Dawn for Islam in Eastern Nigeria : : A History of the Arrival of Islam in Igboland / / Egodi Uchendu.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Ebook Package English 2020
• VerfasserIn: Uchendu, Egodi,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter, , [2020]; ©2020
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Language: English
• Series: Islamkundliche Untersuchungen , 303
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (275 p.)

The story of the emergence of Islam in Nigerian Igboland is taken simultaneously with the examination of the social reconfigurations that occurred in Igboland deriving from the introduction of Islam into this part of the country. In this respect, this book chronicles social change in a postcolonial era and builds on the rationale that widespread conversions are responsible for multifarious changes leaving in their wake consequences beyond the imagination of the contemporaneous society. This unique quality makes their occurrence worthy of scholarly attention because they need to be examined, understood, and chronicled for a better understanding of the world we live in. An important outcome of this study is the information it provides on the nature, depth, and success of the advance of Islam in recent times using as a site of discussion Eastern Nigeria and the Igbo society in particular where long-held frictions had existed with the (Muslim) Hausa ethnic community whose members considered themselves the original worshippers of Allah in the Western Sudan. The book further reflects on how this recent advance both resembles and contrasts with what had occurred in other places and in different centuries. Regarding the kind of Islam favored in the study area, one half of the Igbo Muslim population are sympathetic to the conservative views of the Yan Izala found in Hausaland that has shown some strong connection with Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi Islam. The other half are less swayed by the Wahhabi sentiments and favors a middle-ground approach to Islam akin to the traditional Sufi orders comin West Africa in earlier centuries. A distinguishing feature of the book is the provision of academic material for understanding Islamic revolutions and for contextualizing the postcolonial advance of Islam in Africa. The monograph considerably widens our knowledge of different patterns of Islamic religious development in recent times and helps us gauge the degree of social developments t

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- DEDICATION -- CONTENTS -- Acknowledgements -- Maps and Illustrations -- Preface -- INTRODUCTION -- The Overview -- Sketching the Landscape -- Religious Diversification -- Igbo-Hausa Relations -- Pattern of Religious Expansion in Nigeria -- Conceptual Clarification -- The Question of Numbers: Are Igbo Muslims Worth Studying? -- 1. EASTERN NIGERIA BEFORE 1920 -- The Journey of Islam towards the Southeast -- Earliest Inter-ethnic Contacts -- On the Trail of the Elephant Hunters -- The Organization of the Hunt -- Forms of Interaction with Migrants -- 2. THE BEGINNINGS OF ISLAM IN IGBOLAND, 1920–1950 -- Introduction -- The Case of Enugu Ezike -- Islam in Ibagwa -- Women as Agents of Spread -- Expansion of Strangers’ Settlements and Barriers to Proselytization -- 3. THE EXPANSION OF ISLAM AFTER 1950 -- Post-1950 Developments -- Extending Islam to Owerri -- The Enohia (Anohia) Awakening of 1958 -- The Civil War Years -- Reconstruction and Rehabilitation: The Mbaise Affair -- Extending Islam to Nsukka Town -- Enohia after the War -- Other New Grounds -- 4. CONTACTS AND CONVERSIONS: THE PROPAGATION OF ISLAM IN IGBOLAND -- Introduction -- Hausa Traders and Cattle Markets -- The Igbo and Their Guests: Ambivalent Relations -- Migrants among Themselves -- Da‘wa and the Spread of Islam in Igboland -- The State and Islamic Proselytization -- Transnational Support for Da‘wa -- Igbo Muslims and Da‘wa -- 5. INTERROGATING CONVERSIONS TO ISLAM IN IGBOLAND -- Motives for Conversions to Islam in Igboland -- Women and Conversion -- Conversion of Children to Islam -- Other Factors Contributing to Conversions in Igboland -- 6. “IT IS MY FAITH, IT BELONGS TO ME:” RESPONSES TO CONVERSIONS TO ISLAM -- Induction into Islam -- The Benefits of Conversion -- Responses to Conversions to Islam -- Reactions to Conversions from Outside Igboland -- 7. MUSLIM–CHRISTIAN RELATIONS: THE CHALLENGES OF COEXISTENCE IN A MIXED RELIGIOUS SOCIETY -- Juggling for a Niche in the Community -- “Multiple people, multiple ignorance:” Shari‘a Implementation in Nigeria -- Issues at the Core of the Shari‘a Dispute -- Death of Igbo Muslims in the Riots -- Further Insurrection and the Progress of Islam in Igboland -- Suggestions for Lasting Peace in Nigeria -- CONCLUSION -- ANNEX -- INDEX