Paper short abstract:

Our paper looks at instances of “occult sciences" (‘ulūm al-asrār) in the Islamic literature from mid-to-late 20th century Kano. It argues that, while often transmitted in popular religious literatures, the Kano tradition of ‘ulūm al-asrār draws prevalently on literate classical antecedents.

Paper long abstract:

Until recent times, the production of text-based talismans for a virtually infinite variety of purposes (healing, protection, fortune, etc) used to constitute one of the main sources of income of the ulama class of northern Nigeria (Lewis Wall 1988; Hassan 1992; Abdalla 1997). The esoteric practices followed by Muslim practitioners in the process of talisman-making, as well as the belief in the efficacy of talismans per se, have been often considered as a paradigmatic example of “popular religion" and, especially in West Africa, they have been associated to a purportedly “local” cultural substratum. Thanks to a recent turn in the scholarship, the field of historical Islamic studies has gradually reconfigured the occult as an important dimension of the classical, literate ulama culture of medieval and early modern Islam, in the Arab and Persian world (Melvin-Koushki 2017) just as in West Africa (Marcus-Sells 2022).

Our paper will look at two instances of the presence of “occult sciences" (‘ulūm al-asrār) in two sharply different sets of Islamic literary items from mid-to-late 20th century Kano: the pamphlets of talismanic recipes produced by Shaykh Husaybakar; and the Arabic poetry of Shaykh Abubakar Atiku. In reviewing these examples, we will argue that the term “popular" can, in the context of a taxonomy of Islamic literatures, identify a specific set of literary genres; but that it is not, on the other side, the correct category to describe the nature of occult sciences as such, their sources, and their transmission.

Paper short abstract:

This paper explores how religious poetics in Tijāniyya Sufi performances, using both traditional and social media, ignited public debate and controversy in Kano, Nigeria, and how the performers reimagined the Creator. It uses Netnography in analyzing the public reactions to their performances.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores how Hausa religious poetics in Tijāniyya Sufi lyrical performances ignited public debate and controversy in the city of Kano, northern Nigeria. First was when conventional Tijāniyya Sufi brotherhood adherents (referred to as Fayda) started using modernized musical instruments in their performances. This was sparked off by the cassette release of ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’ (My God, My God) performed by Baba in early 2000s. Baba, a Tijāniyya Sufi order adherent, used ‘modern’ music instruments to perform the song, instead of the usual Islamically approved bandir. This caused outrage as members of the Sufi brotherhood believed that the sacredness of the song which praises Allah, has been profaned by the music used. This opened the floodgates to debates in the use of poetics and secular music in Hausa Sufi religious performances.

Secondly, when social media platforms particularly TikTok, Facebook Reels and YouTube became commodified, a faction of the Tijāniyya brotherhood, locally referred to as Tijāniyya Haƙiƙa, used the availability of the media to entrench a gradual process of deification of Sheikh Ibrahim Inyass. In a process I refer to as ‘blasphemy from below’ – for blasphemous cultural expressions were embedded within sacred Islamic religious performances – the Haƙiƙa adherents re-imagined Niasse as a deity, indeed, in some of the performances, even higher than God, devolving Niasse into perpetual existence. This paper analyses the lyrics of both conventional Tijjaniyya as well as Haƙiƙa poetic performances and how they reimagined the Creator, using Netnographic analysis of the public reactions to their performances.

Paper short abstract:

Using interviews, this paper investigate the producers and the users of cultural artefacts on Sheikh Ibrahim Inyass, it will explore how Sheikh Inyass has become a cultural figure in a unique form of Islamic fandom in Kano.

Paper long abstract:

Merchandizing Islam: Sheikh Ibrahim Inyass and Fandom Popular Culture in Kano

Abstract

This paper will investigate the complex interplay between religion and popular culture in Muslim northern Nigeria. It will offer insight into the evolving landscape of Islamic expressions in Kano, an epicenter of activities of Islamic Sufism in northern Nigeria. The study will investigate how a renowned charismatic leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Inyass has become a cultural figure in a unique form of Islamic fandom that has emerged among the adherents of Tijjaniyya sect in Kano.

Appropriating Richard Johnson’s notion of ‘circuit of culture’ which lay emphasis on the understanding of the cultural production process, the artefacts produced, and the ways those artefacts are used; the paper will involve interviews with the producers, which will shed light on the underlying motives for production; while interviews with users will explore how the user fused religious reverence into popular culture, and how it has given them a unique sense of identity within the Muslim community.

The research will delve into the multifaceted dimensions of this fandom culture through which Sheikh Inyass's image have been merchandized and appropriated, and how they have transformed into symbols of religious devotion and identity.

Finally, while serving as a lens through which the evolving dynamics of religion in a contemporary Islamic society will be understood, it will also demonstrate how religious figures like Sheikh Ibrahim Inyass can transcend their roles as religious leaders to become cultural icons.

Key words: Popular Culture, Fandom, Religion, Devotion, Sheikh Ibrahim Inyass

Paper short abstract:

The papers analyze how Kannywood, as a popular culture production site, generates new religious discourse and Islamic knowledge that (re)shapes local Muslim filmmakers' encounters with religion.

Paper long abstract:

Film is a mirror of culture and plays a crucial role in facilitating cultural dialogue in the society within which it is produced (John 2017). Moreover, fictional feature films, as Gray (2010) argues, act as a guide to cultural constructions of everyday life, to symbolic and metaphoric communication, and to social, political, cultural, religious, and economic forces.

In this paper, I share my observations from deep interactions with different Muslim social actors involved during my ethnographic experience, which reveal more complex narratives on how film serves as an impetus for religious knowledge generation and dissemination. Specifically, I analyze how Kannywood, as a popular culture production site, contributes to the generation of new religious discourse and Islamic knowledge that (re)shapes local Muslim filmmaker's encounters with religion. On the one side of the spectrum, we have Salafi-affiliated Mallams promoting strong views against Kannywood. On the other side, we have Sufis who counter the Salafis by pushing their views of Islam and popular culture based on Sufi values. In the middle is the central leadership of the Kano ulamā organizations, which is a semi-governmental organization mediating in the interests of all. These dynamic views and interactions resulted in neutralizing the strict religious censorship that previously hindered the artistic activities of Muslim filmmakers and threatened the collapse of the Muslim film industry.