PALGRAVE MACMILLAN S CHRISTIANITIES OF THE WORLD

Transcription

1 Series Editors: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN S CHRISTIANITIES OF THE WORLD Dale T. Irvin is president and professor of World Christianity at New York Theological Seminary, in New York City. Peter C. Phan is the inaugural holder of the Ignacio Ellacuría Chair of Catholic Social Thought, Theology Department, at Georgetown University. In recent decades there has been an increasing awareness in the academy of a reality called World Christianity. The expression refers to the fact that today Christianity is no longer predominantly Western, but has become a more truly worldwide religion. This catholicity, a hallmark of Christianity and a fruit of Christian missions, has resulted in a massive demographic shift in the overall numbers of Christians from the global north (Europe and North America) to the global south (Africa, Asia, and Latin America). At the same time, the twin forces of globalization and migration have simultaneously intensified the interconnections and amplified the differences among the various expressions of Christianity worldwide, radically transforming the character of Christianity as it finds expression in diverse forms all over the globe. In the twenty-first century Christianity can only be expected to become even more multiple, diverse, and hybridized. At the same time one can expect to find something that is recognizably Christian among them to make it possible to have a meaningful conversation. We call that conversation Christianities of the World. To help understand this new phenomenon Palgrave Macmillan has initiated a new series of monographs appropriately titled Christianities of the World under the general editorship of Peter C. Phan and Dale T. Irvin. The intention of the series is to publish single-authored or edited works of scholarship that engage aspects of these diverse Christianities of the world through the disciplines of history, religious studies, theology, sociology, or missiology, in order to understand Christianity as a truly world religion. To these ends the editors are asking: How has Christianity been received and transformed in various countries, especially in Africa, Asia, and Latin America (the non-western world) in response to their cultural practices, religious traditions (the so-called world religions as well as the tribal or indigenous religions), migratory movements, and political and economic globalization (inculturation and interfaith dialogue)? In particular, how have newer forms of Christianity, especially those that identify with the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement, changed the face of World Christianity? What are the major characteristics of Christianities both old and new? What new trajectories and directions can one expect to see in the near future?

2 How should the history of Christian missions be narrated? How does one evaluate the contributions of expatriate missionaries and indigenous agents? How should one understand the relationship between missions and churches? How should theology be taught in the academic arena (be it in universities, seminaries, or Bible schools)? How should various Christian theological loci (e.g., God, Christ, Spirit, church, worship, spirituality, ethics, or pastoral ministry) be reformulated and taught in view of world Christianity or Christianities of the world, in dialogue with different cultures and different religions, or targeted toward particular ethnic or religious groups? How does the new reality of world Christianity affect research methods? How should courses on Christianity be taught? How should textbooks on Christianity as well as on world religions generally be structured? What should curricula, course work, required texts, faculty hiring, criteria for tenure and promotion, research, and publication look like in the academic world that is responding to the questions being raised by the Christianities of the world? The issues are far-ranging and the questions transformational. We look forward to a lively series and a rewarding dialogue. Pentecostalism and Prosperity: The Socio-Economics of the Global Charismatic Movement Edited by Katherine Attanasi and Amos Yong Interfaith Marriage in America: The Transformation of Religion and Christianity By Erika B. Seamon Contemporary Issues of Migration and Theology Edited by Elaine Padilla and Peter C. Phan Theosis, Sino-Christian Theology and the Second Chinese Enlightenment: Heaven and Humanity in Unity By Alexander Chow Muslim-Christian Dialogue in Post-Colonial Northern Nigeria: The Challenges of Inclusive Cultural and Religious Pluralism By Marinus C. Iwuchukwu Christian Responses to Islam in Nigeria: A Contextual Study of Ambivalent Encounters By Akintunde E. Akinade

3 Christian Responses to Islam in Nigeria A Contextual Study of Ambivalent Encounters Akintunde E. Akinade

4 ISBN DOI / ISBN (ebook) CHRISTIAN RESPONSES TO ISLAM IN NIGERIA Copyright Akintunde E. Akinade, Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. First published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number , of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Akinade, Akintunde E. Christian responses to Islam in Nigeria : a contextual study of ambivalent encounters / Akintunde E. Akinade. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Islam and state Nigeria. 2. Church and state Nigeria. 3. Muslims Nigeria. 4. Christians Nigeria. 5. Nigeria Ethnic relations. 6. Islam Relations Christianity. 7. Christianity and other religions Islam. I. Title. BP64.N5A dc A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: July

5 This Book is Dedicated to My Dear Wife, Omowumi and My Three Wonderful Daughters: Tolulope, Temitope, and Titilope For the Richness of your Devotion and Love Heredity I am the family face; Flesh perishes, I live on, Projecting trait and trace Through time to times anon, And leaping from place and place Over oblivion. The years-heired feature that can In curve and voice and eye Despise the human span Of durance that is I; The eternal thing in man, That heeds no call to die. Thomas Hardy

6 Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

7 Contents Preface Acknowledgments ix xiii Introduction Exploring a New Trajectory in Interreligious Encounter 1 Chapter 1 Interpretations: Toward a New Approach in Christian-Muslim Encounters 11 Chapter 2 Glimpses of the Terrain: The Cross, the Crescent, and the Nigerian Terrain 31 Chapter 3 Abiding Faith: Varieties of Christian Responses to Islam 71 Chapter 4 Cross Meets Crescent: Forms of Christian Responses to Islam 103 Chapter 5 On Faithful Presence: Religion and Human Wholeness in Nigeria 143 Conclusion On Living and Walking Together into the Future 175 Notes 183 Bibliography 211 Index 225

8 This page intentionally left blank

9 Preface Throughout the world, the relations between Christianity and Islam have gone through many incarnations, which have been marked by dialogue, polemics, cordial disputations, vitriolic confrontations, and, at times, war. Christian-Muslim encounters, in their various forms, represent an important global reality that affects people in different parts of the world. Christian-Muslim relations are permanently perched on the cusp of a new world order that is full of positive possibilities and precarious potentials. The way in which religious matters are handled in the twenty-first century will affect global affairs and dispensation. One does not need to be trained in the sophistry of clairvoyance to affirm that the shape of contemporary and future global affairs will largely depend on how Muslims and Christians interact with one another. On the global stage, political conflicts with potent religious implications are becoming more prominent, protracted, and problematic. That we now say we live in a global village is a cliché. This socalled global village is, however, a distressed one that is full of stories of pain, agony, and horrendous calamities inflicted in the name of religion. Religious identities, loyalties, and affirmations have accentuated many international and interethnic conflicts. Violence in the name of religion is ubiquitous from Bali to Baghdad and from Cairo to Kano. This holy madness continues to send frightening ripples and spread fear all over the world. The ubiquity of religious violence has led people to ask serious questions about the role and place of religion in society and in the public sphere. The gravity of religiously fueled conflict and violence has exposed our fragility and a distressed world that is crying out for new and creative models that will foster peaceful interpersonal and interreligious relations. The search for an enduring prescription for harmony demands resources and insights from various worldviews, traditions, and faiths. The tendency to wallow in the cesspool of exclusive

10 x PREFACE paradigms and categories often leads to shallow and futile solutions to cross-cultural and interreligious relationships. This book deals with the problems and prospects of fruitful Christian-Muslim encounters in Nigeria. Nigeria, one of the largest and most important countries in the Third World, has been in the news in the last 20 years as a major African theater of religious conflict and violence. The explosion of Christian-Muslim conflicts and violence in contemporary Nigeria continues to pose tremendous challenges to the survival of the country s fledgling democracy. Nigeria is a nation blessed with copious human and natural resources. Its strategic importance for the West African region and for the whole of Africa has generated passionate debates about the role of religion in Nigeria s national life. The discussions revolve around the role of religion in the public square and also the place of theological narratives and religious leadership in this conflict-ridden nation. The Federal Government of Nigeria has set up numerous interreligious bureaus, committees, and advisory boards to look into creative modalities for conflict resolution and peacemaking. It seems that all these initiatives have created platforms for theoretical formulations without any concrete practical recommendations for peace. Even though this book is set within the context of global events and occurrences, its thrust is an analysis of the relationship between Christians and Muslims in contemporary Nigeria and a description of the factors, ideologies, and conditions that determine this relationship. The central question that the study attempts to answer is: How do Christians and Muslims relate to each other on the level of civil society and on the national level? There is no universal norm for Christian-Muslim relations. Each context is different and unique. In fact, the tendency to strip Christian-Muslim engagements from their contextual situations has led to facile generalizations and hasty conclusions. To think of a new global understanding of Christian-Muslim relations is a futile exercise. Is there a global norm that can be applied to Christian-Muslim relations wherever they take place? The argument presented in this book does not suggest that there is a global norm for solving these religious tensions. It proceeds instead on the basis of a contextual approach, which I find useful because it challenges idealist paradigms of how Christian-Muslim relations ought to be or how they have been in the past. The modest thesis of this book is that through a process of prophetic dialogical engagement, both Christianity and Islam can contribute to

11 PREFACE xi conflict resolution, peacemaking, and nation building in contemporary Nigeria. While this is a bold attempt to invite a meaningful dialogue, I consider this book a modest start in developing a new kind of scholarly approach to Christian-Muslim encounters. This approach is new in the sense that it seeks to redesign the conceptual framework of Christian-Muslim relations in a way that gives due consideration to perspectives of Christians from the developing world. It is also new because it intentionally adopts a contextual approach to Christian- Muslim relations as an alternative to broad, global, or even idealist perspectives that continue to shape most Christian-Muslim relations literature, betraying its Western provenance. My experience of living in the Muslim world has also shaped my intellectual understanding of Islam and the critical need for interreligious dialogue. My sojourn in Qatar, a vibrant and multicultural nation in the Gulf, has led to new musings on the spiritual life of Muslims. Located in the Arabian Peninsula, the State of Qatar has become one of the most formidable nations in the Muslim world. For the past five years, the strident calls from the multiple minarets surrounding me remind me of the devotional life of Muslims. This is indeed a resounding affirmation of the deep sense of piety in Islam. The experience of living in the Muslim world and my daily interaction and engagement with Muslims provide a new vantage point for understanding the many dimensions of Islam and the imperative for interreligious engagement. The constant and regular adhan, call to prayer, is a bold reminder that it is better to pray than to sleep. It is also an indication of the importance of dhikr, which means to remember God all the time, which is central to Islam s devotional and spiritual practice. Someone living in the Muslim world cannot but wonder at the splendor, grandeur, and ubiquity of prayer life in Islam. Living in a Muslim country during the holy month of Ramadan underscores Islam as a complete way of life and the need to pause in the middle of our everyday mundane activities to think about God and the less privileged in our midst. An increasingly multireligious and multicultural migrant population has also characterized Qatar, especially in the last ten years. Immigration, globalization, and transnationalism continue to change the religious configuration in the Gulf region and inevitably contribute to a new sense of religious pluralism in the region. Awash in a great wave of immigrants and faiths from around the world, Qatar has been radically transformed into a religiously diverse region. The landscape is dotted with not only imposing and magnificent minarets, but also other places of religious devotion and piety. The emerging

12 xii PREFACE role of Qatar on the international stage has been in parallel with the country s fostering of a spirit of religious tolerance and intercultural engagement. This new situation has led, among other factors, to the construction of churches of various Christian denominations, eight consecutive yearly interfaith conferences cosponsored by the School of Sharī ah and Islamic Studies at Qatar University, and the recent creation of the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue under the auspices of the previous Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifah Al-Thani. Qatar is diligently grappling with the challenges of being a multiethnic and multireligious society. The insights from Qatar gave me a different perspective on interreligious coexistence. In its final analysis, this book deals with some of the issues that are pertinent to interreligious dialogue in Nigeria. It is my sincere hope that this book will advance the theoretical and practical knowledge for promoting interfaith harmony and peace. It is also very important for me to emphasize that this book deals with Christian approaches to Islam within the Nigerian context. My primary focus is on the multiple ways Christians have responded to the Islamic tradition in Nigeria. This book has been shaped within the experience and context of Christian-Muslim dialogue, in the sense that it faithfully tries to reflect issues that have emerged in dialogue between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. Inevitably, the voice of Islam and Muslims will emerge in the discussion. This dimension is too important to be silenced, ignored, or glossed over. This book tries to reflect what Nigerian Christians have learned about Islam as they have interacted with and listened to Muslims expressing the core values and credentials of their faith. Although this book project takes the form of a Christian reflection on Christian-Muslims relations, it is not by any means an exercise in scholarly monologue, that is, a private conversation among Christians alone. It is an invitation to Muslims to jointly explore new ways of living together and ponder new ways of crafting a future that is meaningful and constructive. The quest for the common good must be a collective endeavor by Christians and Muslims.

13 Acknowledgments It is so good and gratifying to see this book on interreligious encounters in Nigeria in print. Like Solomon s temple, this book has taken many years of effort to put together. I have been supported by many people too numerous to mention. These people of goodwill have been my reliable conversation partners and allies for so many years. The Yoruba people say that someone to whom we bestow kindness and does not show any sense of gratitude is like a thief who takes away one s belongings. Therefore, it would be a deplorable dereliction of duty on my part if I refuse to acknowledge my gratitude to several of the countless people who have helped me in one way or the other with this book project and in my academic journey. I am deeply grateful to my family members: my wonderful wife, Omowumi, and my three precious daughters, Tolulope, Temitope, and Titilope, for their unequivocal support and devotion. Words actually fail me in expressing my profound appreciation to my family for their abiding love, support, and for believing in this project. I am especially grateful for my wife s constant support and encouragement. Through her gentle and persistent nudging, she made me understand that a path is made by walking. I sincerely thank her for providing the serenity, space, and support to pursue the profession that has given me such unqualified fulfillment thus far. My daughters designed the front cover of this book. They labored so diligently to produce a cover that is aesthetically alluring and thematically relevant. Dedicating this book to them is a token of my appreciation for their unconditional love and unwavering support. I thank my beloved teachers and mentors who have provided guidance, encouragement, and support all these years. Jacob K. Olupona, Dale T. Irvin, James H. Cone, Peter Phan, Andrew F. Walls, Leo Lefubure, Bishop Hassan Kukah, Ruben Habito, Jane I. Smith, and Lamin Sanneh have remained loyal mentors providing valuable support and assistance at important times in my academic journey. I thank

14 xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS all of them from the bottom of my heart for their words of wisdom and encouragement. They have inspired me to critically think about issues that are germane to world Christianity, Christian theology, and interreligious engagement, all of which I convey in this work. The late Kosuke Koyama was my doctoral advisor at Union Seminary in New York City. He was a remarkable sage who guided me through my days at Union. He taught me how to appreciate complementality, mutuality, and plurality within various contexts. In his subtle way, he counseled me about the mysteriousness of the three miles an hour God and how to take other religious traditions seriously. He held me with both hands when I was still learning how to walk theologically. My network of support in Nigeria has been incredible, heartwarming, and solid as a rock. I am very grateful to my parents and my mother-in-law for their earnest prayers and love. My father sparked my interest in the academic study of religion and has remained my biggest advocate ever since my days at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. My brothers, Deji, Tunji, and Gbenga, and sister, Foluso, have been very supportive. My sister-in-law, Mrs. Funmilayo Alawode, has been a loyal supporter of all my projects since we met 21 years ago. I am grateful to the administration at Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Qatar for providing the financial support that enabled me to travel to Nigeria several times for research. It has been a great pleasure teaching at SFS-Q. I couldn t have asked for a more pleasant working environment. I also thank my students, especially to the ones in the courses THEO 052: Christian Responses to Islam, for their critical responses to the various texts dealing with individual and institutional Christian responses to Islam at different historical periods. They were very bold in articulating their concerns, trepidations, and hopes for Christian-Muslim relations on a global scale. I am deeply indebted to several friends who have encouraged me to keep writing in spite of various challenges. These faithful friends include Tayo Olowude, Yomi Alawode, Patrick Laude, Greg McCrimmon, Segun Ilesanmi, David Ogungbile, Elias Bongmba, Michael Orzechowski, Herb Howe, Phil Norwoord, and Larry Simpson. I now understand that a faithful friend is the medicine of life (Ecclesiasticus 6:16). In different ways, these friends have supported this project at various stages and times. They have provided the necessary encouragement, conversation, and the intellectual framework that contributed immensely to the ultimate completion of this book project. I commend this book to readers in the spirit of conversation and dialogue. In a world that is enveloped by skepticism, nihilism,

15 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xv provincialism, and mutual suspicion, a project on interreligious encounters opens new vistas of opportunities for thinking of creative ways to live together in our global village. Our world cries out for a new vision that will engender love, tolerance, peace, and justice. It is a vision that is sustained by a deep faith in the goodness of our enduring religious traditions and a robust hope in humanity. Through our good and generous faith, to borrow a phrase from Kenneth Cracknell, we can begin to create new paradigms that will foster peace, reconciliation, and love. My editors at Palgrave Macmillan have diligently worked with me to make this book meet all the professional expectations it deserves. I sincerely thank them for their dedication, patience, and abiding support. They have gone beyond the call of duty to make this project see the light of the day. I also thank Douglas Erickson-Irvin for his editorial assistance. Let me conclude by saying that I accept full responsibility for possible mistakes of omission or commission that may be found in this book. AKINTUNDE E. AKINADE Doha, Qatar Spring 2014