Disunity amongst Yoruba Muslims: Impacts and Suggested Solutions

Abstract

While Islamic unity is a core principle among Muslims, the absence of such poses a myriad of challenges for many Muslim societies across the world. This research study examines the disunity in Yorubaland, taking the southwest of Nigeria as a case study, and applying the qualitative research method to elaborately dissect the historical, institutional, political, economic, and socio-cultural dimensions of disunity in the southwest of Nigeria. The research study begins with the literal and practical explanation of unity within the Islamic context to lay the groundwork for the representation of the idea in the religious doctrine, and its realistic representation, which may entail areas of human imperfection in administration, worship, politics, youth, and women's representation. The study delves into the thematic analysis of disunity in Yorubaland, drawing from the interviews undertaken, plus the historical background of the establishment of Islam between the fifteenth and the nineteenth centuries, to further justify the degree of Islamic pervasiveness across Yorubaland from the old Oyo Empire, and West Africa, by extension. For comparative evaluation, the Senegalese Islamic community was drawn into the context of understanding how Islamic disunity reverberates across religious sects, tribes, economic classes, and generations. The extent of this research is determined by the available historical data and literature sources covering the prominent records of Islamic expansion, collision with the indigenous and colonial rule in Yorubaland, and the manner of co-existence with Christianity, from the colonial era till the present day in southwest Nigeria. The study identified areas of peaceful coexistence and collaboration between Islam and the Yoruba tradition, Islam and Civil Law, and Islam and Christianity, to justify the degree of accommodation and religious tolerance in the religion. On the other hand, the cultural adaptability of the Yoruba ethnicity predominated the elaborate case studies surrounding the relationship between Islam and the Yorubas.