SISTEMA ELECTRICO 6 25 RELAYS
INFORMACIÓN DE SERVICIO 7-
Nigeria is a multi-religious country with a secular constitution since independence in 1960. Whether viewed from its past or contemporary period, religion continues to impact on every aspect of life in Nigeria.65 Northern Nigeria is host to a multiplicity of religious groups (sects) under the umbrella of Islam and Christianity.
Within Islamic religious identity, it is not easy to pin-point the dominant strand of Islam and its international influence. Indigenous Islamic sects have developed either in reaction to the main stream ones or in response to the socio-political, cultural, religious and
60See Edward O’Connor, From the Niger to the Sahara: The Story of the Archdiocese of Kaduna (Ibadan: SMA Fathers, 2009), 9-25.
61 Ibid., 9-25.
62 Raymond Hickey, The Growth of the Catholic Church in Northern Nigeria1907-2007 (Jos: Augustinian Publications, “2006), 13-18 and 37.
63 O’Connor, From the Niger to the Sahar, 97-98.
64 Aisha Lemu, “Religious Education in Nigeria-A Case Study,” in Teaching for Tolerance and Freedom of Religion or Belief (Oslo: The Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief, 2002). http://www.folk.uio.no/leirvik/OsloCoalition/AishaLemu.htm
65 Two religions, Islam and Christianity, are prevalent in the country with an almost equal number of adherents, as well as a minority who profess traditional African religion.
northern Nigerian is unique to that locality due to the vastness of the area and factors characteristic of the region. In the same vein, within the Christian tradition, other sects have developed alongside the traditional Christian identities (Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian and Lutheran Churches). These include the Pentecostal and neo- Pentecostal churches or ministries as well as the African indigenous churches. These have also evolved in reaction to the main stream traditional Churches and in response to the prevailing challenges present in the environment.
Islamic Religious Identities: The key to understanding Islam is to recognise the
central position of the Sokoto Caliphate which serves as the structure or model for exerting a strong Islamic-cultural influence in northern Nigeria and the west African sub-region.66
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries northern Nigeria and indeed most west African countries, witnessed the spread of two main Sufi Islamic brotherhoods, the Qadriyya and the Tijaniyya. The Qadriyya in West Africa was founded by Abd al-Qadir (Ad.1077–1166) in Baghdad. Uthman dan Fodio, who led the major reformist jihad in northern Nigeria and founded the Sokoto Caliphate, belonged to the Qadriyya. Similarly, the Tijaniyya sect was founded by Ahmad al-Tijani (1737–1815) in Fez, Morocco and reached Nigeria in the 1820s, through the northern city of Kano.67 According to a Nigerian scholar, Abiodun Alao, even at that early stage of the spread of these sects in the region, ethnicity and socio-political factors influenced the relationship of the two groups. The Quadriyya was firmly linked to the Fulani leadership of Sokoto Caliphate, with five legitimate independent sub-sects and several semi-independent groups, of which the Shaziliyya considered themselves an entirely separate brotherhood. Meanwhile, the Tijaniyya settled mainly in Kano and preached a doctrine that symbolised their independence from Sokoto the seat of the Caliphate where the Quadriyya was most dominant.68 Like the Quadriyya, the Tijaniyya too had various sub-sects. The Quadriyya
and Tijaniyya had similarities and major differences in their doctrines often the cause of friction and tensions resulting in riots for example in 1949 and 1956.69 Immediately after
66 John N. Paden, Faith and Politics in Nigeria: Nigeria as a Pivotal State in the Muslim World (Washington DC: United States Institute for Peace Press, 2008), 27.
67 Abiodun Alao, “Islamic Radicalisation and Violence in Nigeria,” 2012.
http://www.securityanddevelopment.org/pdf/ESRC%20Nigeria%20Overview.pdf 68 Ibid., 7.
69 Cf. Philip Ostien, A Survey of the Muslims of Nigeria’s North Central Geo-Political Zone (London: Nigeria Research Network University of Oxford, 2012), 15.
played prominent roles in the violence.70
By the late nineteenth century, the practice of Quadriyya originally associated with the Sokoto Caliphate reached the city of Kano led by Nasiru Kabara, whose home and school were located just opposite the central mosque and the emir’s palace. This gave the impression that the tradition of Quadriyya was part of the emirate establishment. Nasiru’s link with West African form of Quadriyya and his trips to Baghdad resulted in the birth of new ritual practices in the Hausa land which proved to be a source of tension between various Islamic sects.71
The Tijaniyya remained the dominant brotherhood in Kano with links to the Tukulor Fulani tribe from Sengal, who emphasised individual rather than group prayers. However, a reformed Tijaniyya developed; they introduced group prayers, community, modernisation of the means of communication and the use of Hausa language. This appealed to common traders in the city. The reformed group spread to all parts of the emirate and other urban centres in Nigeria so much so that Sufi-Tijaniyya became a dominant brotherhood in Nigeria.72
Eventually, an anti-Sufi sect developed called Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’a Wa’ikamatis
Sunnah (JIBWIS) meaning: the Islamic Organisation for eradicating Innovation and
Establishing Sunnah, also known as Izala. This movement was founded in 1978 by Sheik Isma’ila Idris in Jos northern Nigeria, with the support of Sheik Abubakar Gumi a former Grand-Kadi of the Shari’a Court of Appeal of the Northern Region.73
According to socio-cultural anthropologist Roman Loimeier, the processes of change in northern Nigeria are often expressed in religious terms; hence the Izala movement became the most influential and powerful movement of reform and the most outspoken opponent of the established Sufi order.74 The Sufi orders were challenged by various means, such as the occupation of their mosques. Becoming a member of the Izala meant breaking with established society, including parents, and rejecting all allegedly un-Islamic ways and social customs such as a bride price, extensive mourning and praying in some Sufi style ritual. The Izala sect not only fought against many features of northern Nigerian society, but also advocated substantial reforms by establishing, for example, modern Islamic schools even in some rural areas and calling for the political and religious
70 Alao, Islamic Radicalisation and Violence in Nigeria, 8. 71 See Paden, Faith and Politics in Nigeria, 28.
72 Ibid., 28-29.
73 Cf. Ostien, A Survey of the Muslims, 18.
74 Roman Loimeier, “Boko Haram: The Development of Militant Religious Movement in Nigeria,” Africa Spectrum 47, no. 2-3 (2012), 141.
educated Muslims an alternative vision of Islam not mediated by established Sufi religious authorities who were accused of perpetrating major non- Islamic innovations.75 Their radical preaching and ideology appealed to many Muslims and attracted a large followership, sometimes causing tension and violent conflicts with other Islamic sects as well as within the Izala movement. For some years now the sect has been split into two factions, Izala ‘A’and Izala ‘B’, based in Kaduna and Jos respectively.76 It is however argued by some Nigerian religious and social analysts that the Izala sect is one of the largest Islamic movements in northern Nigeria. The introduction of shari‘a in northern Nigeria in the 2000’s has given the sect plans for more activities in the region.
Another group of Muslims in northern Nigeria is the Shia who prefers to be called “the Islamic Movement” or “the Muslim Brothers Movement”.77 This movement started in the early 1980’s when many Nigerian Muslim students in northern Nigerian Universities were inspired by the ideological purity of the 1979 Iranian revolution. It emphasises that Western imposition and culture must be rejected, pious Muslims must rule and Islamic shari’a must be the law of the land.78 As a result Nigeria was flooded with ideological literature from Iran; some Muslim students visited Iran to study or gain experience by holding counsel with Iranian ruling mullahs. Among them was Ibraheem Yaqoub Zakzaky, now known as Sheikh Ibraheem El Zakzaky. He became the leader of the (Shia) Islamic Movement or the Muslim Brothers Movement in northern Nigeria. This movement following the Iranian ideology believes that only pious Muslims must rule and shari’a must be the law of the land. Thus they reject the Nigerian constitution and laws because they are derived from illegitimate sources. They call for the establishment of an Islamic state in Nigeria, with a constitution based on the Qur’an and Hadith. They denounce democracy as it exists and is practised in Nigeria; they don’t sing the national anthem or say the pledge and have no respect for the Nigerian national flag. Furthermore they criticise the programme of shari’a as implemented by the twelve northern states saying it is deceptive because it was introduced by non-Islamic government. Muslims groups who behave differently are seen as apostates and unbelievers (kafir).79
However this sect, the Islamic Movement or the Muslim Brothers Movement (Nigerian Shia) and their doctrines are rejected by most Muslims in Nigeria and because of
75 Cf. Ibid.
76 Ostien, A Survey of the Muslims, 19. 77 Ibid., 10.
78 Ibid. 79 Ibid., 11.
Sheikh El Zakzaky has been arrested many times and today, after thirty years of proselytization, the Shia remains a small minority group of Muslims in northern Nigeria.
The Sunni sect is another group of Muslims in northern Nigeria operating simply as “Sunni Muslims”. They are neither Sufi nor anti-Sufi. They live quietly, pray along with other Muslims in their mosques and form their own networks for socialising, preaching and charitable works. The people of this sect are neither attracted nor against Sufi Islam. The Sunnis welcome all people of Islamic background who do not believe violence or conflict with other groups.80
Other sects are the Ahmadis and Qur’aniyyun. The Ahmadis sect stems from India and has been present in Nigeria since the1920s, mostly among the Yoruba ethnic group. They are mainly a minority group found in the north. This group has suffered persecution from other Muslim sects because they believe that the Ahmadis are a heretical sect and non- Muslims. The sect is known for its efforts to promote a modern system of education and like the vast majority of other Muslims upholds the Nigerian constitution and works within the ambiance of the law. The Qur’aniyyuns are Muslims who only accept the Qur’an as an authoritative guide to faith and practice excluding the Hadith.81 They reject all reports about the prophet because of the uncertain veracity of the Hadiths. They believe that with the exception of when the Prophet received the revelation of the divinely dictated Qur’an, the sayings and the doings of the Prophet were not divinely inspired since he was a mere human being like any other. Furthermore, they reject most Islamic laws taught in the various schools of fiqh (shari’a) which are largely based on the Hadith literature.82
There are two strands of Qur’aniyyun in northern Nigeria, the “Kala-Kato” or Yan- Tatsine (Maitastine),83 and the Submitters. The Kala-Kato or Maitatsine was formed by Muhammadu Marwas a Cameroonian in 1980. He was a Qur’anic teacher who gradually called together a local community of followers united in their ideology and doctrines. They rejected the Hadith and Sunnah, and condemned the reading of any other book other than the Qur’an as paganism.84 Marwa seemed to have rejected the prophet hood of Prophet Muhammad and declared himself a prophet.85 The sect stirred up many violent conflicts in
80 See Ibid., 14 and 21. 81 Ibid., 12.
82 Ibid., 12-13.
83 Elizabeth Isichei, “The Maintatsine Rising in Nigeria 1980-85: A Revolt of the
Disinherited,” Journal of African Religion 17, no. 3 (October 1987), 194. They are called “Kala-Kato” for their use of the phrase to mean the Prophet is mere human.
84 Niels Kastfelt, “Rumours of Maitatsine: A Note on Political Culture in Northern Nigeria,” African Affairs 8, no. 350 (January 1989), 83.
destroyed. The group continues to be nurtured within and around the system of traditional Islamic education which focuses exclusively on learning to recite the Qur’an and write some parts it. A lot of young people follow this sort of education even though some of them end up as orthodox Sunnis. However; only those who join Kala-Kato do not consider it necessary to be read other books than the Qur’an.86 Accordingly, members of Kala-Kato remain largely uneducated in the modern sense and reject any form of western influence. They continue to exist quietly in many places in northern Nigeria, not mixing much with other Muslims and living at the margins of society as malams, teaching the Qur’an.
The Qur’aniyyun or the Submitters as they call themselves (Islam) are inspired by the ideology of Rashid Khalifa, an Egyptian biochemist. They are also known as Al- Quraniyyun; i.e. those who accept the Qur’an only. Their creed is straightforward; they do not accept any Hadith of the Prophet but do accept him as a prophet of Allah. Adherents of this sect, in sharp contrast to Kala-Kato, are evidently well-educated, academics and business-people acquainted with modern ways of life.87 They are present in Kaduna, Kano and Katsina.
Occasionally small unorthodox Muslim sects like “Salaf” spring up and fade away, some quietly while others not without conflict and confrontations. Darul Islam is an example. The group was founded by a Hausa orthodox Sunni malam in 1993, to form a pious community isolated as much as possible from the rest of the ‘sinful world’.88 He gathered a group of followers of about four thousand people from within and outside of Nigeria; all living together, men, women and children. They built a settlement and applied a strict Maliki shari’a in all matters civil and criminal. They did not claim the right to execute any harsh punishment on anyone, as serious cases meant excommunication from the group. They had their own qadi (Islamic judge), an Islamiyya school and hospital. They accepted modern western education as some of their children were receiving such learning. According to a Nigerian lawyer Philip Ostien, the Niger State government knew about them and even inspected them and relations were friendly.89 But with the rise and violent attacks of Boko Haram in 2009, the government took the drastic step of arresting and repatriating all of them to the states and countries (Chad and Niger) they had come from. Today the leader of the sect and some members are in Kano northern Nigeria.
86 Ostien, A Survey of the Muslims, 13. 87 Ibid., 14.
88 Ibid., 24. 89 Ibid.
violent religious sect like Boko Haram. The ideology of this sect is that western education and values are sinful and thus forbidden. They believe that northern Nigerian politics have been taken over by a group of false Muslims. The sect is out to wage a war against them and the Nigerian state in order to create an Islamic republic ruled by Islamic shari’a law90 (for the discourse on Boko Haram, see sub-section 1.6.4.).
Generally, to answer the question on the form of Islam most prevalent in northern Nigeria and their international influence or affiliations is not easy. A critical analysis of the situation brings to fore complex factors as well as issues of scriptural (and traditional) interpretation which continue to shape and affect how Muslims (Christians) respond religiously. Consequently, Islam as practised in the region is unique to that locality characterised by various elements. However, Islam in the area tends to follow the Sunni custom within the Sufi tradition, with the Shi’a tradition in Sokoto and other parts of the north-west Nigeria. The Quadriyya and Tijaniyya are most prominent, alongside smaller sects: the Tariqa, the Malikiya, the Ahmadiya and the Islamiyya. It can nevertheless be concluded that Muslims in northern Nigeria do not form a homogeneous block but are divided into numerous large and small movements and groups that mirror the socio- political and religious divides and orientations present in the region.91 While some of these sects/movements fight against the Nigerian state, others are deeply involved in the dynamics of political positioning that foster competition among religious traditions leading sometimes to bitter conflicts within and between faith groups.
Christian Religious Identities: Contemporary (northern) Nigeria has experienced an
incredible upsurge and growth of African style independent churches, Pentecostal and neo- Pentecostal ministries since early twentieth century. According to a Nigerian scholar of religion Musa A.B. Gaiya, these African churches and Pentecostal movements are the Africans’ way of domesticating the Christian faith.92 Meanwhile, some Nigerian analysts of religion contend that, the explosion and proliferation of these Charismatic-Pentecostal churches is the result of a growing dissatisfaction among some members of the mainstream churches. This is due to the inability of western missionaries (Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran Churches) to establish and foster Christian principles that are culturally liberating, anthropologically enhancing and religiously
90 Cf. Andrew Walker, “What is Boko Haram?” Special Report (Washington DC: United State Institute of Peace, 2012), 1. http//www.usip.org
91 See Loimeier, Boko Haram, 152.
92 Musa A.B. Gaiya, “The Pentecostal Revolution in Nigeria,” Occasional Paper (2002), 3. http://www.teol.ku.dk/cas/research/publications/occ._papers/gaiya2002.pdf
religious colonisation and a reaction against political as well as social discrimination.94 In addition, the political and religious scenario of the time, intensified by economic poverty, lack of development and of course, the great influence of American Pentecostal spirituality, all fostered the growth of African indigenous/Pentecostal churches because the religious yearnings of the people were not met adequately by the liturgical ceremonies of the traditional Churches.95
Some of these African indigenous Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal churches and ministries not only introduce an intensive practice of prayer, they also seek to liberate Christianity from western practices and indigenise the faith wihtin the religious parameters of Traditional African Religion.96 These churches are characterised by their charismatic nature, with emphasis on scripture, prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, fasting, holiness, miracles and evangelism. They continue to overwhelm their congregations with the doctrine of material prosperity, healing, success, wealth, deliverance from sickness and overcoming financial difficulties. They persist in organising crusades (service) and revivals aimed at solving the numerous problems afflicting people.97 The Nigerian socio-political analyst Olusegun Fakoya has described these churches/ministries as the most flourishing business empires in Nigeria in an era of religious materialism.98
Alongside the mainstream missionary churches (Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran Churches), indigenous African Independent Churches include: United Native African Church, Christ African Church (Bethel), United African Methodist Church, Kingdom of God and New Life Church. Others are the Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim (Aladura-praying people), Church of the Lord, Christ Army, Celestial Church of Christ and Christ Holy Church.99 Evangelical Churches include: Christ Apostolic Church and the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA). Pentecostal Churches include: The Apostolic Church, the Apostolic Faith, Faith Tabernacles, Congregation United Gospel, Assemblies of God and the Foursquare Gospel Church. The neo-Pentecostal Churches include: Deeper life Bible Church, Church of God Mission,
93 Cf. Donatus Pius Ukpong, “The Presence and Impact of Pentecostalism in Nigeria,” (2006), 7. http://www.glopen.net
94 Ibid., 8. 95 Ibid. 96 Ibid., 9.
97 See Olusegun Fakayo, “The Gospel of Materialism-Nigerian Pentecostalism and Hypocrisy,” 2008. http://www.nigeriansinamerica.com