Ignorance - The Bane of Inter-religious Crisis in Nigeria - An Expoition
Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa
(Volume 10, No.2, 2008)
ISSN:
1520-5509
Clarion
University of Pennsylvania ,
Clarion, Pennsylvania
IGNORANCE - THE BANE OF INTERELIGIOUS CRISIS IN
NIGERIA : AN
EXPOSITION
Dr J.K. Ayantayo
University of
Ibadan
Abstract
The dimension of religious ignorance as an essential issue of enquiry
has not received
much desired attention in the Interreligious discourse in Africa and
Nigeria as a
case
study; this is the gap this study intends to fill with the aim of
providing wider perspective
at which the concept of ignorance, given its content, context and
intent has tendency to
aggravate or has aggravated interreligious conflicts in
Nigeria . Using
analytical method
of approached to interpret information generated through unstructured
interview, the
paper demonstrates that a large number of Christians and Muslins are
ignorant of their
religions on the one hand and the religions different from the one they
practice on the
other hand and this account for unhealthy religious relations among
Christians and
Muslims in Nigeria .
The paper, therefore, recommends among other things that scholars
of Religious studies in both secular and non secular educational
institutions should take
the lead in educating religious practitioners in schools and public
places with support
from the press and the government. It is believe of this paper that
this orientation would
help stem the tide of interreligious conflicts arisen from ignorance
Introduction
Debate about
interreligious conflict in Nigeria
with attention paid to its remote
and immediate
causes and effects is no longer new in Conflict and Peace Scholarship
Studies.
However, this does not in any way suggest that the whole discussion is
exhaustible
given the fact that interreligious conflict is a recurrent issue now and then
in
the history
of religiously polarized Nigerian society .For instance the dimension of
religious
ignorance as an essential issue of enquiry has not been essentially considered
in
2
some of the
outstanding causes of interreligious conflicts specifically between Christians
and Muslims
in Nigeria .
In other words, the concept and its manifestation in the debate
have not
received much of the desired attention perhaps, as a fundamental factor
underlying
overall factors precipitating interreligious conflict in
Nigeria . This
is the gap
this study
intends to fill so as to provide wider perspective at which the concept of
ignorance,
given its content, context and intent could be explored to the maximum in the
debate. Given
an example of expression of religious ignorance and implications for
interreligious
conflict in Nigeria
and perhaps in the world, David Barrett writes:
There are 270 large religious traditions, and many smaller ones, in
the world. Many people believe that: their own religious tradition
is unique. It is divinely inspired, free of error. Some consider their
faith's holy text to be the unique Word of God, humans without the
inspiration of God created other religions. They are very human
documents, mistaken in parts, limited by the scientific knowledge
and cultural outlook of the authors. Humans created their God or
pantheon of deities. Religiously based conflict is facilitated when
believers from different religions come in contact with each other,
each believing that they alone have the complete "truth" and
each
believing that the others are in serious error1
The above is
a claim to religious truth on the one hand and falsehood on the other
hand. It is
perceived as truth in the sense that each religious person commenting on the
realty and
the essence of religion he/she practices is fond of claiming to be practicing
religion of
truth as against others whose religions are based on falsehood on the ground
that the two
of them belong to different and perhaps unparallel religious faiths.
Ironically,
the person
whose religion is being described as false will not only dispute the allegation
but would
rather submit that his religion is the only one placed on the truth while the
religion of
his friend based on falsehood; therefore allegations, bickering, squabbles
remain
unending. Debates about the statement become an unending one. If care is not
3
taken, it
would degenerate into conflicts. Here, it appears that each of the two
religious
practitioners
used in the illustration is ignorant of other religions different from the one
he/she
practices.
Religious ignorance and its nature
Religious
ignorance in the context of our discussion refers to lack of knowledge
or
information about particular doctrinal religious beliefs and practices. It
could be lack
of sufficient
knowledge or information about religion we ourselves practice by another
person
belonging to a religious faith different from our own. . The meeting point
between
the two is
lack of sufficient knowledge about a particular religion in terms of its
cardinal
beliefs and
practices at one point or the other. . For example, an average Nigerian
Christian/Muslim
does not have sufficient knowledge of what Christianity or Islam
stands for.
This happens because majority of them either rely on their pastors, Imams or
Sunday school
teachers for the little they know about the religion as most of them hardly
create time
to read the Bible or the Qur’an on their own. The over dependence on the
religious
leaders probably heightens the degree of religious ignorance among Nigerian
religious
practitioners. Besides, a few of them are religious converts who are probably
yet
to have firm
root in the new religion. Even the old converts, especially the first
generation
who got converted from African traditional religions to either Islam or
Christianity
also still know little about the religions because some of them were
blackmailed
to become Christians or Muslims not that they willingly changed their
religions.
This is evident in some of the words used by Christian and Islamic missionaries
when they had
contact with the traditional religious practitioners. For example, the
4
traditional
religious practitioners were called names such as ajebo - ritual eater, eleboritual
maker. This
got to the climax when the Western anthropologists who studied
African
Traditional Religions used derogatory words such as paganism, fetishism, juju,
and idolatry
(to mention but a few) to describe them2.
Ironically,
it is interesting to note that most of the first generation of Christian
converts
especially in Abeokuta ,
the town through which Christianity got to Yoruba land,
are
practicing Christianity today because Christianity got to their land before
Islam, while
most of the
Muslims today especially in places like Iwo in
Osun State
are Muslims today
because Islam
got to their land before Christianity. In other words, most Christians today,
especially
the first generation ones could have been Muslims if Islam had been the first
of
the foreign
religions to get to their land, while the early adherents of Islam could have
been
Christians today if Christianity had got to their land before Islam.
Two issues
emerge from the foregoing illustrations. One, an average Christian
and Muslim
hardly knows up to 50% of the content and intent of Christianity and Islam
respectively
especially on some doctrinal issues and the sacred languages of his/her
religion. During
a casual discussion with some Muslims regarding the level of their
understanding
of Arabic the language with which they say their prayers, they confessed
to me that
they only memorized it not that they actually knew the context and the content
of the Arabic
words used in their liturgical activities. The same could be said of some
Christians
who use some Latin words in their liturgical activities. Alluding to this
experience in
religious circles, Stephen Prothero gives a pertinent illustration of his
personal
experience resulting from his interaction with his students which runs as
follows:
5
In a religious quiz I give my
Boston University
students every year,
I am told that Paul bound Isaac and Abraham was blinded on the
road to Damascus .
Catholic students are unable to name even one
of the seven sacraments of their faith. Protestant students think
‘God helps those who help themselves” is a Bible quote
story. And
Hindu students cannot tell me even one Hindu scripture3
The above
shows the magnitude of ignorance among religious practitioners on issues
related to
their religions. It is no wonder why some of them make erroneous claims about
the tenets of
their religions at public debates. As Stephen Prothero equally affirms, this
religious
ignorance absents millions of Americans from religiously inflected political
debates about
abortion, capital punishment, and the environment4. The second issue is
that, the
same set of people who are ignorant about many things regarding their religions
are the ones
who pass erroneous comments about religions different from their own. This
ignorance is
manifested in misquoting the scriptures, quoting scriptures and interpreting
them out of
context, intent and content, quoting the scriptures contemptuously and
stereotype
interpretation of the scriptures among others.
Out of the
two ways by which Nigerian Christians and Muslims manifest religious
ignorance,
the second type is the worst because it deals with commenting on religions of
the other.
The expression of ignorance in this regard is often interpreted as a calculated
attempt to
denigrate, malign, belittle and undermine the religions of other people hence
the degree of
bickering, wrangling, internal strife and backbiting often accompanying the
act. The
ignorance expressed in the listed forms do generate interreligious conflict
especially
when they pertain to doctrinal issues such as God and godhead, salvation,
eschatology,
angelology, worship, prayer and fellowship and the use of religious
language such
as the Arabic, Greek and Hebrew and also the practice of speaking in
tongues among
Christians as an example among others.
6
Perhaps it is
in the light of this that, Unity Movement for Reforming Society in
Lahore / Pakistan
made this special prayer towards peace and religious tolerance in
Lahore/Pakistan:
Merciful God, You made all of the people of the world in your own
image and placed before us the pathway of salvation through
different Preachers who claimed to have been Your Saints and
Prophets. But, the contradictions in their teachings and
interpretations of them have resulted in creating divisions, hatreds
and bloodshed in the world community. Millions of innocent men,
women and children have so far been brutally killed by the
militants of several religions who have been committing horrifying
crimes against humanity, and millions more would be butchered by
them in the future, if You do not help us find ways to reunite
peacefully5.
Research Methods
We used many
methods in gathering and analyzing information regarding the
issue of
ignorance in religious circle or better put among religious practitioners.
These
range from
experiential, interview to analytical methods. Experientially, I relied much
on the first
hand information about some expressions made by the pastors or evangelists
regarding
Islam especially in their sermons. As a church worker and a religious scholar
as
well as some
one trained in Conflict management and Resolution mechanisms and peace
practice,
what any religious person says about religion/s different from his/her own
always catch
my attention and provoke research work of this nature. Apart from the
comments
passed in the Church, some one also made during the Islamic call to worship is
also
interesting. For instance in the village where I reside, Muslims have the
tradition of
using
drum-size loud speakers so that everybody in the village is always awake
especially
in the
morning during the call to worship. A lot of information is disseminated
through
the channel
not only to Muslims but also to other religious practitioners resident in the
7
village. From
this, we were able together relevant information, which is germane to the
work.
Concretely,
we interviewed a number of Muslims and Christians in
Ibadan . Those
interviewed
on random basis transcend different ethnic groups such as Yoruba, Ibo,
Hausa, Edu,
Ebira, Urhobo, Efik, Ijaw, Ibiobio, Itsekiri, and Tiv as well as people of
different
nationalities6.
Interestingly, Ibadan ,
apart from being a heterogeneous
community
also represents a meeting point of the three major religions in
Nigeria viz:
traditional
religion, Islam and Christianity among other ones such as Guru Maharaji, Hare
Krishna, Eckankar, Grail Message, Mashad Power, and Bahai Faith7.
The information
generated through our research tools, reveal that an average
Muslim and
Christian do misunderstand one another’s religion on a number of issues
such as God
and God head, methods and procedures of prayer, the concept of salvation,
the
personalities of Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammad, Begging and Muslim
festivals
among others.
We shall discuss these thematically as they occur in the two religions.
Immediately
after this, each of the issues shall be re-examined regarding their proper
meanings but
in the light of the Bible and Christian tradition on the one hand and in the
context of
the Qur’an and Hadith on the other hand as they relate to Christianity
and
Islam
respectively. In other words, without sounding judgmental and uncritical, we
may
need to contest
by a way of illustration the erroneous beliefs made by Christians and
Muslims
against one another’s religion on the basis of information obtain from
the
Qur’an,
the Bible and related traditions. This would give us ample opportunity to know
what the issues
are in their proper senses.
Some ignorant claims Muslims make about Christianity
8
Many Muslims
make ignorant claims about Christianity with reference to some
issues. We
use the word “ignorant” objectively because what they say are not
true
reflection of
what Christian beliefs and practices actually represent. The issues are
discussed as
follows.
Monotheistic debate
Many Muslims
believe that Christianity is a polytheistic religion on the ground of
its belief in
Trinity; that is God the father, Son and Holy Spirit. This apparently suggests
to an average
Muslim we interviewed that Christians do not have a clear concept of God.
The
impression such Muslims have is that it is difficult if not impossible to
reconcile
trinity with
Christian conception of monotheism8. Their argument is premised on the
Qur’anic
injunction about God saying: Say He is God, the One and Only; God, the
Eternal,
Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him9.
Put in a
broader perspective, Christianity is a monotheistic religion judging from its
doctrinal
teachings which are captioned in the Jewish Shema –Hear Oh
Israel , the
Lord
your God is
one, Pauline declaration in Corinthians—One Faith, One Lord, One Baptism
One God and
Father of all; who is above all and finally the Nicene creed10.
Personality of Jesus Christ
Arising from
the Muslim debate and position on the concept of God and Godhead,
it appears
that they always disagree with Christian’s description of Jesus as the
Son of
God, the
savior, the one who died on the cross, the final judge of the world on the last
day
and the
intermediary between God and humanity. For example, some Muslims we
interviewed
contested the concept of Christ Crucifixion by saying that if truly Jesus is
the
Son of God
and that there is genuine intimacy between them how could God then allow
9
His only son
to bear ignominy to the extent of dying on the cross without such father
bailing him
out of his agony. In essence, the personality of Jesus as elucidated by
Christian
teachings both in the Bible and the church traditions is always dismissed by
devoted
Muslims on the ground that those teachings are contrary to Qur’anic
teaching
which reduces
the personality of Jesus Christ to a mere prophet of equal status with
Islamic prophets.
This perhaps explains why Muslims according to our Muslim
informants,
interpret the Christian concept of the Sonship of Christ as pejorative and,
which
invariably suggests that Jesus is a biological Son of God. This candid position
of
the Muslim
echoes in an anonymous pamphlet with the title-The God that Never Was
which partly
reads:
According to the quotations of the Bible… we find that Jesus did
neither share the nature of God nor is he in every way like God.
He is therefore, definitely not God! … Preachers in Christ will
never succeed in convincing the Muslims that Jesus was anything
other than a natural man and prophet of God sent unto the house
of Israel
to bear the good news of the coming of the Kingdom of
God, which prophecy was fulfilled with the advent of the Holy
Prophet Mohammad 11
Without
sounding proselytizing or taking sides, but, with appeal to logical reason and
reference the
Bible one can argue that Christians use the Sonship of Christ in a
metaphoric
way to depict the relationship between God and Jesus. Such relationship
presupposes
intimacy upon which the messiahship and the intermediary nature of Christ
between God
and man in addition to other attributes of Jesus are based12.
Tied to this
are issues of Salvation and the concept of Born again. Christians
relying on
the Bible and perhaps the church traditions do say that Christians whoever
wants to have
good relationship with God and get saved must be born again by professing
10
Christ as the
Lord and Savior. To illustrating the assertion graphically, some Christian
groups in the
University of Ibadan
campus, Nigeria ,
placed a small size billboard on a
tree along
one of the roads leading to the University Central Mosque saying ‘every
body
irrespective
religion he/she professes must be born again to get saved’. Perhaps in a
swift
reaction to
the board, an Islamic religious group placed another billboard just a stone’s
throw from it
reading, “You can be born many times, but don’t die except a Muslim”.
Whereas in
actual sense, the nucleus of Christian teaching zeroes in on the concept of
born again,
which according to the Bible and Christian traditions presupposes spiritual
rebirth,
renewal of faith, re-proclamation of faith and repentance; it also means to be
a
new person13. In essence interpreting the expression ‘born
again’ outside the content and
context of
the Bible is wrong and such interpretation would be based on ignorant and
fallacious
premise. Such, therefore has tendency to spark up interreligious conflicts
Mode of Prayer
Another area
where Muslims make negative remark about Christianity is that of
Prayer. For
example, some Muslims are of the opinion that Christians, especially
members of
the Christ Apostolic Churches (CAC) do not know how to say solemn
prayers rather
they shout on God. This accusation is made on the ground that most
contemporary
Christians are fond of praying in loud voices and somewhat commanding
God to do one
thing or the other for them. They add that Muslims sit down quietly on
their mats
and pray to God solemnly. Reacting to this, Christians disagree with the
Muslim
position; they rather claim that Christian’s mode of prayer is in
consonance with
the Bible and
the Church traditions. They do emphasize that Bible, among other
11
characteristics
of prayer it listed encourage tenacity and persistence (Luke 18:1-14)). In
addition, it
does not state specific and rigid posture of prayer. For example, a praying
person can
pray silently (I Sam 1:13) or loudly (Ezek 11:13), standing (Jer 18:20),
sitting
(2Sam 7:18),
kneeling (1Kings 8:54), prostrating (Matt 26:39) in the open (Gen24: 11-
12), at the
riverside (Acts 16:23), everywhere (1Tim 2;8), and pray with hands uplifted
(1Kings 8:22;
Psalm 28:2:134; 2; 1Tim 28). Whichever way Christians choose to pray,
what is
important to God is the right attitude in prayer 14.
Areas in which Christians make ignorant claims about Islam
The Concept of a God
Christians
say many things particularly out of ignorance among other related
factors about
Islamic concept of God. Starting with the name of God, many of them
erroneously
believe that the word Allah refers to small god or a divinity, which is of low
status
compared with the Christian concept of God. My informant upon probe could not
say with
certitude from where the thesis or theory is derived. He only said that the
belief
is a popular
one among Christians. Ordinarily, one would have expected Him to justify
the claim
based on his knowledge of Arabic from where the word is derived. . In the light
of this, we
guess that the informant though illiterate must have got the idea from a widely
circulated
book titled “Who is this Allah” written by of G.J.O. Moshay. The
book says: Is
Allah God? Is
He ‘the father of our Lord Jesus Christ? And “If he is God and the
Koran
is true, the
Christian can be sure he is lost – no matter how zealous he may be15.
It is
important to note that the Qur’an devotes more than 43 chapters and 3000
verses to
describe who Allah is and who is not. In the first instance, the word Allah is
12
derived from
the Arabic word allahu meaning
God. And the God is real because as the
Qur’an
puts it, He is the Living, The Self-Subsisting, Supporter of all, The Eternal,
Absolute, The
Most High and the Supreme among other attributes which total 99 (Surah
2:225;
112:1-4). With the above describing Allah, we can then argue without being
judgmental
that Christians claim about the meaning and personality of Allah is borne out
of ignorance.
The claim is baseless because it is made without reference to the Qur’an,
which
contains the truth about Islam (Surah 3:3) and indeed, which is authoritative
as far
as Islam is
concerned in terms of its doctrines and practices (Surah 13:37)
Another
related area where Christians cast aspersion against Islam pertains to the
Yoruba
Muslims’ usage of the word “Eru Olorun” meaning Slave of God
in describing
their
relationship with Allah-God. In my church, Pastors are fond of saying to the
congregation
that “you the congregation are children of God and not slave of God as
the
Muslim claims”.
Another one often says “Omo lawa awa
kii s’eru”. It means: “we are
children and
not slaves”16.
Quoting the Bible he says Christians are children of God by
their faith
and proclamation of Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior. To them, they
thought that
the Muslims use the word literally, whereas to take this position or to assume
so is to
suggest that God –Allah is a slave owner while the Muslims are slaves.
According to
our Muslim informant, the word “slave” is used metaphorically
suggesting
an act of
submission to Allah as the slaves used to submit to their owners during the
slave
trade era in
history17.
Still on God and His relationship with the Muslims, some
Christians
erroneously claim that there is no intimate love between Allah and Muslims
because of
the Qur’anic injunction, which says that God is to be feared, and obeyed
and
not loved18. Comparatively, they argue quoting the
Bible that whereas; God
13
demonstrates
His own love towards us primarily by giving His only begotten son to
humanity
(John 3:16, Roman 5: 8)
Some logical
and fundamental questions arising from the Christians position are
to what
extents can one push the Christian claim forward? Is it possible for someone to
worship a God
who doesn’t love His adherents? Contrary to the Christian position, it is
important to
note that the Qur’an is replete with passages describing God Himself as
an
embodiment of
love, His condition for loving His adherents and recommendations
towards
mutual love among Muslims. For the purpose of emphasis, the Qur’an says
Allah
loves those
who are firm and steadfast (Surah 3:146) and recommends that Muslims
should love
their kins, orphans, the wayfarers and even the slaves (Surah 2:177).
Muslim Festival
It is
important to note that one of Islamic festivals is ‘Id al -Adha or ‘Id
al – Kabir
otherwise
called festival of Sacrifice or the great Sacrifice. While celebrating this
festival,
Muslims do kill rams in commemoration of the Qur’anic story of how
Prophet
Ibrahim
wanted to sacrifice his son Ismail as a demonstration of his submission to God
upon God’s
instruction19.
Regarding this, some Christians raise issues of idolatry
regarding
killing of ram associated with one of the Islamic festivals especially stating
that
such ritual
worship according to them has been liquidated in Christianity, following
Jesus Christ’s
shedding of his blood on the cross. They argue that the singular act of
Christ is
enough a ransom for the sin of humanity and hence there is no need for any
sacrifice
again. Consequently, they warm Christians not eat the ram which Muslims do
kill during
the festival, which according to them is tantamount to ritualistic sacrifice.
14
From Islamic
point of view, the assumption of the Christian in this regard is
erroneous
because Islam forbids ritual sacrifice noting that the practice is itself
idolatry
and anti
Islamic concept of monotheism. In our estimation, the Qur’an, perhaps
clarifies
Islamic
position on this issue when it says: ‘And if they argue with you as
regards the
slaughtering
of ram Say “Allah knows best of what you do), After all, it is not meat
of the
animals that
reaches Allah except piety (Surah 22:68, 22: 37).
Prayer and Mode of Prayer
Christians
regard the five-time prayer in Islam as ritualistic judging from their
religious
belief that there is no limit to prayer. In addition to this insinuation,
Christians
mock the
Muslim as regarding the act of bowing and standing, which always involves
their heads
touching ground during prayer. Those who are good in saying the five prayers
ended up in
having black mark on their foreheads. The act is dubbed as “Kikan Ori
mole”-
meaning knocking their heads on the ground. Besides this, Christians are fond
of
describing or
calling the Muslim by name Imole that
is, some ones with rigid faith or
someone whose
religious faith is difficult to be comprehended. According to the
informants,
Muslims are so described because of rigorous Qur’anic studying and
training,
which is
written in Arabic involving memorization and cramming and which Muslims
have to
undergo before becoming faithful Muslims. They claim that Christianity is a
religion,
which simplifies prayer procedures and which does not involve something
rhythmical.
Looking at
the theology of prayer in Islam, one notes that all the so-called prayer
postures,
which the Christians detest, are symbolical and their symbolisms are only
15
known and
meaningful to practicing Muslins. This fact could be hidden to someone
outside the
Islamic faith. Shedding light on this subject matter, Noibi remarks that:
The physical
erection symbolizes mental erection and attention. The facing of the Qiblah
means turning
away from all other directions and symbolizes the gathering of your
scattered
thoughts from all other affairs….
The worshippers should keep his head slightly bowed thus
symbolizing humility, as one does while standing before a human
king or judge or general before whom one can not afford not to be
physically humble and mentally attentive20.
Matrimonial matters
Some
Christians also say that Muslims are unfaithful in matrimonial matter—
meee lolorun wi; that is Allah allows marrying many wives without
exception for
monogamy. On
this note, they conclude that Islam generally advocates polygamy as
against
monogamy. Apparently they forget the Qur’anic injunction, which makes
polygamy and
monogamy optional and, especially a clause stating that a man is only
qualified to
marry more than one wife or marry up to four wives provided he could take
care of all
of them, justly. But if the man fears that he will not be able to do what the
Qur’an
recommends, he is expected to marry only one wife21
Status of the Qur’an
Christians
pick holes in Muslim claims the Qur’an came from heaven on a given
night- Lailatul kadri. They claim that it is not
possible and could not be true that the
Qur’an
descended from he Heaven and on this ground cast aspersion on the Qur’an
regarding
seriousness and authenticity of its content, intent and context. We suspect
that
it is against
this background that Moshay judges that the Qur’an was not a book of
16
revelation
but a document put together by the Caliphs who succeeded Prophet
Mohammad out
of his curiously and inordinate desire to have a sacred book like the
Christians22. The question to address now is: does
the Muslim use the word descended
literally or
metaphorically? Basically the word is used metaphorically and not otherwise
even though a
few illiterate Muslims believe that the Qur’an actually dropped down from
heaven
whereas the Qur’an speaks for it self saying it originated from Allah
(Surah
4:82,26:192,36:5),
revealed to lead man out of darkness to light (Surah 14:2), revealed
in piecemeal
(Surah17: 82/106), revealed through holy spirit (Surah16: 102) and revealed
in the month
of Ramadan (Surah 2:185).
Salvation
Many
Christians especially those we interacted with are of the erroneous opinion,
that Islam
does not lead its adherents to salvation because, according to them, Islam
does not have
any clear-cut injunction of equal status with the Bible which portrays Jesus
Christ as the
only way to salvation. It is no wonder why some Yoruba pastors do say
Musulumi ni esin sugbon won koni igbala meaning that Muslims have religion but they
do not have
salvation. Upon enquiry from our informants, we discover that this set of
Christians
rest their argument on the basis of Biblical injunction stating that nobody
gets
to the Father
(God) except through the Son (Jesus). And, therefore, calling the name of
Jesus Christ
and believing him gives Christians license for salvation. Thus, Christian
soteriology
is built upon accepting Christ as the door through which man could reach
God. The
claim by the Christians that Islam has no clear-cut concept of soteriology
perhaps makes
Jinadu who converted from Islam to Christianity to jump into the
conclusion
that:
17
No Muslim is able to talk about God in the personal way that we
born again Christian can. The way Mohammad points does not
lead to a definite saving knowledge of God. It is a case of fulfilling
the requirements of the five pillars of Islam and hoping for the
best. There is no assurance of salvation .Nor can there be, since
salvation is not found in any other Only Jesus is the way, the Truth
and the Life
Still on
Mohammad, some Christians claim that the name of prophet Mohammad
so venerated
in Islam cannot be called upon to effect miracle as the name of Jesus could
be called
upon (we need to know that Islam has never placed Muhammad in the position
of
intermediary as Christians do. On this note some of them conclude that since
Mohammed is
not taken as intermediary between Allah and Muslims it implies that he
could not be
taken as a serious personality.
It is
important to react to this insinuation by saying that beyond reasonable doubt,
salvation is
sacrosanct in every religion among which is Islam. The belief in God is not a
concept that
exists independent of the concept of Salvation. Ordinarily, looking at the
history and
origin of religion, belief in God is not only about here and now but also about
the future;
the future here, which is futuristic, is also eschatological. On account of
this,
Islamic
concept of salvation is evident in the Islamic eschatological teaching which
summarily
stands for the day of judgment during which the just would be saved and the
unjust
punished .For example, the just or righteous people are sent to al-janna and the
bad persons
are sent al-jahannam or the fire
.As argued elsewhere, the concept of
salvation is
not a monopoly of Christianity alone but it is also a cardinal virtue in other
religions23. This singular belief has implication
for moral conducts of religious
practitioners
in Nigeria .
Thus in the words of Habib, it is the fear of God and the fact that
man is
answerable to God for his actions that make him a moral being24
18
Begging and Nuisance
In the
Northern part of Nigeria
begging for alms is very common. Incidentally,
the
Northerners are predominantly Muslims. In addition, most of the Hausa beggars
who
reside in the
Southern parts or any other parts of the country are Muslims. Given this
coincidence,
many Christians take for granted that Muslims are beggars and that
suggestively,
Islam itself encourages begging. This position of Christians arising from
their
assumption is not true if what the Hadith says about begging is taken and
interpreted
to the
letter. For the purpose of clarification, the Hadith says that Allah hates
three things
in you;
useless talk and wasting o wealth, asking or begging (su’al) frequently25. Thus, to
a question of
begging, the stance of the Hadith is that:
Do not beg unless absolutely compelled, then only from the
virtuous…Verily it is better for any of you to take your rope and
bring a bundle of wood upon your back and sell it, in which case
God guardeth your honour than to beg of people, whether they
give or not …26
What we can
infer from Christians insinuation regarding begging is that they seem to
confuse
begging with Zakat or better put, charity or almsgiving, which constitutes part
of
Islamic
pillars of faith. Doing so is erroneous and it calls for a better understanding
of a
phenomenon
before one makes any pronouncement about it.
Matters arising
Two
fundamental issues among other possible ones arise from our exposition of
ignorant
claims Christians and Muslims make against each other’s religion, which
to our
mind deserves
clarification. One, the use or making of ignorant claims or statements
about
religions different from our own is tantamount to treating or approaching the
19
religions of
others with irreverence. This is dangerous because every religious
practitioner
always places his/her religion in high esteem and would not be happy if
anybody of
any status notwithstanding treats his religion irreverently. On this note all
ignorant
claims highlighted above are contemptuous and annoying. Religion is such a
sacred thing
to religious practitioners so much that a religious person is always ready to
defend his
religion and possibly die for it if the need arises. This perhaps explains why
many
religious practitioners always engage in interreligious conflicts in the name
of
defending one
religion at one time or the other. This is so because the claim is a product
of attitude;
in other words, an expression of religious ignorance is attitudinal and has
capacity to
provoke interreligious conflict .The attitude falls within the periscope of the
variables of
what Galtung labels as ABC Triangle, which is an analytical model that
views
conflict as a triangle with variables such as attitude, behavior and
contradiction27.
Attitudes in
this regard manifest in perceptions and misconceptions and
emotions/feelings;
behavior manifests in hostility, fear, threats, coercion and destructive
efforts;
while, contradiction manifests in actual or perceived incompatibility of goals.
Each of the
variables has implications for interreligious conflict.
Secondly, it
can be deduced that some Christians and Muslims have little and
possibly
narrow view of what religion is and what it is not. Thus on the account of this
narrow view,
each religious believer sees his/her own religion as the only religion or as
the only
belief system worth to be described as religion while other or others different
from their
religion is/are not This calls for a revisit of what religion is towards giving
good
orientation to every stakeholder in religious matter so that henceforth they
can live
in the spirit
of mutual respect for one another’s religion/religions.
20
On the
question of what is Religion, it is imperative to note that to provide
universally
approved definition of Religion is by no means an easy task. This
development
is not unrelated with the fact that religion involves many beliefs and many
ways of
holding and expressing the beliefs. The various definitions that have been
attempted by
various writers are valuable to man’s conception of what religion is or
should be.
Some define religion from sociological, psychological, ethical and
phenomenological
perspectives. While we cannot discuss all these now, a few of them
are worth
mentioning. For example, Émile Durkheim in his popular book “The
Elementary
Forms of the Religious Life” defines religion as a united system of
beliefs
and practices
that are related to sacred things that is, things that are set apart and
forbidden…
He posits that, the distinguishing mark of religion in its most basic form is
not belief in
divinity or in the supernatural but the existence of objects considered to be
sacred by a
group of people28.
According to him, sacredness is a value that a given
society
places on objects. Such objects shape and generate the religious feelings of
its
members, and
religiousness is therefore a function of social belonging. On account of
this
assertion, Durkheim notes that the holiest things in the world to one group—its
gods,
saviors,
scriptures, or sacraments—are not necessarily seen as sacred absolutes by
another
group. The sociological way by which Durkheim defines religion aptly tells us
how different
people can interpret what is religious or not. Still on the subject matter of
the sacred,
Eliade argues that believing in the divine foundations of life transforms the
significance
of natural objects and activities. He believes that for religious man, time,
space, the
earth, the sky, and the human body can all come to have a symbolic, religious
meaning.29
21
From
experiential point of view, Otto argues that the experience of the numinous-
“spiritual
power” is the distinctive core of religiousness. Such experience is
marked by a
sense of awe
in the face of the mysterious other reality that dramatically intersects our
limited,
vulnerable existence. According to Otto, it is this reality that religious
traditions
symbolized by
concepts such as God. The numinous can be experienced as something
fearful and
alienating, but also as something comforting with which one feels a certain
communion or
continuity. He adds that religious ideas such as the wrath of God or the
peace of God
express these different aspects of numinous experience. In his view, the
capacity for
such awareness lies within each person, and it is the purpose of religious
language and
observance to shape and elicit this awareness30. Perhaps from the
definitions
above couple with other ones, Joseph Kenny defines religion as any system
which relates
man to ultimate values, whether God or something else, and which
embodies a
creed, a code, a cult and a communion. To him all the four features manifest
in all religion31.
What we can
generate from the above and which has implications for religious
understanding
is that each of the definitions is associated with theories or origin of
Religion. It
implies that religion involves belief in a Supreme Being; hence, religion is
that which
brings or expresses the intimate relationship between the creator and his
creatures.
There is awareness in man that there is something in him reaching out for
close
examination with a power, which is the source of real life. Man is so constituted
and so
conditioned that he must be dependent upon God if his life is to be meaningful
and
harmonious.
It is in religion that man and God communicate. Religion is something
resulting in
the relationship, which God established, from the beginning of human life
22
between
Himself and man. In light of this, Charles K. Kegley remarkably classifies
essential
features of Religion into three such as belief, feeling and action and adds
that
central to
religion is beliefs in God or gods, the nature and destiny of man, the meaning
of history
and hope for the future. From this, it becomes clear that no individual has or
group of
individuals have monopoly of truth as regarding what is religion or what is
not.
With this
submission, we can ague that every man or every group has the right to
define and
regard what he/she considers as religion as religion in as much he/she is
convinced
about what he/she is doing and in much as he/she does not interfere in the
affairs of
other people who equally have right to religious conviction. In conclusion,
religion
could be likened to a football field where we have many players from both ends
of the field.
The ultimate desire of every player is to make a score mainly through the
goal post. A
shot that passes through the goal post and makes a score can come from
different
directions of the field. By analogy, God could be likened to the goal post,
while
all the
players in the filled who attempt the shots, which come from every direction,
could be
likened to diverse religions of the world. This is an important point for all
stakeholders
in religion to note.
Solution to Problem of ignorance
One basic,
though multifaceted solution to the problem of religious expression is
religious
education. By this we mean holistic education of the mind, intelligence,
intellect,
position and attitude of religious practitioners regarding their understanding
and
expected
attitude and disposition to religions different from the one/s they practice.
We
suggest that
departments of religious studies in Nigerian universities should take the lead
23
in this
effort geared towards promotion of religious understanding. This should be done
theoretically
and practically. Theoretically, each department should float religious
education
oriented courses that would outline the following issues: basic tenets of the
world
religions, comparative religion, religious rights and freedom, religious
secularism,
religion and
respect and mutual respect in religions. Practically, a lecturer of religious
studies is
not expected to indoctrinate the students who as a matter of fact are mature
enough to
separate the wheat from the chaff. Perhaps it is the recognition of this fact
that
Bruce Lincoln
says that reverence is a religious and not a scholarly virtue32, Because of
the
sensitivity of this matter, a scholar of Religious Studies should equip him/her
self
with at least
four factual statements and somewhat teaching principles (which are
outstanding
and germane to our paper outlined) by Michael Pye as criteria to study
religion in
pluralistic religious world. These are:
(1) The study
of religions (Religionswissenschaft- that is scientific study of
religion) is
not concerned with the search for religious truth, but rather with the
description
and scientific investigation of religious phenomenon from a “metalevel”
that is from
the standpoint of independent reflection. This does not imply a
claim to be
superior to religious truth in any way
(2) It cannot
be the task of the study of religions, therefore to substantiate or
disprove
truths, which may be contained in religious doctrine.
(3) One’s
own personal religious experience is not a prerequisite for working in
the study of
religions and neither is there any obligation to maintain an anti
religious
attitude (as in the traditions critical of religion deriving from Feuerbach,
Durkheim and
others)
24
(4) Since the
study of religions does not serve the interests of any religion, it
should be
distinguished, for example from missiology and apologetics or a
theology of
religion33
At this
juncture, we can then argue that the teaching of Religious Studies should not
be
persuasive,
sympathetic, apologetic or dogmatic, rather it should be critical, analytical,
objective,
interpretative and explanatory (to borrow the words of J S Jensen and L .H
Martin in
their description of principles underlying scientific study of religion)34. This to
our mind can
be called ethics of sound teaching and faith detachment.
For instance,
a rational attitude is to be adopted during the course of research. By
being
rational we mean being objective and open in research enterprise so that a
researcher
does not allow his personal religious experience, emotion and sentiment to
influence his
research observation, report and publication. In this sense, scholars like
Helmut
Gollwitzer and Rudolf Bultman and later Ninian Smart have proposed such
terminologies
such as “methodological atheism”, “dogmatic atheism”
and
“methodological
neutrality35
The above
suggests that researchers in religious matters should be faith neutral
whenever they
are carrying out research because according to Pye again, religious
scholarship
seeks to maintain an unbiased and value –free attitude. The attainment of
this
calls for
openness and objectivity, which in fact intertwine.
It is equally
of immense importance to bestow some responsibility on the part of
the
government more importantly that Nigerian government engages in religious
matters
regardless of
the fact that the nation is a secular one constitutionally. What the
government
needs to do is to allow for the incorporation of religious studies into the
25
curriculum of
public schools from nursery school to tertiary level. Further to this,
religious
subjects /courses should be made compulsory for every student. This time
around, each
student should be encouraged to enroll/register for religious courses
different
from the one he/she practices. That is, students who are Christians by religious
affiliation
should do courses in Islam and traditional religion and vice versa. At tertiary
level
religious course should be incorporated into the categories of general studies
courses to
enable all categories of students to be exposed to religious knowledge. With
this put in
place, the public would be better informed about religion especially as this
relates to
its tenets and doctrinal issues. Thus knowledge and understanding of
individuals
and group of individuals about religion would increase and those that are
already
literate in the matter of religion would have their horizon widened.
The Media
generally too as the mouthpiece of the nation has a role to play in
fostering
public awareness about religious education. This time, the Press particularly
should do it
with caution noting the fact that the press too had at one time or the other
provoked
religious crisis. For example, we remember the controversial editorial comment
of a daily
paper in respect of Miss World Beauty Contest in 2002 and the publication in
Denmark about the caricature of Prophet Mohammad
in 2006. At this juncture,
professionalism
and strict adherence to media professional ethics are required in the press
reporting of
religious information.
On the part
of religious leaders, there is a moral obligation for them to promote
and actualize
by leading by example the practical application of various religious
documents at
their disposal, which emphasize religious right and freedom. The case is not
that there is
no documents emphasizing the issues mentioned above but the problems lie
26
in the
implementation. For example, apart from the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights of
1948 and the Nigerian constitution emphasizing religious right and freedom, we
also have religious
induced documents such as Universal Islamic Declaration of Human
Rights of
19th September, 1981, The Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam dated
5th August,
1990 for Islam and Religious Liberty of the Catholic Church. We are also
familiar with
collectively produced religious document such as Universal Declaration of
Human Rights
By the World Religions dated 10th December, 1998 and the United
Religions
Initiative Charte1996 to mention a few36.
Concluding remarks
From our
discussions so far, it is obvious that religious ignorance is a factor with
much weight
in the debates about sources and causes of interreligious conflicts in
Nigeria. Its implications for social and
interreligious relations are always negative and
without being
pessimistic are likely to continue provoking anger, animosity, and quarrel
and if not
checked on time such would escalate to violent situation. But what every
stakeholder
in religion should note is that nobody practices any religion that does not
have belief
in God and the ultimate salvation of mankind as its nucleus. A Muslim would
not be
engaging in five time prayers daily along with other liturgical and Islamic
practices if
he/she is not convinced religiously that he/she is doing the right thing .In
the
same vein,
all the practices in which Christians involve themselves is borne out of
religious
conviction that they are doing the right thing. Whether such religious
activities
make sense or
are meaningful judging with our religion sentiment does not invalidate the
practices as
long as long as people who participate in them are religiously convinced that
27
they are on
right course. It is on this note that we want to argue that judging
Christianity
with the Qur’an or judging Islam with the Bible would not always produce
logical
results because the Bible is for Christianity while the Qur’an is for
Islam. Putting
it the other
way round is antithetical .The two religions could be likened to parallel
lines,
which can
never meet. No matter what Muslims say about Christianity, Christians would
remain
Christians as long they have conviction in Christian doctrinal beliefs and no
matter what
Christians say about Islam, Muslims would remain Muslims as long as
Muslims are
convinced about Islamic religious doctrines.
What we are
advocating on a final note is that religious practitioners should not
say what they
do not know about religions different from theirs because such may be
contemptuous,
blasphemous and disrespectful. In as much as we revere our religion and
place it on
high esteem, it will be morally wrong to speak evil about other religions. This
is important
because as our religion is important to us, we should honestly accept that the
religions of
other people are equally important to them. The need to promote religious
education
people who are literate on religious matters should educate those who are
religiously
ignorant. All should join hands to promote mutual respect as this relates to
religion
noting that respect begets respect. From ages to the present, religion remains
sacrosanct in
Nigerian life. Therefore, the practice of saying contemptuous things about
religions
different from ours shall continue to generate conflicts in which there will
never
be a winner
or a looser. This is a poser for all stakeholders in the promotion of
interreligious
relation and peace building in Nigeria
and Africa where interreligious
conflicts
have been an endemic problem.
28
Endnotes
1 Copied from Microsoft Encarta (2004 Edition)
2 Parrinder, G. West African Religion, London ;
Epworth Press, 1977,pp 7-13
3 Stephen Prothero, “Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know
– And
Doesn’t” Posted on the Internet, on March 10,2007
4 Ibid
5 http://www.religioustolerance.org/wicrade.htm
6 Lloyds, et al The City of Ibadan, London :
Cambridge
University press, 1967, pp. 59 -
152.
7 E. B. Idowu “Religion in
Ibadan : Tradition
Religion and Christianity” The City of
Ibadan (ed.) Lloyd et al pp 235 - 247 and F. H.
El-Masri, “Religion in Ibadan ”.
“Islam”
The City of Ibadan, op cit., pp. 249 – 257
8 Personal interview with Chief Imam of
Muslim Community, Aho Area, Ajibode, Ibadan
9 Qur’an 112:1-4
10 See Deuteronomy, 6:4, Ephesians 2:12 and
Ayantayo J.K., Monotheism: Christian –
Muslim Views in Comparison, M.A. Dissertation submitted to the Department of
Religious
Studies, University of
Ibadan , Ibadan ,
1990
11 The God that Never Was (An anonymous pamphlet p15 and quoted
from Falola, T.,
Violence in Nigeria :
The Crisis of Religious Politics and Secular Ideologies, Rochester :
University of Rochester Press, 1998,pp 249-250
12 For more information about this one can
consult New Testament theology regarding the
personality
and essence of Christ Jesus Christ
13Life Application Study
Bible, (New
Living Translation) Illinois :
Tyndale House
Publishers,
Inc, 2004, p. 2310
14 J.D. Douglas and M.C. Tenny, Bible Dictionary,
Michigan : Zonderrvan, 1987 p819
15 G.J.O. Moshay, Who is this Allah”
Ibadan ; Fireliners, 1990,p5
16 Pastor Faloye of Christ Apostolic Church
(C.A.C.) Agbowo made this assertion in one
of his
sermons on a Sunday
17 I got this information from Alhaji Azeez,
Ajibode Village ,
Ibadan , May 2
2007
18 Paul Jinadu, I have seen the Lord Ibadan:
Christian Growth Books, 19885,p5
29
19 Adeleye, M.O., A Hand book of Islam for Schools and Colleges,
Lagos : Macmillan
Nigeria
Publishers Ltd, 1985,p10
20 D.O.S. Noibi, “The Mosque as A
School for Ethical Development” in S.O. Abogunrin,
(ed) Religion and Ethics in Nigeria,
Ibadan : Daystar Press,
1986 p164
21 Surah 4:3
22 Ibid, p.v
23 J.K., Ayantayo, “A Comparative
Study of Eschatology in the Bible and Qur’an from
the Moral
Perspective and its Relevance for Today” in
Ado Journal of
Religions
Department of
Religious Studies, University
of Ado- , Ekiti, Vol. 1,
No. 1 July, 2002pp.
29 – 41
24 M.Habib “The Existence of God”
Tahrik-Jadid , Pakistan :
Malik Bashrat Ahmad, pp-5,
p11
25 J.O.Ojesina, ‘The Problem of Begging and Destitution in the Urban
City of Ibadan ”
quoted from
M.I. Okunola, A Handbook For Nigerian social Workers,
Ibadan ; Daybis
Limited,
2002, p120
26 Ibid
27 A Toolkit: Peace
Practice in Nigeria, Abuja ;
Published by Institute for Democracy in
South Africa, (IDASA) 2004 p13
28 Copied from Microsoft Encarta
Encyclopedia, 2006 edition
29 Ibid
30 Ibid
31 A., Dzurgba, Sociology of Religion, Ibadan :
Published by the Department of Adult
Education,
University of
Ibadan , 1987.
32 B. Lincoln ,
“Reflections on Theses on Method” in J S Jensen and L .H Martin
(ed)
Secular Theories on Religion: Current Perspectives,
University of Copenhagen :
Museum
Tusculanum
Press, 2000,pp117-136, p118
33 M: Pye “The Study of Religions and
Its Contribution to Problem – Solving in a Plural
World”,
in Marburg Journal of Religion, 2004, pp 22
30
34 J S Jensen and L .H Martin (ed) Rationality and the study of Religion,
Aarhus , 1997,
(Acta
Jutlandica LXXII: i. Theo.Set 19 but quoted in Kurt Rudolph Some Reflections on
Approaches
and Methodologies in the Study of Religions, pp231-247
35 Ibid
36 Gerrie ter Harr and J.S Busutil, Religion and Visions for Peace,
Boston ; Brill Leiden,
2005pp299-67