As we asserted earlier that Islām recorded a phenomenal growth in Lagos State up untill the present time, of course there are some reasons that are responsible for this phenomenon. They include the following:
(i) Itinerant Mallams: The Mallams that were moving from one locality to another in order to spread and preach the religion of Islam were responsible for the growth of Islām in Lagos and its environs. They travelled at their own expense from one town to another and taught people about Islām. Some of them were ‘white Arabs’
from outside the country, for example, Shaykh Ali bn. Muhammad al-Mekkawi, who was from Morocco and had been to Makkah. Burton met him in Lagos around 1860.297 And a number of them were Hausa Mallams and some were from Ilorin.
Most of them did not stay long. They used to leave one of their students behind to teach in the community.
(ii) Traders: In the early stage of Islām in Yoruba land, trade was another means of the propagation of Islām; many Arabs are traders either in kola nuts, trona, onions, and the like. This compelled them to travel from one big market town in Yoruba land to another for trade, and thereby spread the knowledge of Islām. In 1870, for instance, Simpson drew attention to a certain Muhammad ibn Muhammad, ‘a sheriff or Mohammedan missionary’, who had recently arrived in Lagos from Seid Okuba in Sham (Damascus), Syria and he hinted that many of his friends are travellers and traders at Kano, and that they might come down to Lagos, ‘…about
297 R.F. Burton, Wanderings in West Africa, vol.ii. 225; see also, N. Levtzion and H.J. Fisher (eds.),
‘Rural and Urban Islam in West Africa: An Introductory Essay’ in N. Levtzion and H.J. Fisher, Rural and Urban Islām in West Africa, 1-3.
which they had heard good information’.298 There were many traders during this period that used to propagate Islām in the course of their trade.
(iii) Muslim Scholarship: Because of the emphasis Islām places on the pursuance and acquisition of knowledge, the Muslims cannot help but spread knowledge as well as to teach others.299 Most of the Mallams at this period taught without reward, as most of them lived on ṣadaqah (charity). There was proliferation of Muslim scholars especially the Yoruba among them; many of them were teachers in Qur’ānic schools. This type of school was initially held in a semi-circular formation, the teacher or Mallam would be surrounded in a semi-circle by his pupils. They usually used ink (tada), slate (wala) and pen (qalam). Rote learning usually predominated and the session was held three times in a day, starting from Saturday and ending on Wednesday. There was also Walīmah reminiscent of convocation day in contemporary universities marking the end of the recitation of the holy Qur’ān.300Some of these schools still survive up until today.
(iv) Open–Air Preaching (Public Lecture): This is another significant factor that contributed to the growth of Islām in its early stage in Lagos State, because there was massive open air preaching which the Muslim scholars embarked upon without fear or favour. This open-air preaching was seen as the most popular means of disseminating Islāmic knowledge, which they popularly call wa ẓ or naṣīḥah
298 Ibid.,62; see also, M.Levtzion, Muslims and Chiefs in West Africa: A Study of Islam in the Middle of Volta Basin in the Pre-Colonial Period, 15;
299 For example, A.A. Nawāwī, Riyāḍ aṣ-Sālihīn (Garden of the Righteous), translated from Arabic by M. Z. Khan, Beirut: Ayif Publishers (1985), 634-638, Hadith, 1381-1397
300 A.B. Fafunwa, The History of Education in Nigeria, 54-65. See also I.L. Akintola, ‘The Impact of Islām on Education and Life in Lagos State’ in P.A. I. Obanya & O. Odunbunmi (eds.), Selected Papers from a Conference on Educational Development in Lagos State, Lagos: Lagos State University (1985), 7-10.
(wassi).301 It was often ubiquitous during the Ramaḍān fast and continues up until today. They also used short ditties that incorporated religious issues for easy recollection by the audience during these occasions. Non-Muslims are usually convinced and converted into Islām. The Muslims on their part are more conscious of their role and responsibilities and sometimes the issue of syncretism features in their preaching. Allowance is sometimes given for questions and answers.
(v) Occupation of strategic positions: During the period in question, some Muslims occupied position of eminence in Government. Some were advisers to civil or military leaders; teachers to their children, religious chamberlains, and while other were members of one advisory council or another. They used all this influence to spread and develop Islām in Lagos.
(vi) Titled Office Holders in the Mosques: Through this, the Muslim community began to organise themselves. The leadership rested on the Imām or Chief Imām supported by other title holders in the Mosque especially the Noibi, Ladani, Onitafsiru, Balogun Adini, Seriki Muslumi, Ajanasi, Baba Adini (Patron of the religion). This arrangement has religious, social and political salutary effects on the development of Islām in Lagos and it survives up until today; they are crucial in the work of the progress of Islām, settling disputes among Muslims, looking after their welfare, organizing festival (‘Īd) prayers, welcoming important visitors as well as serving as their representatives.302 They were all jointly responsible for the welfare and development of the community.
301 T.G.O Gbadamosi, The Growth of Islām among the Yoruba 1804-1908, 36-37.
302 Interview with some Muslim title-holders at Epe Central Mosque on 25/10/2009.
(vii) Muslim Organisations: Muslim associations which had begun many years since in the inchoate period of Islām also played a significant role in the development of Islām. Some Muslims came together and formed associations like Egbe Killa, Egbe Alasalatu. They were dedicated to Islām, promoted contact and co-operation among their Muslim members, promoting the importance of western education, fostered mutual help, propagated Islām and raised Islāmic awareness among their members. They organised series of activities and participated fully in all the social activities of their members such as: naming ceremonies, marriages, walīmah al-Qur’ān, funerals and the likes. They voluntarily used to come forward to donate money or labour as the case may be towards the development of Islām.
They thereby raised the religious tone of the Muslim community and promoted community development projects, for instance: the rebuilding of the Mosque, clearing of ground for the festival prayers and they made the religion of Islām fashionable and popular.303 The more the population of Muslims increased, the more the associations. These associations helped in the progression and consolidation of the Muslim community, and later became the precursors of more important associations that came into being later, such as the Anṣār -Deen Society and the Nawaīr-Deen Society.
(viii) Alien Scholars: This is also a major factor that contributed to the accelerated growth and development of Islām in Lagos State. Scholars both within and outside the country used to travel in and out of the Lagos to preach Islām, conduct their business and in the process propagate Islām. Due to Lagos’ cosmopolitan nature
303 Interview with some members of Eko Epe Central mosque, 20/10/2009
and its being the capital of Nigeria at that time, Muslims from neighbouring cities and towns thronged to this city thereby spreading the religion.
(ix) Pilgrimage: This is also another area that draws some people to Islām and also consolidates some Muslims in the religion. They saw pilgrimage to Makkah as a proof of wealth and piety which enhances ones social status. Hitherto, the journey was arduous and took a number of months, not less than eighteen months and very dangerous. Sometimes, very few people returned and this usually sparked off huge expressions of joy and thanksgiving. As long ago as the 1860s, some Muslims were seen in Lagos who had been on pilgrimage to Makkah.304
(x) Muslim Rulers and Local Chiefs: The large number of Muslim rulers and chiefs was of great significance to the status of Islām. In fact, in Lagos by 1894, Islām was already in ascendancy: King Kosoko, Buraimoh Edu, Chief Ajeniya etc, used their positions to develop Islām and also to contribute to the growth of Islām. Their possession of political power was a great asset to the Muslim community and they used their position to consolidate the influence of Islām.305
(xi) The Colonial Effort: In this regard, the colonial government created conducive environment for the Muslims to preach their religion. The colonial government demonstrated a friendly disposition towards the Muslims in Lagos. They showed this in a number of ways: the colonial government showed signs of interest on the issue of Muslims’ acceptance of western education; the opening of Shitta Bey
304 Ibid., 61.My father told me that when he came back from Hajj on 18th of Nov, 1953, after six months journey, he rode on horseback and many Muslims came to welcome him with fun and peagentry.Oral information received from Alhaji Aliyyu Balogun (May Allah have mercy on him) on 03/09/1990.
305 Oral information received from Oba Ijebu of Epe on 10/10/08.
Mosque; the resolution of the Epe crisis; Ilorin–Ibadan war camps and spoke favourably of Islām to the disappointment of the Christians, settling intra-Muslim crisis in Lagos. So, with all these, the relationship between the Muslims and the Government was friendly and helpful.306 In this wise, the Muslims approached the Government without any hesitation on a wide range of issues; for example the issue of a public incinerator that was very close to the Mosque at Oko Awo in1903 which was removed, and the ban on drumming that was lifted by the Government.307There was freedom of worship, respect and considerable assistance for both parties.
Because of all this, Islām began to blossom in Lagos.
(xii) Muslim Ceremonies: The ‘Īd al-Mawlūd, Laylatul-Qadr, Walīmah al-Qur’ān etc, all these social gatherings serve as an avenue to preach Islām to people and make them conscious of Islām. Children sometimes dance round the town at the admiration of the on-lookers there by drawing the attention and attraction of others to the religion. Sometimes, they do this with pomp and pageantry (colourful ceremonies) and people are entertained. They give the Muslims that attend these ceremonies food and drink and light Islamic singing.308
(xiii) No Racialism: Absence of racialism and clerical hierarchy among the Muslims in Lagos was one of the ways that promoted the religion ab initio. Every Muslim works towards the progress of the society, with self-help and self–reliance, and good organisation. Islām was able to progress rapidly and everybody came together and rallied round each other in order to solve any problem that faced the organisation. With no foreign aid or direction, unlike the Christians that have
306T.G.O Gbadamosi, The Growth of Islām among the Yoruba 1804-1908, 185-187.
307 Lagos Government Gazette, Dec-Jan, 1903.
308 A.A. Ilorin, Nasīm aṣ -Sabāh fī Akhbār al-Islām wa ‘Ulamāu Bilād Yorubā, 54-55
different denominations, the Islāmic religion was able to grow rapidly in its early period.309
(xiv) ‘Africanness’ of Islām: The religion appeals to the Yoruba because it does not preach a violent break from the Yoruba culture, it is less intolerant of African custom. For instance, it accepts African dress, polygamy, charm, ceremonies etc;
unlike Christianity that preaches ‘imperium in imperio’. Islām probably advocates tolerance to African culture and people did not find it difficult to adapt to Islāmic culture and its way of life, and the vestige of such legacy is still the challenge facing Islām today. Some Yoruba Muslims in Lagos now erroneously see Islām as a religion that compels polygamy regardless of the principles or conditions that warrant it. The case of charms is another vestige that affects many Yoruba Muslims in Lagos State up until now. In the name of ‘medicine’; many do not care the type of ‘medicine’ to take to in terms of illness or even to discriminate between causes of diseases and attribution of calamity.310
309 P.B, Clarke, West African and Islam: A Study of Religious Development of Islam in West Africa from the 8th to the 20th Century, 18-19
310 .Interview with President Ibadu-LLahi-Salihin at Epe on 25/09/08.