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‘Islam Does Not Belong to Them’: Ethnic and Religious Identities Among Male Igbo Converts in Hausaland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Douglas Anthony
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Abstract

Before the civil war, conversion to Islam for Igbo men resident in the predominantly Hausa city of Kano in northern Nigeria usually meant becoming Hausa. More recent converts, however, have retained their Igbo identity and created an organisation, the Igbo Muslim Community. Three case studies from the first group detail the process and criteria of becoming Hausa, including immersion in Hausa economic and social networks; three case studies from the second group demonstrate that, while Hausa-centred networks remain important, converts have worked to construct new, Igbo-centred support structures. The watershed in the changing relationship between religious and ethnic affiliation for Igbo converts is the end of the war in 1970 and resultant changes in Igbo perceptions of Muslims, and changes in Igbo community structures.

Résumé

Avant la guerre civile, se convertir à l’Islam signifiait habituellement devenir Haoussa pour les hommes Ibo résidant à Kano, ville à majorité Haoussa du Nord du Nigeria. Des convertis ont cependant récemment conservé leur identité Ibo et créé une organisation intitulée Ibo Muslim Community (Communauté musulmane Ibo). Trois études de cas concernant le premier groupe décrivent en détail le processus et les critères d’adoption de l’identité Haoussa, y compris l’immersion dans les réseaux économiques et sociaux Haoussa; trois études de cas portant sur le second groupe montrent que, bien que les réseaux Haoussa demeurent importants, les convertis ont œuvré pour créer de nouvelles structures de soutien aux Ibo. Le tournant décisif du changement de rapport entre l’affiliation religieuse et ethnique des convertis Ibo est la fin de la guerre en 1970, et avec elle le changement d’idée que se font les Ibo des musulmans et l’évolution des structures communautaires Ibo.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 70 , Issue 3 , August 2000 , pp. 422 - 441
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2000

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