Nur ibn Mujahid ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Abdullah al Dhuhi Suha ( Harari: ኑር ኢብን ሙጃሂድ, so, Nuur ibn Mujaahid, ar, نور بن مجاهد; died 1567) was a Muslim Emir of

Harar Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saint ...

who ruled Sultanate of Harar. He was the primary reason for the construction of the five-gated wall that surrounds the city of

. He was known for marrying his uncle's widow,

Bati del Wambara Bati del Wambara fl. 1531, ( Harari: ባቲ ዲል ወምበራ, lit. ''victory is her seat'')Rita Pankhurst Women of Power in Ethiopia: Struggle and Loss was the Harari wife of the 16th-century general, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim, and then his successor ...

, and he also succeeded Imam Ahmad as leader of the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

forces fighting

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Biography

Emir Nur was considered a saint from Harar, Mujahid was called the ''Sahib al-Fath al-Thani'', or "Master of the Second Conquest". When Imam Ahmad, who had led the Muslim conquest of the

Ethiopian Highlands The Ethiopian Highlands is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , while the summits reach heights of up to . ...

, was killed in 1543, the Muslim forces fell back in confusion to Harar. Nur, the dead leader’s sister’s son, married

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi ( so, Axmed Ibraahim al-Qaasi or Axmed Gurey, Harari: አሕመድ ኢብራሂም አል-ጋዚ, ar, أحمد بن إبراهيم الغازي ; 1506 – 21 February 1543) was an imam and general of the Adal Sulta ...

's widow,

, and undertook to renew the fortunes of the Muslim city, which had been sacked in 1550. Promoted to Emir around 1550-51, he spent the next two years reorganizing his forces, and constructing the

defensive wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

which still surrounds the city. In 1554-55, Nur departed on a

Jihad Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with G ...

(holy war), in the eastern Ethiopian lowlands of Bale, and Hadiya. In 1559, he invaded

Fatagar A medieval map of Fatagar and surrounding areas Fatagar (Amharic: ፈጠጋር) was a historical province that separated Muslim and Christian dominions in the medieval Horn of Africa. In the eleventh century it was part of the Muslim states, then ...

, where he fought against the Ethiopian emperor

Galawdewos Galawdewos ( gez, ገላውዴዎስ, 1521/1522 – 23 March 1559) also known as Mar Gelawdewos ( amh, ማር ገላውዴዎስ), was Emperor of Ethiopia from 3 September 1540 until his death in 1559, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His t ...

, and killed him at the Battle of Fatagar. Nur continued fighting for 12 years until, according to legend, at Gibe he said "Kaffa!", or "Enough!", and returned to Harar. Some believe the province is called Kaffa for this reason. During Nur’s absence, Harar witnessed internal power struggles, and the unlucky city was disturbed by encroaching Oromo clans. It was at this time that the walls of Harar were built; tradition attributes them to Nur ibn Mujahid with the help of two chiefs, Aw Abadir and Aw 'Ali. By 1567, repeated Oromo raids had brought

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompan ...

to the city. Nur left the city for three months on a punitive raid against the invaders. On his return he found an epidemic afflicting Harar, and he himself died of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

that year.Richard Pankhurst, ''The Ethiopian Borderlands'' (Trenton: Red Sea Press, 1997), p. 373

Legacy

Harar,_tomba_dell'emiro_nur_bin_mujahi_08

Contemporaries described Nur as a man of noble conduct, who was just, strong, and highly principled. Besides the wall which protected the city's inhabitants from invaders over the following centuries, he was noted for a number of buildings he erected in Harar. His tomb stands on a hill surrounded by houses and courtyards, and is a popular place of pilgrimage in Harar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nur Ibn Mujahid Emirs of Harar 1567 deaths 16th-century monarchs in Africa People from the Adal Sultanate Year of birth unknown