Jesus, the sw, and Christian-Muslim Relations in Nigeria Dissertation zur

489 Pages·2010·2.7 MB·English

Conflicting Christologies in a Context of Conflicts:
Jesus, the (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3), and Christian-Muslim Relations in Nigeria

Dissertation
zur
Erlangung des akademischen Grades
Doctor rerum religionum (Dr. rer. rel.)
der Theologischen Fakultät
der Universität Rostock

vorgelegt von
Nguvugher, Chentu Dauda, geb. am 10.10.1970 in Gwakshesh, Mangun (Nigeria)
aus Mangun
Rostock, 21.04.2010

Supervisor
Prof. Dr. Klaus Hock
Chair: History of Religions-Religion and Society
Faculty of Theology, University of Rostock,
Germany

Examiners
Dr. Sigvard von Sicard
Honorary Senior Research Fellow
Department of Theology and Religion
University of Birmingham, UK

Prof. Dr. Frieder Ludwig
Seminarleiter
Missionsseminar Hermannsburg/
University of Goettingen, Germany

Date of Examination (Viva)
21.04.2010

urn:nbn:de:gbv:28-diss2010-0082-2
Selbständigkeitserklärung

Ich erkläre, dass ich die eingereichte Dissertation selbständig und ohne fremde Hilfe
verfasst, andere als die von mir angegebenen Quellen und Hilfsmittel nicht benutzt und
die den benutzten Werken wörtlich oder inhaltlich entnommenen Stellen als solche
kenntlich gemacht habe.

Statement of Primary Authorship

I hereby declare that I have written the submitted thesis independently and without help
from others, that I have not used other sources and resources than those indicated by me,
and that I have properly marked those passages which were taken either literally or in
regard to content from the sources used.

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CURRICULUM VITAE

CHENTU DAUDA NGUVUGHER

Married, four children

10.10.1970 Born in Gwakshesh, Mangun, Plateau State, Nigeria

September 1976 – July 1982 L.G.E.D Primary School, Gwakshesh, Mangun,

September 1982 - July 1985 Mangu Commercial Secondary School, Mangu

September 1985 – July 1987 School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering,
Bukuru

January 1989 – August 1990 ECWA Bible Training School, Kogum River,
Kaduna State, Nigeria

September 1990 – June 1994 Diploma in Bible, Theology, ECWA Bible College,
Aba, Abia State, Nigeria

June 1994 – September 1996 Pastor (full-time), Church of Christ in Nigeria
(COCIN), Gwakshesh and Nyempang, Mangun,
Nigeria

September 1994 – September 1996 Christian Religious Instructor (part-time),
Government Secondary School (GSS), Mangun,
Nigeria

September 1996 – May 2000 Bachelor of Divinity, Theology, Theological College
of Northern Nigeria (TCNN) / University of Jos,
Nigeria. Dissertation: Symbiosis as Antidote for the
Church: A Critical Exegesis of 1Cor. 12:12-30

October/November 1998 West Africa Examination Certificate (WAEC),
External

August 2000 – May 2002 Master of Theology, Missiology, Theological
College of Northern Nigeria (TCNN) / University of
Jos, Nigeria. Dissertation: Ministry to the Social
Outcasts in Jos-Bukuru Metropolis

June 2002 – September 2005 Lecturer, Theological College of Northern Nigeria
(TCNN) / University of Jos, Nigeria
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March 2003 – September 2005 Assistant Pastor, Church of Christ in Nigeria
(COCIN), Topp, Jos, Nigeria

September 2005 – August 2006 Msc in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, The
University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
Dissertation: The Position of Christians under
Islamic Rule in the First Three Centuries of Islam

September 2006 – April 2010 Faculty of Theology, University of Rostock,
Germany. Ph.D Thesis on "Conflicting Christologies
in a Context of Conflicts: Jesus, the (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3), and
Christian-Muslim Relations in Nigeria"

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Zusammenfassung

Nach dem Ende der Kriegszüge im Rahmen des sog. Fulani-jihâd unter Usman Dan
Fodio konnten sich die Angehörigen der verschiedenen Religionen in Nigeria bis in die
70er Jahre des 20. Jahrhunderts hinein eines vergleichsweise friedvolle Zusammenleben
erfreuen. Das änderte sich gegen Ende der Dekade und in den frühen 1980er Jahren, als
es zu gewaltsamen Konfrontationen zwischen Christen und Muslimen kam, die – von
inner-religiösen Unruhen begleitet – bis in die jüngste Gegenwart hinein unvermindert
anhalten. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit den gewaltsamen Zusammenstößen
zwischen Christen und Muslimen sowie den daraus für die christlich-muslimischen
Beziehungen erwachsenen Folgen innerhalb dieses Zeitraums. Von besonderem Interesse
sind dabei die sog.(cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3), die bislang in der Forschung völlig vernachlässigt wurden. Bei
den (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3) handelt es sich um eine Gemeinschaft, die aufgrund ihres besonderen
Glaubens an Jesus und ihres Verständnisses der Nachfolge Jesu an den Rändern von
Christentum und Islam sowie gewissermaßen zwischen beiden Religionen angesiedelt ist.
Die Arbeit geht unter anderem der Frage nach, weshalb sich die (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3) nicht in die
gewaltsamen Auseinandersetzungen haben hineinziehen lassen, obgleich sie stets äußerst
verwundbar waren und denselben Auswirkungen der immer wieder aufkommenden
Unruhen ausgesetzt sind.

Um den Umschlag von relativ friedlicher Koexistenz zu gewaltsamen Konflikten
zwischen Christen und Muslimen in Nigeria seit den 1980er Jahren begreifbar zu
machen, werden in der vorliegenden Arbeit sowohl die hinter dieser Entwicklung
stehenden tieferen historischen Prozesse diskutiert, als auch die den jüngeren
Auseinandersetzungen zugrunde liegenden Konfliktszenarien untersucht, die immer
wieder von neuem allen Bemühungen um ein friedliches Zusammenleben
entgegenwirken. Aus der Analyse sowohl schriftlicher als auch oraler Quellen lässt sich
der Schluss ziehen, dass die Konflikte zwar oft entlang religiöser Bruchlinien entstehen,
letztlich aber ihren Ursprung im Zusammenwirken einer Vielfalt von Faktoren haben:
historischen, sozio-kulturellen, ethnischen oder regionalen, ökonomischen, politischen,
psychologischen und religiösen – einschließlich des Einflusses von Analphabetismus,
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Unkenntnis der anderen (wie der eigenen) Religion, Vorurteilen und Stereotypisierungen
sowie der bewussten Manipulation von Religion.

Obgleich nicht ausgeschlossen werden kann, dass auch externe Faktoren und Einflüsse
zur Eskalation der Situation beitragen, wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit daran
festgehalten, dass die nigerianischen Christen/-innen und Muslime/-innen selbst die
Verantwortung dafür übernehmen müssen, ihre Beziehungen zueinander zu klären. In
diesem Zusammenhang wird die These entwickelt, dass eine (Wieder-)Entdeckung Jesu
als fundamentaler gemeinsamer Bezugspunkt im religiösen Denken und in der religiösen
Praxis von Muslimen/-innen und Christen/innen, wie beispielhaft von den (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3) gelebt,
auf lange Sicht hin einen konstruktiven Beitrag dazu leisten kann, über den
gegenwärtigen Status quo hinauszugelangen. Indem die (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3) dogmatische Kontroversen
über Jesus hintanstellen und sich vom Ethos, der mitleidvollen Nächstenliebe und dem
pazifistischen Beispiel Jesu in ihrem Alltagsleben leiten lassen, heben sie sich deutlich
von ihren vorschnell zu gewaltsamen Konfliktlösungen neigenden muslimischen und
christlichen Nachbarn ab. Christen/-innen und Muslime/-innen können von den
Einsichten der (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3), aber auch von der großen Hochachtung gegenüber Jesu, wie sie in
den klassischen und zeitgenössischen volkstümlichen islamischen Quellen zum Ausdruck
kommt, vieles lernen, was für einen fruchtbaren Dialog und ein gedeihliches
Zusammenleben zwischen den Angehörigen beider Religionen nutzbar zu machen ist.

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Theses

1. As the title of the dissertation indicates, this research project was embarked upon in the
hope that the ever increasingly deteriorating state of relationship between Christians and
Muslims in Nigeria due to years of violent conflicts would change for the better if both
groups were to be true to the tenets of their faiths. Because Jesus occupies a central place
in both faith traditions, it is proposed that a (re)discovery of Jesus as a fundamental
common point of reference in Christian and Muslim religious thought and practice may
contribute to reduce the violence in communal clashes and religious riots which are being
experienced between the adherents of both faiths. At least the question whether this could
be a case in point for improving Christian-Muslim relations calls for further investigation
into the relationship between Muslim and Christian Christologies.
1.1. Our investigation into (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3) Christology as well as Islamic Christologies from both
classical and popular Islamic sources reveals that although the hermeneutical differences
between Muslims and Christians have brought about different Christologies, an
investigation of both commonalities and differences may dispel misconceptions,
ignorance, prejudice and stereotyping that have led to avoidable bloodshed. Furthermore,
were both Christians and Muslims to be true to their belief and confession, bearing in
mind the eminent position of Jesus to both faiths, the question of the violent clashes
would have been minimal or non-existent.
1.2. The (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3) are a testimony to the fact that if both Nigerian Christians and Muslims
held to their belief and profession concerning Jesus as enshrined in their sacred texts and
other religious sources, there would be peace and harmony cutting across religious
boundaries. This is predicated on the analysis that the conflicts are often rooted in a
combination of other factors other than the religious garb that has always been the smoke
screen. The violent clashes are not always fought in defense of religious truth by both
groups. For if both groups were knowledgeable about the tenets of their faiths and the
religion of each other, given the high esteem reserved for Jesus in both faith traditions,
the effects would have trickled down to a more conciliatory relationship rather than the
enmity and hostility being witnessed.

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2. To be able to understand the background to the violent conflicts, on the one hand, and
the pacifist outlook of the (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3) due to their emulation of Jesus and which has kept them
uninvolved in the crises, on the other hand, it is necessary to undertake a survey of the
historical processes and other contributory factors that led to and are still responsible for
the conflicts as well as a survey of the (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3) movement, using both written sources and
oral interviews.
2.1. Unlike in the case of research on the history of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
in Nigeria, the state of research on Nigerian Islamic Christologies and the (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3) group of
people and their Christology could best be described as scanty and narrow. For the (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3)
in particular, who happens to be the thrust of the research, the group remains illusive
because there has been no major study of the movement. There is also no known written
document about the movement left by its founder, Mallam Ibrahim, or by any of the first
or second generation disciples.
2.2. The most substantial sources on the (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3) are the field notes of a Nigeria research
team from the Sudan United Mission / Christian Reformed Church, which cover the
(cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3)'s history, location, religious belief and practice, lifestyle, culture and worldview as
well as current Mission or Church involvement and questions of strategies for
evangelism. The other documents available on the (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3) are also sparse, covering only
the history of the initial few years of the movement and nothing more. The literature
review presented in this dissertation gives a comprehensive overview of the present status
of research into the subject of the thesis.

3. For the purpose of understanding the broader context, we must consider the formation
and the profile of Islam in Nigeria.
3.1. This can be done by starting with a brief survey of the historical development of
what today is Nigeria and the situation that existed among the indigenous population
before both Islam and Christianity made their ways into the country. The advent of both
Islam and Christianity brought a strain on a relationship that was relatively peaceful.
Nevertheless, an exploration of historical processes from pre-colonial days through the
colonial era up to the present provides fresh insights into the evolution and consolidation
of religious identities.
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3.2. Furthermore, a survey of Nigeria’s major Islamic groups and organizations allows
for assessing the potentials for conflicts or peaceful co-existence within these groups and
organizations.

4. The historical processes and other contemporary conflictive issues led to the escalation
of violence from the late 1970’s onwards. The late 1970’s marked the transmutation of
salient forms of conflict, which characterized previous years, into violent ones between
Christians and Muslims. The violent confrontations witnessed in Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi,
Jalingo, Potiskum, Plateau, Borno-Maiduguri, Jigawa, and Adamawa, as well as the few
in the Southwest, among others, demonstrate the nature and character of religious
conflicts in Nigeria. The effects and consequences of the violent clashes in terms of
human, material and relational capital are better imagined than described.
4.1. The conflicts thrive on a combination of factors primary of which is the deprivation
of the basic needs of the parties in the conflicts. These needs range from identity,
economic, political, religious, psychological, and the like. The crises go unchecked
because of a government that lacks the will to protect its citizens. It can hardly be denied
that the government does not only lack the will to put a stop to the ugly trend, but that
some top government official and members of the elite class actually benefit from the
chaotic situation.
4.2. Religion is often only manipulated as a ploy by the bourgeois or elite class cutting
across religious boundaries to hoodwink the unsuspected for their parochial and selfish
socio-economic and political interests. Very few religionists on both Muslim and
Christian sides perpetrate violence as a religious duty due to the increasing radicalization
of the two faiths, both locally and internationally. The manipulation takes different forms
– starting from the politics of the First Republic under the late Sardauna, Ahmadu Bello,
to the Civil War, the prolonged military rule, election campaigns, the shar(cid:4)`a issue, and
the use of the media, just to mentioned but a few.
4.3. It is suggested that the trend can only be reversed if those who are being manipulated
know the intrigues of the manipulators and decide to refuse to be manipulated henceforth.
Nevertheless, it can be noted that although the crises have been devastating, not all
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relationships in Nigeria are conflictive as many Muslims and Christians still live in
harmony even in areas that have been hit hard by the violent crises.

5. One possible though by far not sufficient remedy to the conflicts lies in re-discovering
Jesus as a model of bridging apparently irreconcilable divides by giving him the place
due to him as postulated in both Christian and Muslim scriptures and traditions. An
examination of perceptions of Jesus in Islam shows that indeed both Muslims and
Christians share a lot in common regarding Jesus, which if properly understood and lived
could contribute to transmuting both groups from conflict prone to peace loving
neighbours.
5.1. The richness of Islamic traditions regarding Jesus as revealed in the Qur’(cid:2)n, the
Hadith, S(cid:3)fism, Ahmadiyya movement, Muslim polemics and apologetics, modern
Muslim literature, popular Islam as well as studies on Jesus’ image from Islamic sources
by western scholars of religion and Islam show that this optimism is never baseless.
Although many of the sources mentioned have a certain polemical tune, at least from a
Christian point of view as far as questions of Jesus' deity, his death and resurrection, etc
is concerned, with some of these documents dismissing his pacifism due to contemporary
socio-political struggles, they however almost unanimously acknowledge the
reconciliatory potentials there are in Jesus’ life and message.
5.2. It is argued that the Jesus of Islam, if properly understood within the Islamic
framework by both Muslims and Christians, can be a natural entrance point for dialogue
in striving towards better understanding and mutual co-existence, which this thesis
proposes.

6. The (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3) group takes us further by demonstrating that it is indeed practical and
achievable to co-exist irrespective of religious differences. Their insights regarding Jesus
hold the key to mutual understanding and co-existence especially among Nigerian
Christians and Muslims, bearing in mind the prominent position of Jesus in both faiths
and traditions.
6.1. The (cid:2)s(cid:3)w(cid:3)'s pacifism is derived from their unalloyed submissiveness to Jesus
pioneered by the founder of the group, Mallam Ibrahim. His search for the truth as a
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