BY ALEMAYEHU TAYE
Zebbir means give back. Give back in a sense of bring somebody back to his/her sense of conscience fear of God and rationalism. Conscience, fear of God and rationalism is a crucial element in peaceful and healthy communal existence. Calling for a conscience to set back to the minds of those who are losing it or on the verge of losing it has been proven to be a solution to resolving dispute among the community at Menze, Zebbir.
In the heart of former Shoa province of Menze twelve kilometers away from Molalle Town, there is an age-old “big” church named Zebbir Gabriel. In the chilly cold morn where deities are standing up by the fenced wall of the compound I walked to the right circumference of the church where Abba G.H sits reading from the Bible.
Abba seems to be absorbed with his prayer as he was not able to notice my presence as I approached him walking up the concrete stairs leading to “የካህናት በር” entrance for the priests/deacons of the church. As if waking up from a deep sleep, Abba suddenly looked up to shoot me a surprised look that followed by a faint humble smile. He then slipped his hands into his pocket to fish out a cross from his jacket hidden beneath his Ghabbi, traditional handmade blanky. He must have served/participated in the “ኪዳን” which is an early hour prayer today, as the smell of incense coming out from his Ghabbi is still fresh to my nostrils. He folded the holy book of prayer he was reading from and said “ዛሬ ምን እግር ጣለህ ልጄ?” meaning “what brings you here today son?” His warm welcoming voice and clean spirit gives me comfort and courage to carry on with my interest of learning more from his words and composing this article titled as “Justice system at Zebbir.”
I kissed the cross on his hand and said, “ይፍቱኝ አባቴ!” as he murmured my baptism name saying “እግዚአብሄር ይፍታህ” May God forgive all the trespasses you may have committed.
Not only in Ethiopia but also almost all over Africa we have a tradition of resolving conflicts in a traditional manner. Dispute/ disagreement/conflict with in family members and/or community members are a common occurrence in any society. To have a different opinion or some disagreement or conflict with somebody is human nature. Since conflict and dispute is a common phenomenon that happens with in a community, resolving the dispute through the modern justice system or the traditional conflict resolution method has been a conciliatory practice in almost all societies in the world.
When it comes to Ethiopia, instead of seeking justice at the court of law through the formal litigation, going through traditional form of resolving conflict is very popular.
This traditional form of resolving conflict in a systematized rational form is called “Shimglinna.’’
Shimglinna is an alternative dispute resolution method that involves in the mediation of elderlies in a given community. Shimglinna involves human mediation/arbitration or interference as opposed to divine involvement/judgment.
When I am talking about Justice System at Zebbir, I am not referring to the customary ‘Shimgillina” where community leaders/elderlies are involved in dispute resolution, I am rather referring to the justice system that requires the presence, involvement, and judgment of God.
The people of this vicinity called Zebbir have a custom of seeking justice from God when offended. The formal way of litigation and bringing an offender in any type of dispute to the court seems to be forgotten at Zebbir. As many local people observed, utilized and taken advantage of the system, Zebbir Gabriel Church is serving as a court to the community in addition to the regular sermon and spiritual services.
The tradition here at Zebbir when it comes to conflict and/or dispute and resolution of the conflict is quite different. For instance if somebody feels to be a victim of a crime or offended by a neighbor, a relative or any one, he would come and report his grievances to the church, to a committee at church that is in charge of handling disputes. The church would then give a letter of summon to the offender to have the issue discussed and resolved in the presence of God in the church by the church for the “confidence” of both parties.
The letter of summons that is is calling for the offender to come and face his accuser would facilitate a meeting at the church that is called “መተማመኛ” meeting of confidence. The
offender would show up then to resolve the issue with whoever claims to be offended. Usually the two parties would resolve their issue at this meeting, as there is a strong feeling of fear of God. When the offender admit his wrongdoing and vow to compensate the victim in more formal and fair manner, the two parties would go their ways amicably forgiving each other and restoring peace between one another. There are, however, some instances where the offender refuses to show up to the meeting of confidence or deny about the offences he made against the “victim”.
Getting back to Abba GH who insisted to remain his name abbreviated and refuses to be photographed, I asked him what will happen when the offender denies his offence or refuse to come to the meeting of confidence.
Abba said, “In that case the victim would pass along the matter to God. He/she would not go for any other form of arbitration or revenge. He/she would rather seek God’s interference in wiping down his/her tears. A prayer would also be conducted in the church asking for God to have the victim receive his compensation directly from the Almighty.”
“I know that there is s ceremonial prayer for that kind of grievances, can you explain a little more about it?” I asked Abba.
“The victim would buy a kilo or two of wheat and that is called ‘መገበርያ’ as an offer to God. The priests would then read from the book of Psalm with the cross pointed down on the wheat.” Abba said looking far and with his voice getting slower and calmer he continued, “As you know St. Gabriel has relieved the three kids from the flaming fire by praying to God and receiving the power from the Almighty to have the fire not harm them. In the same manner, we believe that with this kind of ceremonial prayer, God will help the victim from indulging in some sort
of strong sense of flaming anger that may lead to vicious revenge, in the same manner we also believe that the prayer would help the offender to get back to his/her sense of remorse and conscience to compensate the victim for whatever offence has been inflicted.”
“Is there any other spiritual implication behind that; and what would be the benefit for those who have been harmed and denied justice as a result of the offender’s denial?” I asked Abba again.
“Yes son, there is spiritual implication behind that. It is written in the bible that “Vengeance is Mine; so the ceremonial prayer would help to calm down the nerves of the victim as he/she knows that God will surely take care of the issue. The victim would faithfully pass their grievances to God which would provide him/her with peace of mind.”
Ethiopia has been a land of the Christians since 34 AD. Its people have also strong connection and faithfulness to the Almighty. The value rendered to spirituality and faithfulness seems to have contributed to formulation of a tradition, a tradition of relying on God and calling HIM to sit in the throne of judgment. This tradition of seeking God’s interference in cancelling grievances is not arrested to Zebbir Gabriel.
The nearby churches of Zebbir Sellassie and Woin Amba Gabriel are also providing the same kind of ceremonial prayer. “May all our people in the ancient land of ours, which is considered to be a cradle of mankind adopt the culture of resolving dispute/conflict/grievances in a spiritual manner!” is the highlight of “justice system at Zebbir.
That means the people prefer the interference of God instead of the regular form of litigation at the court of law or the customary form of Shimglinna, he said, here deities are religious.
The Ethiopian Herald July 30/2021
