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A Foreign Faith in a Christian Domain: Islam among the Igbos of Southeastern Nigeria

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 32; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13602004.2012.727296

1469-9591

Saheed Ahmad Rufai,

Islamic Studies and Radicalism

Abstract Igboland, which is geographically located in the Southeastern part of Nigeria, was the last part of the country to witness the advent of Islam. This was owing to the fact that the people there are predominantly Christian and adherents of African traditional religions. Notwithstanding, Islam spread to the region in the nineteenth century and has since been earning itself new adherents among the local people. However, there has not been a systematic study of the spread, growth and development so far of the religion among the Igbo people; these adherents are a minority for whom the religion is alien. The purpose of this article is to trace the historical development of the religion in the region by identifying the factors instrumental to its spread as well as identifying the initiatives of the early Muslims. The significance of such a historical analysis lies in its potential to provide some new insight into how a minority survives with their religious persuasion in the face of majority adherents of dominant faiths. The article employs a combination of the historical and the analytical methods and concludes that with appropriate da'wah machineries in place, Islam stands a good chance of becoming the religion of the majority of the Igbo people. Notes Egodi Uchendu, “Being Igbo and Muslim: The Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria and Conversion to Islam, 1930s to Recent Times”, The Journal of African History, Vol. 51, No. 63, 2010, pp. 87–94. Keneth Meek, An Ethnological Report on the Peoples of Nsukka Division, Onitsha Province, Lagos: Lagos Press, 1930. James Boston, The Igala Kingdom, Ibadan: Oxford University Press, 1968. Anthony Shelton, The Igbo – Igala Borderland: Religion and Social Control in Indigenous African Colonialism, Albany: The State University of New York Press, 1971. Anthony Afigbo, Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo History and Culture, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981. Nelson Achebe, Farmers, Traders, Warriors, and Kings: Female Power and Authority in Northern Igboland, 1900–1960, Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2005. David Ugwu, This is Obukpa: A History of Typical Ancient Igbo State, Enugu: Fourth Dimension, 1987. Douglas Opaka, J. Ozloko, and C. Eze, eds., Nsukka: Development Challenges, Nsukka: Adaba Investment, 1997. Van Den Bersselaar, “Creating ‘Union Ibo’: Missionaries and the Igbo Language”, Africa, Vol. 67, No. 2, 1997, pp. 273–295. Collins Onwubu, “Ethnic Identity, Political Integration and National Development: The Igbo Diaspora in Nigeria”, Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 13, No. 4, 1975, pp. 399–413. Anthony Smock, Ibo Politic: The Role of Ethnic Unions in Eastern Nigeria, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971. Michael Green, Ibo Village Affairs, London: N.P., 1947. David Forde and G. Jone, The Ibo and Ibibio-Speaking Peoples of Southeastern Nigeria, London: N.P., 1950. Henry Waddington, Intelligence Report on Afikpo Clan of Ogoja Province, Unpublished MS, 2011. Works by the Ottenberg brothers include Simon Ottenberg, Farmers and Townspeople in a Changing Nigeria: Abakaliki during Colonial Times (1905–1960), Ibadan: Spectrum Books, 2006; Simon Ottenberg, “A Moslem Ibo Village”, Cahiers d'etudes Africaines, Vol. 11, No. 2, 1971, pp. 231–260. Uchendu, “Being Igbo and Muslim”, op. cit. Douglas Anthony, “Islam Does Not Belong to Them: Ethnic and Religious Identities among Male Igbo Converts in Hausaland”, Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 70, No. 3, 2000, pp. 422–441. Abdur-Rahman Doi, Islam in Nigeria, Zaria: Gaskiya Corporation, 1984. Simon Ottenberg, “A Moslem Ibo Village”, Cahiers d'etudes Africaines, Vol. 11, No. 2, 1971, pp. 231–243. Michael Maduagwu, Igbo Culture and the Prospects of Islam in Eastern Nigeria, http://www.egodiuchendu.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54:igbo-culture-and-the-prospects-of-islam-in-eastern-nigeria&catid=5:papers&Itemid=11 Ottenberg, “A Moslem Ibo Village”, op. cit. Doi, Islam in Nigeria, op. cit. Anthony, “Islam Does Not Belong to Them”, op. cit. Uchendu, “Being Igbo and Muslim”, op. cit. Ibid. Ibid., p. 186. Maduagwu, Igbo Culture, op. cit. A. Afigbo, “Igboland Before 1800”, in Groundwork of Nigerian History, ed. O. Ikime, Ibadan: Heinemann, 1980, pp. 199–220. Ibid. Ibid., p. 76. Michael Talbot, The Physical Anthropology of Southern Nigeria, Cambridge: University Press, 1962. Afigbo, “Igboland Before 1800”, op. cit. Ibid., p. 76. Saheed Ahmad Rufai, Islam in History, Lagos: Ibrash, 1993. This is contained in the official record of the National Population Commission, for the year 2006. Doi, Islam in Nigeria, op. cit. Egosa Osaghae and Rotimi Suberu, “A History of Identities, Violence, and Stability in Nigeria”, Crises Working Paper 6, Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity, University of Oxford, 2005. Ibid. Ibid., p. 12. P. Lewis and Paul Bratton, Attitudes Towards Democracy and Markets in Nigeria: Report of a National Opinion Survey, January – February 2000, Washington, DC: International Foundation for Election System and Management System International, 2000. Doi, Islam in Nigeria, op. cit. Ibid. Ibid., p. 169. Ibid. Ibid. Uchendu, “Being Igbo and Muslim”, op. cit., p. 173. Ibid., p. 177. Ibid. R.G. Armstrong, “The Idoma-Speaking peoples”, in Peoples of the Niger-Benue Confluence, ed. D. Forde, London: International African Institute, 1955, pp. 37–48. Uchendu, “Being Igbo and Muslim”, op. cit., p. 178. Ibid. Ibid., p. 178. Samuel Nadel, A Black Byzuntium, London: Oxford University Press, 1942. L. Bohannan and P. Bohannan, The Tiv of Central Nigeria, London: International African Institute, 1953. D. Fordeand and G.I. Jone, The Ibo and Ibibio-Speaking Peoples of Southeastern Nigeria, London: International African Institute, 1950. Uchendu, “Being Igbo and Muslim”, op. cit., p. 178. Ibid. Egodi Uchendu, “Evidence for Islam in Southeast Nigeria”, The Social Science Journal, Vol. 47, No. 3, 2010, pp. 172–188. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid., p. 184. Ibid. Ottenberg, “A Moslem Ibo Village”, op. cit., p. 238. Ibid. Ibid., p. 239. Maduagwu, Igbo Culture, op. cit. Ibid. , p. 239. Ottenberg, “A Moslem Ibo Village”, op. cit. Ahmed Nnorom, “Islam in Igboland: Lesson in History”. Paper delivered at the International Conference on Igbo Studies: A tribute to Simon Ottenberg, Cornell University, New York, 3 April 2003. Doi, Islam in Nigeria, op. cit. Ibid. , p. 171. Ibid. , p. 172. Uchendu, “Evidence for Islam”, op. cit. Ibid. , p. 120. Doi, Islam in Nigeria, op. cit. , p. 173. Ibid. Ibid. Uchendu, “Evidence for Islam”, op. cit., p. 4. Ibid. , p. 6. Ibid. , p. 7. Ibid. , p. 9. Maduagwu, Igbo Culture, op. cit. Nnorom, “Islam in Igboland”, op. cit. Maduagwu, Igbo Culture, op. cit., p. 12. Anthony, “Islam Does Not Belong to Them”, op. cit., p. 422. Aliu Akoshile and Chukwu Ummuna, “Igbo Muslim: Their Trials and Triumphs”, Citizen, Vol. 4, No. 40, 1993, pp. 10–19. Anthony, “Islam Does Not Belong to Them”, op. cit. I hereby express my sincere appreciation of the kind gesture and hospitality of Alhaji Sulaiman Onyeama, now of blessed memory.