Evidence for Islam in Southeast Nigeria

This paper is an aspect of a wider research project on the introduction of Islam into Southeast Nigeria, the only region in Nigeria that was not touched by the nineteenth century Islamic jihad and subsequent efforts to extend the borders of Islam in the country. The reputation of Southeast Nigeria as a purely Christian region survives to the present (Ottenberg, 2006) despite the emergence, few decades ago, of a modest population of Muslims in Igboland—the dominant and most populous ethnic group in the Southeast. One consequence of the success of Islamic proselytization in Igboland in particular is the current discourse among Nigerian Muslims suggesting that Islam might have been spread in the Igbo territory of Southeast Nigeria in the nineteenth century or earlier. The present article examines this claim and also engages the historical development of Islam in Southeast Nigeria—beginning in northern Igboland—using oral, archival, and written sources. The findings of this research have far reaching implications for scholars of religious history. It is also useful for social scientists in the areas of policy planning, formulation, and execution.