A general look at Nigeria
The Federal Republic of Nigeria with an area of 923,768 square kilometres is located on the west coast of Africa. This country is bordered by Niger to the north, Benin to the west and both Cameroon and Chad to the east. In regards to the size, it is the fourth largest country in Africa. It is a vast plateau country in West Africa which is divided into three parts of north, east and west by the Niger and Benue rivers. By possessing the three elements of power namely; the military, wealth, and a large population in Africa and especially in West Africa, Nigeria has unique features and is famously referred to as the ‘giant of Africa.’ The position of this country specifically regarding African matters is very vital to the other African countries in this continent. Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and the third most populated Muslim country in the world. Based on the latest statistics in 2019, Nigeria has a population of 201 million people. Out of this population, 42.45 % are under the age of 54.29% are between the ages of 15-64 and 3.26% are above the age of 64 and this shows the youthfulness of that society.
The most important religions in this country are Islam and Christianity. 50% of the people in this country are Muslims and most of them are Sunnis who adhere to the Maliki school of thought. 40% are Christians and the remaining 10% follow indigenous beliefs. In the constitution of Nigeria, no religion is superior to any other religion. The official language of this country is English and among the common languages spoken in many parts of the country are Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and Fulani.
Islam came into Nigeria in the eighth century through the Arab elders and teachers who were famously known as “Wangara Wa” who entered the country through Libya and Sudan from northern Africa. Later, a reformist known as Shaihu Usman Dan Fodio established the Sokoto Caliphate in this country for one century. With the entry of the colonial powers and Christianity in 1930, little by little, the Muslim government was in the decline.
The Islamic Revolution and the revival of Islam in Nigeria
The victory of the Islamic Revolution and the formation of an Islamic government in Iran and of course, the global invitation by its leader, that is, Imam Khomeini, towards the unity of the Muslims and the standing up against oppression and injustice of Western countries by all the oppressed people in the world, played an important role in the awakening, giving hope and confidence to the Muslims regardless of their nations or their political desires.
One of the clear examples of acknowledging the message of the Islamic Revolution and its propagation despite the long-distance are the Muslims of Nigeria who by having a certain psychological atmosphere and numerous military governments, have shown their loyalty on numerous occasions to Iran’s Islamic Revolution and its founder Imam Khomeini.
This inclination and loyalty to the pure Islamic values were to such an extent that several conferences and seminars have been conducted in the last years to analyze ‘the new role of Islam in Africa,’ the ‘reason for the change in the role of the scholars’ and the ‘reason for the emergence of the phenomenon of Islamic fundamentalism’ – as interpreted by the West.
The leadership of Imam Khomeini and the ideology of an Islamic Revolution in the Islamic society of Nigeria and specifically amongst the marginalized Muslims in the north evoked emotions and reactions. A version of Islamic fundamentalism practiced in Iran was skillfully employed by the local leaders of Islamic revivalism to cover up the fight against the excessive and materialistic corruption of Nigerian political organizations. In a fragile and shaky government where extreme security apparatus was employed, the continued attacks on the non-religious nature of the regime and growing pressure for promulgating shari’ah throughout the country used to create serious problems for the politicians in Nigeria.
In this regard, the formation of the Assembly of Nigerian Scholars in 1980 – and after the shari’ah incident, has produced fruitful results. Dr. Ahmad Bello, the general-secretary of this assembly elaborates the aims and achievements of the assembly as follows:
- Inculcating unity and oneness amongst the Muslims of Nigeria.
- Inculcating awareness and upgrading the cultural development of the Muslims and reminding them regarding their Islamic and religious laws.
- Restoring the rights of the Muslims that had been taken away from them during the colonial rule.
- Establishing and developing schools at the state and federal levels; compulsory teaching of Islamic education in all educational centres. (from the nursery to the university level)
- Offering assistance and cooperation to all the Islamic groups and institutions for the sake of realizing the transcendence of Islam.
From other perspectives, reviving Islam, changing the code of dress for women and going back to wearing the Islamic hijab which for many years had been banned in high schools and universities. This return was a result of comprehensive activities carried out by the Muslims in the north during the years of resistance until they succeeded in convincing the heads of the states with a high Muslim population that the Muslim girls must have the permission to wear according to the Islamic laws. The school uniform that the schools forced the students to wear which had also been inherited from the colonial era, was always considered to be the factor preventing the Muslim girls from being sent to school.
Based on the information at hand, it is only in Nigeria where we have more than ten million people that have converted to the Twelver Shi’ah sect after the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.
The universities and scientific and research assemblies in Nigeria too have witnessed the return of the Muslim students back to genuine Islamic values. According to an article in the Crescent International Newspaper in 1991 which talked about a report concerning the revival of Islamic laws and spirit amongst the university students in Nigeria, it is worth stating that the changes and symbols of reviving Islam and its consolidation in the society of the Nigerian universities which later spread to the large masses of people in the villages and cities in this country, was influenced by Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Among these assemblies is the Muslim Student Society of Nigeria (MSS). This assembly was formed in 1954 and has an organization in every part of the country. The Muslim Student Society and the Shi’ah groups are presently considered to be among the active Muslim groups in Nigeria and have millions of members amongst the Muslim university students in the country.
The Muslim Student Society is willing to establish an Islamic government that epitomizes the Islamic government of Iran. A government whose leader would be very close to the leader of the Iranian government and who would issue instructions according to the Iranian leaders especially regarding the secular and non-religious government of Nigeria and take measures regarding the lately conflicts that have occurred between the Muslim and the Christian students in some universities in this country. The teaching of the Noble Quran, Islamic politics and education, carrying out social activities and conducting religious ceremonies and publishing magazines are among the major activities of this assembly. Likewise, there are more than 10,849 mosques in the high schools, colleges and universities in Nigeria which are under the administration of the above-mentioned assembly. Likewise, the Shi’ahs of Nigeria pay special heed to that and carry out most of their religious ceremonies in them.
With the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, several groups concluded that it is only an all-inclusive Islamic Revolution that will solve the problems of the country. In this regard, Kongo Conference Hotel is one of the centres that were under the administration of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, where for many years, the Muslim students in Zaria wanted the selling of alcoholic drinks to be banned in this institution. Eventually, the above matter led to attacks and the destruction of this place. During this assault, 23 students were arrested and the other students took part in demonstrations in different parts of the country and chanted the Islamic slogans.
The Muslim youths in Nigeria love Islam and the Noble Quran. Nonetheless, the price of a copy of the Noble Quran is so high to an extent that they are unable to buy them and are compelled to write the Noble Quran by hand. Just like the MEK group in Iran, a group named ‘Maitatsine’ that refers to itself as an Islamic movement, would go to the streets now and then and attack people, kill them and steal from them to create a negative view among the people regarding the Muslims.
Although the enlightening movements that took place in Nigeria after Iran’s Islamic Revolution have their own importance, however, they have remained limited. This is due to the lack of unity and agreement by the religious scholars and leaders of the society. Nonetheless, the most important thing is that the Muslims of Nigeria have almost comprehended this movement. And although, in the form of a competition with the Christians, they have taken measures regarding this matter such as the issue of Islamification of education which commenced in the last few years in the department of studies at Usmanu Danfodiyo University or conducting of the ‘International Conference in Africa’ on November 1989 that was carried out by the Islamic Organization in Africa.
Before Iran’s Islamic Revolution, the people and specifically the Muslims could not hold demonstrations. Nonetheless, after Iran’s Islamic Revolution, the people showed more willingness to hold demonstrations against the oppressive governments and the decisions that were against the Islamic teachings. One of the major features of Iran’s Islamic Revolution is that it returned the confidence of the Muslims to their religion. Likewise, it also united the Muslims from different sects and groups and acquainted them with each other. For instance, before Iran’s Islamic Revolution, some Muslims were not even aware that Palestine exists. Nevertheless, after Iran’s Islamic Revolution, they realized this matter and learned that the Muslims in Asia were oppressed. In reality, Iran’s Islamic Revolution led to the awakening of Muslim countries in different parts of the world. Likewise, the demonstrations of the Muslims in Nigeria for the sake of establishing the Islamic shari’ah can be considered to be one of the impacts of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. A country that for several years had witnessed a lot of military coups and the coming into power of dictatorial generals who never gave their people the opportunity to express their beliefs. Due to the high population of Muslims, they used to consider their governments to be secular. Finally, they were compelled to establish Islamic laws in the Muslim-occupied states due to the demands by the Muslims whose population was high in the country.
The impacts of Iran’s Islamic Revolution upon the Shi’ahs
One of the main impacts of Iran’s Islamic Revolution is the formalization of the Shi’ah sect in some of the African countries. Amongst these countries, we can mention Nigeria which is one of the most important countries in West Africa. The first Shi’ah group in Nigeria and after Iran’s Islamic Revolution was the ‘Islamic Movement of Northern Nigeria.’
This Shi’ah movement was led by a person called Malam Ibrahim Zakzaky. A leadership that came immediately after his visit to Iran during the early years of Iran’s Islamic Revolution whereby he converted into the Shi’ah sect. He developed a special love for Iran’s Islamic Revolution and Imam Khomeini and considers himself to be one of the followers of Imam Khomeini. Shaykh Zakzaky rejected the secular government in the Nigerian constitution and has a positive view regarding the clergy rule in Iran. He talks about this matter and acknowledges that to establish an Islamic government, first of all, the non-religious government must be removed and then declares that unless the Islamic laws are enacted into the Nigerian laws, the jihad will continue.
Owing to this fact, this movement has a special position in northern Nigeria and the Nigerian youths are greatly attracted to this movement. Apart from the youths, the lecturers and the faculty members of universities in northern Nigeria and many intellectuals in Nigeria have shown their love and support to this movement.
The Islamic movement in northern Nigeria was first planned in the Higher education centres during the early 1980s. In the late 1980s, it spread to the villages and cities and in the 1990s, it turned into a popular movement especially in the villages and was warmly welcomed by the people. This was to such an extent that they wanted people to participate in their meetings in small numbers to control them.
In an interview with a news journal conducted on June 23, 2000, Shaykh Zakzaky says: “In 1984, we announced al-Quds Day as a day of demonstration and we also held a demonstration this past January. This day is commemorated to show our solidarity with the people of Palestine. Therefore, since 1984, we have been conducting these demonstrations at the end of every holy month of Ramadhan and the demonstration of this year was conducted where more than one million people from Zaria state and other states participated.”
Lately, at the end of April, we had the Ashura of al-Husayn (a) where hundreds of thousands of people participated in this sorrowful event mourning the grandson of the Holy Prophet (s), that is, Imam al-Husayn (a) by wearing black clothes.”
Generally, the impacts of Iran’s Islamic Revolution upon the Shi’ahs of Nigeria can be mentioned as:
- Moving from the periphery to the centre of the Islamic world.
- More inclination by the researchers and Islamic scholars in learning more regarding the Shi’ah sect.
- The inclination of non-Muslims and even the Sunnis towards the Shi’ah sect.
- Inculcating the revolutionary spirit and in reality, epitomizing Iran’s Islamic Revolution in standing up against the world imperialists.
- Trimming the waves of political Islam among the Shi’ahs demanding a part or the whole power and government.
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