Paper long abstract:

In one of the village groups in northern Igbo land Islam was introduced as the second religion, next to the indigenous system of worship, but for the rest of Southeast Nigeria it was the third of the major religions introduced; coming many decades after the Christian faith. The dominance of Christian beliefs among the Igbo of Southeast Nigeria—described as one of the homogenous Christian regions in Africa (Nnorom 2003)—made Islamic proselytization in Igbo territory difficult and the pace of conversion very slow. Thus, by the outbreak of the Nigerian civil war in 1967, indigenous Muslims numbered approximately less than two hundred amidst a given population of over sixteen million Igbo. Notwithstanding the difficult beginnings, the Igbo are beginning to convert to Islam and, though still in the minority, the impact of indigenous Muslim presence is gradually being felt in a number of Igbo towns. The proposed paper would examine efforts at mutual co-existence between Igbo Christians and Muslims in Igbo land.