
Tewahedo means ‘united as one’. Tawhid means ‘making one’. Both of them proclaim that there is only One God.
Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) nurse and nanny, Umm Ayman, was an Ethiopian. She was present on the day the prophet of Islam was born and on the day he died. She was one of the first converts to Islam.
Ruqayyah, the daughter of prophet Muhammad (SAW), lived in Ethiopia for ten years with her husband, Uthman, the third Caliph of Islam.
Men and women enter an Orthodox Church from different entrances and do not mingle within the building. They seat in separate places. And they do not set apart Sunday for worship services. Every day is a service day.
Before you argue, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has the oldest compete and illustrated New Testament in the world.
Please do not get it twisted. The Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest Tanakh (Old Testament) in existence. The Codex Sinaiticus is the oldest text of the Christian Bible, but it is not illustrated.
However, the Garima Gospels are the oldest complete and illustrated New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) on Earth.
Their Scriptures are older than the ones in Europe. If you take your King James Version or any other European version and look at the footnotes, when they have interpretation issues, they will resolve them by saying, ‘The Ethiopic Scriptures say…’ The oldest complete and illustrated Christian Scriptures on Earth are the Garima Gospels.
So, please stop seeing Muslims as enemies. This happens when you blindly follow the pseudo-Christianity that came from Europe rather than the older Orthodox Christianity.
Your real enemy is not the other religion. You foe is ignorance. Read. Iqra. Once you conquer ignorance, your eyes will open, and you will begin to realise that the difference among all Abrahamic faiths is just like the difference between British, American and Canadian English.
Reno Omokri
Gospeller. Deep Thinker. #TableShaker. Ruffler of the Feathers of Obidents. #1 Bestselling author of Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years. Hodophile. Hollywood Magazine Humanitarian of the Year, 2019. Business Insider Influencer of the Year 2022.
