Religion in Nigeria
Religion in
Most Nigerian Christians are
Nigeria is officially a secular state with no official state religion. Article 10 of the Constitution states that “The Government of the Federation or a State shall not adopt any religion as State Religion.” [13] However, twelve Muslim-majority northern states have incorporated Sharia courts into their legal systems with the power and jurisdiction of these courts waxing and waning over the past two decades.[14] In some of these states, sharia courts are optional arbitration courts for personal status issues whereas, in others, Sharia has effectively replaced the formerly secular state level legal system in both civil and criminal contexts. This has brought controversy due to its discriminatory practices towards religious and sexual minorities.[15][16][17] Northern Nigeria has also been the site of ongoing Islamist insurgency which has led to the death and displacement of tens of thousands of people.[18]
Religious demographics
The 1963 Nigerian census, the last that asked about religion, found that about 47.2% of the population was Muslim, 34.3% Christian, and 18.5% other.[19]
Figures in the most recent edition of The World Christian Encyclopedia (Johnson and Zurlo 2020) draw on figures assembled and updated as part of the World Christian Database (WCD); these put those who identify as Christians at 46.3%, and Muslims at 46.2 and ‘ethnic religions’ at 7.2%. WCD figures predict that both Muslims and Christians will continue to grow as a proportion of the population through to 2050. Their projections predict Christians at that point will make up on 48% of the population and Muslims at 48.7%, both growing at the expense of ethnic religions, down to 2.9% of the population. Hsu et al. (2008) found that the WCD appears to overestimate Christian identification and cautioned against what seems to be uncritical acceptance of figures given by religious groups of their membership. The criticisms offered by Hsu et Al (2008) have been supported by evidence found by Nigeria Mckinnon (2020), which demonstrated that the WCD had substantially overestimated the Anglican proportion of the population.[20]
According to a 2018 estimate in
Islam
Nigeria has one of the largest
The vast majority of
Shia
The Shia Muslims of Nigeria are primarily located in Sokoto State.[42][43] Shia Muslims make up between two and four million of Nigeria's population.[44][45] Ibrahim Zakzaky introduced many Nigerians to Shia Islam. The headquarter of Shia is Zaria where the leader lives with his family.[46] The Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) was banned in Nigeria in 2019.[47]
Sufi
Some Nigerian Muslims emphasize asceticism and mysticism and form Sufi groups called tariqas, orders, or brotherhoods. They commonly preach peaceful co-existence and do not sympathize with Islamic extremism.[48] Most Nigerian Sufis follow the Qadiriyya, Tijaniyyah or Mouride movement.[49][50]
Ahmadiyya
The Ahmadiyya movement established itself in Nigeria in 1916,[51][52] and make up approximately 3% of the Muslim population.[53] There are numerous Ahmadiyya centres in Nigeria including the Baitur-Raheem Mosque in Ibadan inaugurated in 2008,[54] the Mubarak Mosque in Abuja, which is the last Ahmadiyya mosque, built in the first century of the Ahmadiyya Caliphate.[55] Ahmadiyyas have also established a weekly newspaper called "The Truth" which is the first Muslim newspaper in the country.[56]
Quraniyoon
The Kala Kato are a Nigerian group of Quranists. Their name means "a mere man said it" referring to the narrators of the sayings of Muhammad. The Kalo Kato rely entirely on the Quran and they are found among mostly lower-class communities across northern Nigeria.[8]
Boko Haram and Darul Islam
Islam in Nigeria has witnessed a rise in the numbers of Islamic extremism notably among them, the
among others.These sects have sometimes resorted to the use of violence in a bid to realizing their ambitions on the wider Islamic and Nigerian populations as a whole.[59][60]
The rise of these radical movements has been attributed partly to the poor socio economic infrastructures and poor governance in Nigeria.[61] Poverty has been seen as the major catalyst leading to the rapid increase in the membership of these religious extremist groups.[62] The rise of these sects has also been linked to the increase and aiding of religious extremist by politicians for their selfish ambitions. In recent times, there has been break out of religious crises in the ancient city of Kano with scores of Christians dead and their properties destroyed.[63]
During the 1980s, religious riots occurred in and around the five cities of
Christianity
Christian denominations in Nigeria |
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