Shia Islam in Nigeria
Though the majority of the Nigerian Muslim population is Sunni (60 million), there is a significant Shia minority, particularly in the northern states of Kano and Sokoto.[1][2][3] However, there are no actual statistics that reflect a Shia population in Nigeria,[4] and a figure of even 5% of the total Nigerian Muslim population is thought to be too high “because of the routine conflation of Shi’a with Sunnis who express solidarity with the Iranian revolutionary program, such as those of Zakzaki’s Ikhwani.”[5]
Contents
Introduction of Shi'ism in Nigeria
Shia Islam was "almost unknown" in Nigeria until the 1980s, when Ibraheem Zakzaky introduced Shia Islam. Zakzaky's gained a following among those disenchanted with the political and religious establishment.[6]
Persecution
Members of the Nigerian Shia community have been persecuted in some cases, but in other cases have united with Nigerian Sunni in the Islamic Movement in Nigeria.[7] Cleric Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky is a primary figure in the movement.[8]
In 2014, at least 33 Shia Muslims were gunned down by soldiers in Zaria during an encounter, after which both sides gave contradictory accounts. In December 2015, dozens died in a suicide attack on a Shia procession near northwestern Kano city. Shia spokespersons later claimed that the attack had been masterminded by the army.[9]
The state government of Sokoto has reacted to the rise of Shia Islam in the state by taking such measures as demolishing the Islamic Center in 2007.[10][11] Furthermore, clashes between Sunni and Shia residents followed the assassination of Imam Umaru Danmaishiyya, who was known for his fiery anti-Shia preaching.[12][13]
See also
Sources
- Muhammad Mansur Nigeria’s Zaria city crammed with mourners of Imam Hussain Jafariya News, January 29, 2007.
- Mohamed Ali Mosques vandalised in (Abuja) Nigeria clashes Jafariya News, June 10, 2004.
- Nigerian Echoes of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
- Elise Aymer Nigeria: Clash of Religions The Yale International Forum, Winter 1996.
- purported Biography of Zakzaky
External links
References
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- ↑ Nigeria: 'No Settlement With Iran Yet', Paul Ohia, allAfrica - This Day, 16 November 2010
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- ↑ http://www.vox.com/2015/12/15/10220308/nigeria-shia-massacre
- ↑ Alert: Nigerian security forces crackdown on Islamic Movement in Sokoto Islamic Human Rights Commission, 20 August 2007.
- ↑ Nigeria's firebrand Muslim leaders BBC News, 1 October 2001.
- ↑ "Army kills senior Shia cleric in northwestern Nigeria ",Turkish Weekly,14 December 2015
- ↑ Nigerian Shia base knocked down BBC News, 1 August 2007
- ↑ Shia Centre demolished in Nigeria AhlulBayt Islamic Mission, 02 August 2007
- ↑ Statement: Nigerian Shia Muslims under Attack
- ↑ "Nigeria: Sunni-Shia clashes" WorldWide Religious News
