ALLAHUmma

Salamun aleykum Dr. Hany. 

I trust you are doing great. Well, I would like to take this opportunity to bring to light some of our linguistic analysis of words in our Oromo language. 

Oromo people are cushitic people who leave in Eastern Africa. The majority live in Ethiopia, others in Kenya and Somalia. The Oromo are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia. 

The Oromo believe that they are the descendants of Cush, one of the grandt sons of Nuh. Historically the Cush kingdom spread from Egypt, Libya, Sudan to Ethiopia. 

Well, let me get down to what I wanted to share in regards to your previous lecture on ALLAHUmma. In our Oromo locution, there is a use of "mma" as I have used to write ALLAHUmma. After critical analysis and juxtaposing of the words, it almost brought about the meaning of ALLAHUmma as explained in your lecture/presentation.

In our locution, we call God by the name "Waaq".  The Oromo practice a monotheistic religion called waaqefanna. The Oromo call God, "Waaq tokkich" meaning "The ONLY One God".  The word "Tokkich" comes from the word Tok which means One in Oromo. As in, when you count, you start with Tok, lam(two), sadii(three)........ So "tokkich" simply means "The Only one".

The word Tok can also be used in a different format but now the meaning changes. Now the word is "TOKKUmma" which means many people coming together to become one i.e unity of purpose. TOKKUmma is widely used by Oromos now to call for their own unity, i.e they become one. So TOKKUmma is a plural word meaning many people becoming one as in TOKKUmma in politics, TOKKUmma in social aspect etc.  Bottom line the word "One" can be changed to plural by adding "MMA" therefore it becomes TOKKUmma.

When Oromo refer to their God, they call him Waaq tokkich i.e the only one God. Sometimes they call him Tokkich only or tokkich maqa dibba (The only one God with a hundred names). So in my analysis, TOKKUmma which is plural is not used when referring to God. It's only Tokkich i.e "the only".

Now coming back, Allahu laa ilaha illa Allah. Their is no deity to be worshipped except Allah alone.  So based on how our Oromo word is used, when you add "mma" the meaning changes to plural. So ALLAHU and mma. This means the people worship multiple Gods or they have many intermidiaries whom they take as gods. These are those who are oblivious to the Ayats of Allah.  

The baudha were cursed in the locution of Daud and Eassa ibn Maryam, I geuss this is the same locution that people should learn, Maryam came from Africa. 

Allah knows best. 

Salamun aleykum.