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Islam in the non-Muslim areas of northern Nigeria, c.1600-1960
Abstract
The introduction and spread of Islam into the areas known
in Nigeria today as the Middle Belt or Central Nigeria
spanned over centuries. It began initially as a gradual
process, but later accelerated with the Jihad and the
imposition of British colonial rule in the region. In the
early period, particularly from 1600 to 1804, centralized
polities, trade and commerce, missionary activities,
migration and settlement, and the utilization of Muslim
clerics as court officials by non-Muslim rulers, were the
main avenues and dominant features in the introduction of
Islam. The major part of the 19th century saw jihad forays
carried into the non-Muslim areas, although they did not
witness the Jihad in the real sense of the term. Jihad raids
partly for slaves uprooted some ethnic groups from their
original homelands and relocated to non-Muslim areas
where they continued to practice Islam. Alliances with one
non-Muslim state against another were utilized by the
Jihadists in their attempts to spread the religion of Islam.
Up to 1900, the spread and acceptance of Islam were
limited to the ordinary citizens, whilst most rulers remained
„animists.. Colonial conquest and imposition, the
imposition of Muslims as District and Village headmen, the
establishment of Quranic and Islamiya schools, intermarriages,
and the effects of the world-wide economic
depression of the 1930s and the Second World War were
among the factors in the acceleration of the spread of Islam
from 1900 to 1960. However, some of the paramount rulers
in the areas did not convert to Islam until far into the 20th
century
in Nigeria today as the Middle Belt or Central Nigeria
spanned over centuries. It began initially as a gradual
process, but later accelerated with the Jihad and the
imposition of British colonial rule in the region. In the
early period, particularly from 1600 to 1804, centralized
polities, trade and commerce, missionary activities,
migration and settlement, and the utilization of Muslim
clerics as court officials by non-Muslim rulers, were the
main avenues and dominant features in the introduction of
Islam. The major part of the 19th century saw jihad forays
carried into the non-Muslim areas, although they did not
witness the Jihad in the real sense of the term. Jihad raids
partly for slaves uprooted some ethnic groups from their
original homelands and relocated to non-Muslim areas
where they continued to practice Islam. Alliances with one
non-Muslim state against another were utilized by the
Jihadists in their attempts to spread the religion of Islam.
Up to 1900, the spread and acceptance of Islam were
limited to the ordinary citizens, whilst most rulers remained
„animists.. Colonial conquest and imposition, the
imposition of Muslims as District and Village headmen, the
establishment of Quranic and Islamiya schools, intermarriages,
and the effects of the world-wide economic
depression of the 1930s and the Second World War were
among the factors in the acceleration of the spread of Islam
from 1900 to 1960. However, some of the paramount rulers
in the areas did not convert to Islam until far into the 20th
century
