Muslim-Christian Dialogue in Nigeria
Author: Victor Chukwulozie
Publisher: Daystar Press, 1986Reviewed in Orita, 18:2, 107-110
Muslim relations with any group in the world today is most topical. Relations with Christians in Nigeria are as crucial as any other Muslim theatre of encounter in the world. The scope of this book includes the history of Islam and Christianity in North-Africa and in Nigeria, a history of relations and of dialogue in Nigeria, the theology of dialogue, a history of Muslim-Christian dialogue in the world, and a comparative discussion of social theory, philosophy and mysticism truly an extraordinary enterprise!
The author is prepared to handle such a topic, having been born, educated and ordained in the North of Nigeria, pursued studies particularly on Islamic philosophy in Rome and Oxford, and having spent many years in the Department of Philosophy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, as well as having had extensive professional contact with other people involved in this field through conferences and traveling.
The chapters treat quite disparate headings, and my impression is that they are unequal also in quality. Some particular remarks are called for:
Chapter 1, on the early religious history of Nigeria, relies too much on the speculations of early colonial writers, such as C.K. Meek, C.R. Niven, Lady Lugard and C.G, Seligman, who were just beginning to investigate the origins and development of Africa, without the further information that. has come to light in recent years.
Chapter 2, on Christianity and Islam in early North Africa, is a good brief summary. Yet page 23 refers to Dominicans and Franciscans and says "the former" were in Morocco. It should be "the latter".
Chapter 3 is a 3 page summary of the Fulani Jihad. Note page 28:."Gobir was finally defeated." The remnant of that kingdom held out at Birnin Konni until the colonial era. Page 28 also says that after the jihad there was peace in Bauchi. But that was one of the. slave reservoirs during the 19th century. Page 19 stranngely refers to "persecution of Hausa by Fulani forces".
Chapter 4 is a good brief summary of early Christian missionary work in the North, as has been more fully treated by E.P.T. Crampton.
Chapter 5 is on Christian missionary work in the West. Discussing Yoruba origins, the author (on p. 37) should have made use of Robin Horton's "Ancient Ife: a reassessment", JHSN 9:4.
Page 40 refers to the Jesuit "Balthassar Barrerius" [sic = Barreira, who "made many converts in Benin City". Neither this Barreira nor any other Jesuit ever was in Nigeria before the 20th century! The author is repeating the error of Martin Bane, who confused Bona in Sierra Leone with Benin. See my The Catholic Church in Tropical Africa 1445-1850, ch. 3, note 71. Neither were there any Carmelites or Dominicans in the time under discussion. Information on modem missionary work in the West is hardly more than a page.
In chapter 6, on missionary work in the East, the author is on familiar terrain, and the treatment is considerably better.
Chapter 7, on African culture and FESTAC, is also quite good. If "African philosophy is not different from European or any other phiosophy", then what is proper to Africa? The author intimates, that it is the cultural expression.
The section on reasons for dialogue, in the following chapters, is good. Chapter 8 describes dialogue meetings held in Nigeria. Further details could be added, but, this is a very useful section.
Chapter 9 discusses the problems that the Nigerian situation poses for dialogue. It is good, but is seems naive to think that "it is only foreigners from other countries who often start religious disturbances amongst us" (p. 80).
Chapter 10 discusses aims and principles of dialogue, quoting Nostra aetate and lifting, without acknowledgement, passages from the Vatican Guidelines for a dialogue between Muslims and Cbristians.
Chapter 11 presents the present attitude of the Catholic Church towards Islam. The basic official documents are quoted, then diverse theological positions are presented. The latter section summarizes Knitter and Zago, reflecting an ealier article by J. Gelot in Islamochristiana, n. 2. This material is very important.
Chapter 12 treats the Scriptural basis of dialogue. This is another valuable chapter, based, as the author acknowledges, on P. Rossano.
Chapter 13 surveys the Fathers of the Church on dialogue. This interesting section is also based on Rossano. Too bad no mention is made of' Muslim- Christian relations in the Middle East from the 7th century, discussed in a series of articles in Islamochristiana.
Chapter 14, on the Christian scholastics, treats Aquinas and Nicholas of Cusa. The latter is a very interesting character, and it is good that attention was called to the study of N. Rescher. It is surprising that Aquinas' assessment of Islam in Contra Gentiles, ch. 6, was not referred to.
Chapter 15, from Cusa, to our day, focuses on the African natural preparation for the Gospel. From the title, I would have expected something about 20th century pioneer efforts at positive encounter with Muslims, with a word about Massignon, Charles de Foucauld etc.
Chapter 16, the theology of dialogue, is really a continuation of the theology of non-Christian religions of chapter 11. The reference on page 119, to "the traditional attitude before the Council according to which it was necessary to have an objective, explicit faith..." does not reconcile with Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 2, art. 7, ad 3.
Chapter 17, the Islamic concept of the state, utilizes Gardet's (1958) categories of traditional, secular, and reformist states. There seems no longer any basis for distinguishing traditional (e.g. Kuwait, Bahrain) and reformist (Pakistan, Morocco) states, since nowdays both types are highly religiously based and try to have literacy and every modern amenity. The discussion on Nigeria and the emir of Kano's visit to Israel is good.
Chapter 18, the Christian concept of democrary, could have gone beyond quotations from J. Maritain and C. Dawson. For Nigerian needs, it would have been useful to expand the explanation of the difference between secularism and secularity.
Chapter 19, on Christian and. Islamlic scholasticism, seems overly sanguine in thinking that in al-Ghâzalî and Aquinas we can find points of convergence. Aquinas has more affinity with Ibn-Sînâ and Ibn-Rushd than with the theologian foe of theirs, al-Ghazâlî.
The statement on page 147: "The great minds of Christian and Islamic thinkers of the past influenced each other", seems to contradict page 153: "It would not be true to say that he [Aquinas] was dependent on Arabian writers or was influenced by them in his development".
Chapter 20, on mysticism, is useful but very brief.
The Conclusion is a sizzors and paste job of excerpts from papers of the Consultation of the Christian Councils in West Africa held in Monrovia, November 1984, but they are not acknowledged. Pages 158-165 and note 3 were lifted from two papers by S. Babs Mala. Note 4 and much of pp.173-4 is from J. Kenny. Pages 169-170 are from J. Hinds, and pages 170-172 are from I.G. Shelly.
Three important appendices close the book: the Pope's speech to the Nigerian Muslim Community, 14 Feb. 1982, a document on the demolition of churches in Northern Nigeria, and government restriction of religious preaching.
This review can conclude with the observation that the book does not manifest much original research, but is a valuable collection of materials gathered from far and wide. These are presented in a very succinct fashion and each chapter would leave the reader desirous of finding more information on the topic discussed.