User:Shenali.P/Chrislam

Chrislam
Chrislam refers to the series of religious movements that merged Christian and Islamic religious practices during the 1970s in Lagos, Nigeria. The movement was pioneered by Yoruba peoples in south-west Nigeria. Chrislam works against the conventional understanding of Christianity and Islam as two separate and exclusive religions, instead seeking out commonalities between both religions and promoting an inclusive union of the two. Chrislam also occupies a distinct geographical space; Nigeria is often understood to be geographically polarized, with a predominantly Christian base in the South, and a Muslim base in the North. However, the Yoruba peoples that occupy the South-Western region of Nigeria are almost evenly divided between Christian and Muslim populations.

History
Christian and Muslim encounters in Nigieria have long underpinned sociocultural tensions in the country. Nigeria is the most populous country of Africa, comprising roughly 170 million inhabitants. Whilst this has created a political ground for obvious religious and ethnic clashes, this has also required Christians and Muslims to long coexist in Nigeria. Whilst Nigerian Christians and Muslims have experienced periods of sectarian and inter-religious violence, Christians and Muslims have also experienced prolonged periods of social harmony.

Academics date the beginning of modern Christian-Muslim tensions in 1978, when Nigeria adopted a new constitution after shifting from military to civil political rule. The question in 1978 was whether Nigeria would adopt a secular constitution, or subscribe to Sharia law. Given the relatively even split of Nigeria’s Muslim population - constituting almost 50% of the population - the prospects of Sharia law were viable for the Nigerian state.

A PBS special aired in 2008 featured a sermon from a small church in Lagos, Nigeria. Shamsuddin Saka, a Chrislam Minister, stated that “Abraham has many children, and is the Father of Christianity and the Father of Islam. Why are the Christian and Muslims fighting?”

“Spirituality without boundaries” has been coined by Michigan University anthropologist Mara Leichtman, and refers to religious fluidity within the african context. For example, it is not uncommon across Africa to see Muslims lighting candles for the Virgin Mary, or to believe in Jesus and pray to multiple prophets.

The creation of new religions, such as Chrislam, has also been motivated by grievances held amongst the general population. Nigeria is an oil-rich country, yet wealth is unevenly distributed and amassed only by a tiny fraction of the population. This has led to economic hardship for the majority of the country, with a low income per capita of ... Likewise, Nigeria experiences a low life expectancy at approximately 45 years on average. Chrislam has been identified as a spiritual tool for coping with such hardships, allowing followers to find new hope within uncontrollable life circumstances.

Syncretic Religion in Africa
Chrislam has not been considered an unusual phenomenon in Africa, although it maintains a marginal religious following.