Abstract
The late ninetieth century marked the period when Ilé-Ifè, the reputed cradle of the Yoruba people, witnessed the penetration of Christianity and Islam. Specifically, from the 1890s, both religions established a few years apart through several actors and factors, operated concurrently within Ilé-Ifè. However, the accounts surrounding the periods, initiators and several issues associated with the establishment of these religions have, in the history of Ilé-Ifè, become themes of contention that should be further interrogated from a historical perspective. This study employed primary and secondary data in examining the contested arguments in the narratives surrounding the incursion of these religions in Ilé-Ifè within the context of identifying pitfalls and providing a guide for future studies related to this theme. This study discovered that the issues and contentions include the primordial projection of narratives; and the conflation of the identities of the initiators of the religions, to mention a few. The study is concluded by drawing some lessons from the early peaceful coexistence between the adherents of the two religions in Ilé-Ifè.
Introduction
Ilé-Ifè is located in the central part of Yòrùbáland in the western part of Nigeria and also plays a significant role in the spiritual life of the Yòrùbá people who today number an estimated 30 million people. The Yoruba people occupy Òyó, Òsun, Òndò, Èkìtì, Ògùn, Lagos and parts of Kwara and Kogi States in Nigeria as well as part of the Republic of Benin, Togo, Sierra Leone and the Yòrùbá diaspora in Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago and other areas in the Caribbean (Skutsch, 2013, 1322). The central position of Ilé-Ifè in the history of Yòrùbáland is derived from several factors universally accepted to be right in the Yòrùbá culture. For the Yòrùbá, Ilé-Ifè is believed to be the place where the creation of the world began and that everyone originated from there. This belief is reflected in aphorisms such as, ‘Ifè, ibi ojúmó ti’n mó wá’, (Ifè the place from where it dawns), ‘Ifè olórí ayé gbogbo’ (Ifè the head of the world) and the appellation reflective of the place of Ilé-Ifè in the Yòrùbá tradition of origin, ‘Ifè Oòdáyé’, (Ifè where the creation of the world took place). The Yòrùbá people have various creation stories centred in Ilé-Ifè. These creations stories are woven around many deified culture heroes that make up the Yòrùbá pantheon. For instance, the prominent among these creation stories is that which involves the inebriate Obàtálá and usurper Odùduwà (Eluyemi, 1986, 1). In 1886, Higgins, a Commissioner, was sent by the Lagos government to mediate among the belligerent Yòrùbá groups. He recorded that the Aláafín of Òyó at that time did not want Ilé-Ifè to be left deserted and wanted the people of Ifè to return to their homes because they were the father of all and all people came from Ifè (Johnson, 1966). Ilé-Ifè’s position in Yòrùbáland as the place from which virtually all Yòrùbá towns claim to have originated was given further credibility with the archaeological discoveries in the last centuries of incomparable bronze and terra-cotta sculptures, primarily human figures (Blier, 2014, 383–401).
In the world of the Yòrùbá people, Ilé-Ifè is the ‘ìlú aládé’, (the city of the crown) and the Oòni, the king of Ifè, as ‘Oba t’on gba idobale oba’, (the king who receives obeisance from other kings). It is regarded as the source from where their indigenous monarchy system spread. They believe Ilé-Ifè’s crown gave birth to the Òràngún, Ilésà, Òyó, Òwu, Popo, Sabe, Ketu, Benin crowns and numerous other crowns scattered across Yòrùbáland within and outside Nigerian borders (Smith, 1988, 18). This universal belief in the Yòrùbá monarchy system found credence in 1903. Two Yòrùbá kings, specifically, the Elépè and the Àkárìgbò, were drawn into a bitter conflict over the former’s right to wear a fringed crown. Similar to that which is derived from Ilé-Ifè, the source of all Yòrùbá crowns and monarchy (Smith, 1988, 13). Apart from resolving the conflict for which he was invited to Lagos, the Oòni was recorded to have said no other person had the power to crown monarchs across Yorubaland other than him (Onabanjo, 1991, 414). To the Yòrùbá people, Ilé-Ifè is ‘Ìlú Òrun’ (the city of heaven), not just their source of life or the place where the creation of the world began. It is also believed to be the home of the dead, the place to which dead people return before journeying to heaven (Olupona, 2011, 37). It is believed that there is a cave in Ilé-Ifè, which leads to heaven through which the locals walked right into heaven, and the cave was sealed up because many failed to return (Bọlaji, 1962, 13). In ancient days, this belief was firm that people visited Ilé-Ifè to find out if they could locate the deceased to investigate the cause of their death or gather further instructions about unfinished businesses (Olupona, 2011, 13).
The people of Ilé-Ifè, like other Yòrùbá sub-groups, have been described to have their lives saturated with the spirit of religious thoughts (Frobenius, 1913, 186). The people of Ilé-Ifè are a deeply cultural and religious people who have a highly developed and complex indigenous religious system which they call ìsèèse or ìsèmbáyé (primordial religion). This Traditional Religion of the Yòrùbá has been viewed as a unified body of deities under an overall supreme God with all of its components emerging from Ilé-Ifè (Bọlaji, 1962, 10). It is also a system of various deities with varying cult practices that emerged from the different regions of Yòrùbáland influenced by local and historical circumstances (Peel, 2016, 52–70). While the nature of the Traditional Religion in Yòrùbáland is not the purview of this work, it is, however, pertinent to state that the Yòrùbá people regard Ilé-Ifè as the springboard for the emergence of their religion and the hub where ancestor worship was paramount to the continued existence of the Yòrùbáland (Johnson, 1966, 232). This is reflected in the aphorism that ‘rituals are done every single day in Ilé-Ifè except for a particular day which no one knows’ and ‘ebo ni Ifè nje’ (Ifè subsists on votive offerings).
Ilé-Ifè continued to retain its primal position as the cultural and spiritual centre of the Yòrùbá people until the introduction of Islam and Christianity. The geographical description of Ilé-Ifè (Jeje, 1992, 1 and Osun State Government, 2018), the origin (Akinjogbin, 1992; Eluwole, 2001; Eluyemi, 1986; Wyndham, 1921), and the centrality of the city to the religio-cultural practices (Olupona, 2011 and Fabunmi, 1985) of the Yoruba people have been themes of several studies. Ilé-Ifè, the spiritual centre of the Yòrùbá people, was not exempt from the influx of non-indigenous religions that swept across Yorubaland in the past several centuries. The influx began with the incursion of Islam believed by certain scholars to have filtered into Yorubaland from the old Mali Empire around the first half of the 14th century, while another school of thought put it between the 15th and 16th centuries (Gbadamosi, 1977). This early presence of Islam in Old Òyó in the distant past can be argued to have been the basis for the extensive reflection of Islam in Òtúrá Méjì, the twelfth Odù in the Ifá corpus otherwise regarded as Odù Ìmàle (Odù of Islam). For instance, an ese Ifá describes the birth of a prophet from a Yoruba paradigm:
In the same vein, Òtúrá Méjì indicates the presence of Islamic clerics in Old Òyó:
Probably reflecting the eventual acceptance of Islam followed by its syncretic combination with Yoruba Traditional Religion in Old Òyó, a verse in Òtúrá Méjì states that:
Be that as it may, it can be suggested that while trade probably introduced Yòrùbá people to Islam, the religion permeated and was established in different parts of Yòrùbáland at different times. For instance, Islam had been established in Ìwó in 1655; Ìséyìn and Sakí followed suit in 1760. The period when the first person to be known as a Muslim in Sakí was in 1790. Òyó traders were recorded to have introduced Islam to Osogbo in 1820 or 1889 (Ogunbado, 2003). Doi further suggested that other Yòrùbá towns such as Ede, Ìkìrun, Ìjèbú Òde, Abéòkúta, Ìlobù, and Ìkirè had been aware of Islam long before the emergence of the Fulani jihad (Ogunbado, 2003) which has been severally described as the origins of Islam in Yòrùbáland. Whatever the case, it is generally agreed that Islam was introduced into Yorubaland through commercial activities and trade (Mushin, 2011: 77).
Christianity in Yorubaland, on the other hand, began to operate in the period preceding the partition of Africa. This occurred around 1840, with the activities of the missionaries limited to coastal areas and surrounding communities (Ajayi, 1965 and Ayandele1966). This stemmed from the abolitionist movements in England which sought to put an end to the slave trade. In the place of the slave trade, this movement pursued the establishment of legitimate trade within which interested Europeans could trade with people of the interiors (Stock, 1899). In line with this, the British government encouraged private commerce. Consequently, a group known as the new Society for the Civilisation of Africa was inaugurated (Stock, 1899). This society was to conduct an expedition to West Africa for the introduction of the ‘three Cs’ - Civilisation, Christianity and Commerce (Stock, 1899). To conduct this expedition, it received input from the Church Missionary Society and the Agricultural Society. The former was to provide the Bible, and the latter was to give the plough for the ‘regeneration of Africa’ (Stock, 1899). The 1851 expedition recorded some successes in re-defining economic relations with Africa yet, it ended up in disaster due to a deadly fever outbreak which resulted in a high death toll amongst the travellers (Dike, 1956).
While the journey failed, it nonetheless placed the educated and proselytized Africans as the agents for the propagation of Civilisation, Commerce and Christianity (Ajayi, 1959, 331–342). These Africans were an aggregation of ex-slaves and recaptives (Falola and Heaton, 2008, 251). Tucker (1854), in her account of the Missionary activities in Abéòkúta, described the situation of the class of these Africans: education and civilisation had changed the numbers of these enslaved and degraded negroes into men of enterprise and intelligence; the preaching of the gospel had turned them from idol worshippers to serving the living God (Tucker, 1854, 44).
Although many of these Africans became proponents of commerce, anti-slavery movements and Christianity, the most prominent among them nonetheless appeared to have been Samuel Ajayi Crowther. Samuel Ajayi Crowther has been widely credited for his prominent roles in the spread of Christianity. This stemmed from some of his missionary activities in Sierra Leone, Yòrùbáland, the upper Niger River and the Niger-Delta area (Akintoye, 2010). Missionary accounts, however, indicate that the advent of Christianity in Yòrùbáland did not begin with him. Ajayi (1965) and Ayandele (Ayandele, 1966), among several scholars, agree that the advent of missionaries into Yòrùbáland was an attendant consequence of commercial activities. The successes recorded with these commercial engagements were partly responsible for the migration of ex-slaves and recaptured people of Sierra Leone. Tucker records that between 1839-1842, about 500 people had left Sierra Leone and returned to Yòrùbáland, specifically, Abéòkúta (Tucker, 1854).
Akintoye (2010) reported that a British Naval Officer stated that there were about 3000 migrants in Abéòkúta in 1851. Around the same year, there was a substantial number of migrants in different parts of Yòrùbáland such as Lagos, Ìbàdàn and the hinterlands such as Ede, Òsogbo, Ìlésà, Ìrágbìjí, Èjìgbò and Ìlorin, to mention a few (Akintoye, 2010). The influx of the hitherto Sierra Leone settlers of Yòrùbá origin back into Yòrùbáland, many of whom had acquired western education and had been converted to Christianity, catalysed commerce and served as a medium through which the missionaries penetrated the interiors of Yòrùbáland (Ola, 1989, 88). These migrants who would go on to serve as the agents of epochal changes comprising of Commerce, Civilisation and Christianity were recorded to have stated that: for their lands, they desired that the Gospel of God our Saviour may be preached unto her, that schools may be established, that Bibles may be sent, that the British flag may be hoisted, and that she may rank among the civilised nations of the earth (Ajayi, 1961, 200).
This expression indicated the interest of the migrants to have Christianity established in and spread across Yòrùbáland. In her journal, Tucker (1854) stated that the migrants desiring the church services sent an invitation to missionaries in Sierra Leone to provide Christian ministrations to and proselytize the local Yòrùbá people who were adherents of Yòrùbá Traditional Religion. Extant studies on the spread and establishment of Christianity in Yòrùbáland, particularly that of the Church Missionary Society and numerous others appear to agree that trade preceded the advent of missionaries in Yòrùbáland. Still, they seem to exhibit a disparity over the invitation of the missionaries by the migrants as the beginning of missionary activities in Yòrùbáland. Be that as it may, what is evident is the seeming nexus between trade and migration leading to the influx of the missionaries into Yòrùbáland, a fact expressed in several existing works of literature.
In what seems like a sequential order of events came the incursion of missionaries after the establishment of trade contact and eventual migration. Certain studies appear to disagree over the order and the beginning of missionary presence in Yòrùbáland. Be that as it may, what is evident is that several church organizations sponsored missionaries to Yòrùbáland targeting different parts from where the establishment and spread of their objectives of Christianization and Civilization leaped. The missionary societies known to have partaken in the establishment of Christian Missions in Nigeria were the Church Missionary Society of England, the Wesleyan Methodists, the Scottish Presbyterians, the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Catholic Society of African Missions of France. The trade and the efforts of returnees of Yòrùbá origins facilitated the spread of Christianity in Yorubaland. The period of the incursion of these religions in Yorubaland varied. For instance, from the 1850s, the Baptists, Methodists and Christian Missionary Society (CMS) were in Ògbómòsó, Lagos, Badagri, Ìjàyè (Tucker, 1854 and Falola and Heaton, 2008) and Òde-Òndó in 1872 (Akintoye, 2010).
Ilé-Ifè had a peculiar experience with the incursion of Islam and Christianity. Several accounts have indicated that Christianity predated Islam in the order of establishment in Ilé-Ifè, in reverse to what was obtainable in several other parts of Yorubaland (Adelowo, 1992, 337). This peculiarity in the order of establishments perhaps contributed to the contestations in the history of these religions in Ilé-Ifè. Some of these issues include the periodization of the establishment of these religions, the vanguards of the religions in Ilé-Ifè, and the contested sacred spaces, among other issues. These contentions probably reflect Akinjogbin’s point of view that, the farther back in time the traditions of Ifè, the more it would appear they are preserved. The nearer ones, on the other hand, tend to be forgotten (Akinjogbin, 1992: xvii).
Despite the large number of research works that have emerged from this plethora of studies on Ilé-Ifè, particularly from the 1950s (Omer-Cooper, 1980, 23–31), little effort has been extended to the history of Islam and Christianity in the city of 201 gods (Olupona, 2011). Indeed, the few research works detailing the history of Christianity and Islam in the city are limited in scope and depth (Adelowo, 1992; Adetunmbi, 2012; Fabunmi, 1970; Ogunleye, 2003; Opeloye, 2012). The reason for the limited literature on the history of foreign religions in Ilé-Ifè remains unclear. However, it can be suggested that this dearth of literature mirrors the observation that in Ifè, the importance of the events being recounted and the institutional and religious framework they give rise to tend to play an important role in their preservation (Akinjogbin, 1992: xvii).
The narratives provided by extant texts explored a conflicting trajectory of hypothesis bordering on the origin, dramatist personae, sacred spaces and challenges encountered in the incursion of these religions. In addition to the variegated data contained in the literature indicated above, available oral data collected in the field do not only provide further light into the history of the incursion of Islam and Christianity in Ilé-Ifè, but they also indicate that there are existing issues and contentions in the available records of this theme of study. Thus, this paper will proceed with an analysis of the narratives considered to be contentions in the history of Christianity and Islam in Ilé-Ifè.
The periodization of the advent of christianity and Islam in Ilé-Ifè: The problem
A vital issue in the incursion of Christianity and Islam in Ilé-Ifè is the debate about the exact period both religions surfaced in Ilé-Ifè. For Christianity, the periodization of incursion has been placed at different periods. The first account reportedly occurred in the 16th century through Portuguese missionaries whose expedition got to Benin. After the visit to Benin, the missionaries were directed towards Ilé-Ifè by the Oba of Benin (Fabunmi, 1970). This account indicates that the Portuguese missionaries visited Ilé-Ifè, converted the Oòni, whose name was given as Ajagun and christened him John Thomas (Ogunleye, 2003). After the successful conversion, the missionaries secured a land upon which they erected a church building at a site called Òkè-Ìlérí (the hill of promise) (Fabunmi, 1970). The second account was ascribed to David Hinderer, a German CMS missionary (Olabimtan, 2011). Before the establishment of the Òde-Òndó mission in 1872, David Hinderer had conducted a five-week tour across the towns of Ìwó, Òsogbo, Ikirun, Ìpétu, Ìlésà and Ilé-Ifè in 1858. During his stop at Ilé-Ifè, he was reported to have preached the Christian gospel to the people, chiefs and king of Ilé-Ifè. However, the response he elicited was that all religion originated from Ifè and that what he had preached was no more than one of the versions that had evolved later in a distant part of the world. It is not particularly clear if the feedback received by David Hinderer facilitated the failure of his attempt to establish Christianity in Ilé-Ifè at this time (Akintoye, 2010). What is, however, known is that during the periods of 1858 and 1859, David Hinderer appointed and stationed agents in the towns which he had toured, including Ilé-Ifè but the re-current communal clashes between the Modékéké and their Ifè host truncated the possibility of establishing a mission station in Ilé-Ifè (Olupona, 2011, 63–64).
There are various periods ascribed to the introduction of Islam in Ilé-Ifè. There is a section among the Muslims in Ilé-Ifè with the conclusion that Islam had filtered into Ilé-Ifè much earlier because it is the foremost Yòrùbá town from where every other Yòrùbá towns sprang up. To this group, Islam was brought to Ilé-Ifè around the 11th century through a particular itinerant preacher known as Uthman (Opeloye, 2012, 142). He was reported to have possessed a Quran with which he preached Islam. However, the account indicated that he was eventually murdered, and his Quran was adopted as a totem of worship, inferring the origins of Edì (Moremi festival) in Ilé-Ifè (Personal communication with Ismaila Bada, Oke Sokun Mosque, Moore, Ile-Ife, 10th February 2020). The second account suggests the 18th century as the period of the incursion of Islam in Ilé-Ifè. This is hinged on the dispersal and eventual migration of the people of Òyó to different parts of Yorubaland, including Ilé-Ifè, as a result of the implosion of Òyó (Agiri, 1975, 1–16). Scholars have, through several studies, established the presence of Islam in Old Òyó before its gradual implosion and eventual disintegration precipitated by the invasion of the Ìlorin army (Atanda, 1971, 477–490). The collapse of Old Òyó engendered a spate of displacements and migrations of people from Òyó towns (Johnson, 1966, 4). These multiple waves of migrations led to the influx of the people of Òyó origins across several parts of Yorubaland, including several towns in Ifèland (Elugbaju, 2018). Many of these migrants, who would later become grouped as Modékéké, were said to have brought and practised Islam in Ilé-Ifè (Adelowo, 1992, 336), where they were received and encouraged to integrate. As such, they lived contiguously with the Ifè till they were expelled sometime during the reign of Oòni Adegunle Abewela as a result of the loss of Ifè leadership in Ìbàdàn (Bascom, 1969, 14). While this argument appears plausible, interactions with certain members of the Muslim community in Ifè seem to disagree with the notion that Islam was introduced to Ilé-Ifè through these migrants. This is even though Daniel May recorded in 1860, regarding the towns of Ifè and Modékéké in his expedition journal, that ‘the Mahomedan religion is common in it…’ (May, 1860, 215).
Contestation over agencies and mechanisms of incursion
Some accounts have suggested that the beginnings of Christianity in Ilé-Ifè could be traced to one John Adelaja, a rubber trader whose mother was of Ifè descent (Adelowo, 1992: 337). He was exposed to Christianity while Ifè was in exile, and upon the reoccupation of the town, he paid periodic visits to Ifè in connexion with his rubber business (Adelowo, 2012: 337). During these visits, he preached the Christian gospel at Òkè-Èshó where he resided and was, at some point, joined by one Daniel Lawani Ologbenla, an Òkè-Igbó returnee. Together, they conducted Christian services on Sundays in the house of one Chief Efunluyi Onile-Aran (Adetunmbi, 2012, 24). However, there exists a conflicting account suggesting that the introduction of cocoa farming in Ifè during the return from Òkè-Igbó and Ìsóyà attracted the missionaries to Ifè (Personal communication with Venerable Adeboye Awoyode, Aiyetoro Area, Okerewe, Ilé-Ifè, 20th October 2019). In the foregoing paragraph, an account ascribed the establishment of Islam in Ilé-Ifè to one Uthman in the 11th century. However, another account relates that the emergence of Islam in Ilé-Ifè took place during the reign of Oòni Wunmonije; between 1835-1839 through one Arobi Awotinde of Òrúntó Jàojo compound, a particular Ilorin itinerant cleric known as Danialu and Momodu Kasumu Adeosun of Iredunmi compound in Ilé-Ifè (Opeloye, 2012, 142). This account further relates that Danialu, contrary to the reports recorded in the extant literature, did not attempt to introduce Islam to Ifè people and it was instead a religion solely practised by non-Ifè settlers at the time, particularly the Ìlorin and Ògbómòsó (Personal communication with Alfa Aduragba Onibonoje, Iremo road, Iremo, Ile-Ife, 20th March 2020).
Again, an account credits Momodu Kasumu Adeosun with the introduction of Islam to the people of Ifè and laying the groundwork for the entrenchment of Islam in the town and environs (Personal communication with Alfa Aduragba Onibonoje, Iremo road, Iremo, Ile-Ife, 20th March 2020). Adeosun was described as a victim of kidnap and enslavement at a young age. As a result, he ended up in the hands of one Alfa Ibrahim reported being a Nupe Islamic cleric resident in Lagos, specifically, at Ìsàlè Ìgangàn (Personal communication with Imam Mutui Adeosun, Ita Akogun Mosque, 15 March 2020). The location of this cleric also formed an issue of contention. Another account agrees that he was bought by a Muslim cleric but veers in a different direction, indicating that this cleric was of Ìlorin origin who at the time was resident at Ìlorin rather than Lagos (Personal communication with Alfa Aduragba Onibonoje, Iremo road, Iremo, Ile-Ife, 20th March 2020). Despite the variation in these accounts, there is a converging point which states that Adeosun was encouraged by his master to acquire knowledge of Islam, to study the Quran, and partake in the trade in ammunitions and agricultural products such as rubber (Adelowo. 2012: 144). The trade in rubber extended his travels into the interiors of Yorubaland, specifically Ifè (Personal communication with Alfa Aduragba Onibonoje, Iremo road, Iremo, Ile-Ife, 20th March 2020).
Another account, on the other hand, suggests that contrary to the travels for his rubber trade, it was his mother who encouraged him to return home to Ifè (Opeloye, 2012) 144). Whatever the case, Adeosun returned to and settled in Ilé-Ifè, his hometown where he built a house at his Iredùnmí compound (Opeloye, 2012) 144). 1 The eventual relocation of Adeosun to Ilé-Ifè between 1882 and 1894 facilitated his encounter with Danialu, thereby leading to the beginning of the introduction, establishment, and spread of Islam in Ile-Ifè. What follows is the contention of the personage worth crediting as the initiator of Islam in Ilé-Ifè. Available accounts are split into two sides – a part credits Danialu with the introduction of Islam to Ifè (Personal communication with Professor Muhib Opeloye, Parakin Area, Mayfair, Ile-Ife, 12 January 2020 & Adelowo, 2012: 144), while the other part identifies Adeosun with the establishment of Islam in Ifè (Personal communication with Imam Mutui Adeosun, Ita Akogun Mosque, 15 March 2020). What is, however, significant is that by the opening decades of the ninetieth century, Islam had gained sufficient foothold in Ile –Ife.
The dilemma of Islamic sacred spaces in Ilé-Ifè
Sacred sites for worship and periodic rituals are essential to religions. Being identified with the core of the Yoruba Traditional Religion, Ilé-Ifè is a town known to have sacred sites in the form of groves, shrines, monoliths and sacred water bodies (Holywell) scattered across it (Adesoji, 2012 and Raheem, 2020). Christianity and Islam did not only have to contend with acquiring converts but securing spaces for the construction of sites considered sacred. The Christian missionaries enjoyed a brief period of unification under the Church Missionary Society leading to the construction of what would become generally recognised to be the first church in Ilé-Ifè (Adetunmbi, 2012, 25). However, the early Ifè Muslim community seemed to have operated with the dichotomy of indigenous Muslims and migrant Muslims, with both operating separate mosques. This, therefore, contributes to the issue and contention of according appropriate recognition to the Islamic sacred sites operated by the early members of both Muslim groups.
The emergence of mosques in Ilé-Ifè is a contested aspect in the history of Islam in Ilé-Ifè. Available accounts suggest that the mosque built at the present-day Ojà Ìta Akogun of Òkèrèwè quarters in 1903 was a central mosque (Adelowo, 1992, 144). Another account relates that it was the first mosque constructed in Ilé-Ifè rather than a central mosque (Personal communication with Imam Mutiu Adeosun, Ita Akogun Mosque, 15 March 2020). The mosque operated by the non-Ife migrants, otherwise referred to as the Danialu mosque, which is currently not in use and in a dilapidated state, was built in the middle of buildings occupied by mostly Ìlorin and Ògbómòsó migrants (Personal communication with Alfa Aduragba Onibonoje, Iremo road, Iremo, Ile-Ife, 20th March 2020). These migrants required a religious site for prayers and, as such, erected a structure within their settlement to serve as a point of convergence of prayer for them (Personal communication with Alfa Aduragba Onibonoje, Iremo road, Iremo, Ile-Ife, 20th March 2020). The size of the building indicated a probably low number of Muslims at the time. However, the few people of Ìlorin origin still residing around this site said ‘bó ti rí tóóró'un, ó gba ogórùn ènìyàn léèkan soso’ (despite looking minute, it can accommodate a hundred people at a time (Personal communication with Alfa Tunde Saliu, Iremo road, Iremo, Ile-Ife, 24th March 2020). This mosque also served as a place where Danialu practised his profession of spiritual consultations and divinations (Personal communication with Alfa Aduragba Onibonoje, Iremo road, Iremo, Ile-Ife, 20th March 2020). For this group of non-Ifè settlers, the mosque used by Danialu and their progenitors was the first mosque in Ilé-Ifè.
Despite the implosion within the Muslim community in Ifè elicited by the tussle for Imam leadership (Opeloye, 2012, 147), it has managed to sustain a presence in the town through the renovation of early Islamic structures and the recollection of the history of the advent of the religion through the families of Imam Adeosun and early Ifè converts. The assessment of the latter in particular suggests that the indigenous Ifè Muslims disagree with the notion that the mosque used by Danialu, the Ilorin and Ogbomoso migrants was the first (Personal communication with Imam Mutui Adeosun, Ita Akogun Mosque, 15 March 2020).
Interrogating the issues and reconstructing the narratives
The preceding paragraphs have detailed the disparities in the narratives surrounding the incursion of Islam and Christianity into Ilé-Ifè. Therefore, this section interrogates the pieces of the contested perspectives for the reconstruction of a history of the incursion of the two religions into Ilé-Ifè. There have been attempts to introduce Christianity to Ilé-Ifè before 1899. The establishment of Christianity in Ilé-Ifè is to be premised on three factors: one
The history of Òkè-Igbó has been covered elsewhere (Fabunmi, 1985, 122). For this study, it should be mentioned that Oke-Igbo was initially an Ondo town, which was occupied by the Ifè led by Derin Ologbenla after a conquest at Ondo town (Akinjogbin, 1998). This notwithstanding, Òkè-Igbó would go on to host a significant cocoa plantation and a prominent presence of Christian missionary probably as a result of its proximity to Òndó (Berry, 1986). With a negotiated truce between the warring Yoruba factions, the people of Ilé-Ifè who had hitherto moved out of their city for safety began to return to the city. This resettlement did not only lead to the reconstruction of the city but also the introduction of cocoa farming, the participation in the rubber trade with Lagos through the eastern trade route of Yorubaland, and the presence of the Christian missionary. The cocoa farming and long-distance trade facilitated the presence of Ifè Christian proselytes, a class to which John Adelaja, Daniel Lawani Ologbenla, and Chief Efunluyi Onile-Aran belonged (Adetunmi, 2012: 24). Available accounts have indicated that these people attempted to spread Christianity in Ilé-Ifè and even hosted Sunday services. The extent to which the effort of these people was impactful is not very clear. However, it can then be suggested that since they were converted and had become members of the Church Missionary Society, their activities were subsumed under the broader missionary effort situated in farmsteads in the outskirts of Ilé-Ifè.
The missionaries in Òndó sought to establish their religion in Ilé-Ifè during the period of its reconstruction and resettlement after several years of exile. However, accounts suggest that the presence and the activities of the missionaries were vehemently opposed leading to persecution. The intolerant disposition of the Ifè caused the missionaries to relocate to the farmstead in the outskirts, where farmers cultivated cocoa and other crops (Personal communication with Venerable Adeboye Awoyode, Aiyetoro Area, Okerewe, Ilé-Ifè, 20th October 2019). 2 It was here that the missionaries introduced Christianity to farmers who spent most of the time at the farms tending to the cultivation and security of their cocoa plantations (Personal communication with Venerable Adeboye Awoyode, Aiyetoro Area, Okerewe, Ilé-Ifè, 20th October 2019). The tolerance according to the missionaries in the farmstead led to the introduction of best practices for cocoa farming and western infrastructures such as schools, improved healthcare practices and miniature churches (Personal communication with Venerable Adeboye Awoyode, Aiyetoro Area, Okerewe, Ilé-Ifè, 20th October 2019). The cooperation between the missionaries and the proselyte locals in the farmsteads led to a growth in the population of proselyte given at 20 Ifè and 120 Modakeke people and the development of a Christian community in Ilé-Ifè (Personal communication with Venerable Adeboye Awoyode, Aiyetoro Area, Okerewe, Ilé-Ifè, 20th October 2019).
The missionaries in Ifè and the local converts requested the support and assistance of Reverend Charles Phillip, who at this time had become a Bishop, for the formal establishment of a church community. Reverend Phillip in turn, sent Reverend R. S. Oyebode from Ìlésà on 4th of March, 1899; Reverend E. M. Lijadu from Òndó; Reverend T. Harding; and a Mr Atandaolu from Ìlésà (Personal communication with Venerable Adeboye Awoyode, Aiyetoro Area, Okerewe, Ilé-Ifè, 20th October, 2019). This crop of reverends whose activities still linger in the memory of the Ifè people contributed to the intensified effort at ensuring the further spread of Christianity to the farmsteads across Ifèland (Personal communication with Venerable Adeboye Awoyode, Aiyetoro Area, Okerewe, Ilé-Ifè, 20th October 2019). They also set the groundwork for the eventual congregation of these converts for the construction of a church building within the town (Personal communication with Venerable Adeboye Awoyode, Aiyetoro Area, Okerewe, Ilé-Ifè, 20th October 2019). In May 1899, Bishop Charles Phillips attempted to bring the converts scattered across different farmsteads in the remote areas of Ilé-Ifè together. For this purpose and at the request of the continuously growing Christian community in Ilé-Ifè, he dispatched one Mr E. A. Kayode, a schoolmaster of Ifè extraction, to the growing Christian community in Ilé-Ifè to serve as their Catechist (Adetunmi, 2012).
The presence of the Catechist indicated the beginning of an Anglican Church in Ilé-Ifè. This probably informed the attempts made by the community led by Mr E. A Kayode and Bishop Charles Phillips at securing a space within the city of Ilé-Ifè for the construction of a church structure. The first attempt made to secure land for this project was the request made for space at Ìta-akogun, a place located within the centre of Ilé-Ifè. This was, however, rejected by the Ìsòrò (autochthonous kings and priests), Modéwá (head servants) and Àgbà-Ifè (town chiefs and subordinate war captains) groups through Oòni Adelekan Sijuade Olubuse I (1894-1910). The Oòni stated that he could not permit the relocation of the Christians to any part of Ilé-Ifè town because Òránfè, the Ifè deity of fire, thunder and lightning, would not accede to it and that it was in the Modékéké town that such practice could be permitted (Adelowo, 2012: 338). Further attempts were made by the members of the Christian community to secure a space at Ìtaàsìn and Ìráyè, which Bishop Phillips turned down but eventually settled for a space at Ìyékéré, a request which was approved of by the Oòni. The Christian community erected a church in 1899 where converts in the Ifè farmsteads gathered for religious activities and therefore making the beginning of the establishment of Christianity in Ilé-Ifè (Adeyombo, 2010).
In 1858, Daniel May (1868) recorded the presence of Islam during his visit to the composite towns of Ifè and Modakeke. This suggests that Islam was practised in Ilé-Ifè in the early parts of the ninetieth century. However, it would appear that the religion was primarily popular among the non-Ifè settlers from Old Òyó metropolis and several other towns such as Èjìgbò, Òffà, Ede, Ìkòyì, Ògbáàgbá, Òjé, Òkò, Ìráwò to mention a few (Elugbaju, 2018). The narratives surrounding the influx of migrants into Ilé-Ifè and her frontier towns have formed the subject of several studies. Nonetheless, it is pertinent to state here that these migrants have been exposed to Islam, possibly through their experiences with the trade or the Ilorin army Jihad wars (Ogunbado, 2003). This religion was consequently brought to Ilé-Ifè when Òyó imploded, causing a spate of migration waves across Yorubaland.
To the people of Ilé-Ifè, Islam was a practice common within and restricted to the community of the migrants, and the religion did not infiltrate the Ifè community until 1903 (Opeloye, 2012, 145). There is a consensus within the Islamic community that Islam was brought to Ilé-Ifè through the encounter between Obalufe Awotinde and Mallam Danialu on the one hand; and Mallam Danialu and Kasumu Adeosun on the other hand. However, there appears to be a problem of disparity over the personality worth crediting with the establishment of Islam in Ilé-Ifè, particularly between Danialu and Adeosun. The subsequent paragraphs will attempt to resolve this problem by analysing the roles played by each dramatis personae. The event leading to the introduction of Islam into Ifè was placed in the reign of Oòni Wunmonije, between 1835-1839. Extant texts and oral accounts recorded that one Arobi Awotinde of Òrúntó Jàojo compound was an itinerant merchant who had an encounter with Mallam Danialu. During this encounter, the Mallam predicted that Awotinde would be honoured with an indigenous political office in Ilé-Ifè (Adelowo, 1992, 144). The materialisation of this prediction engendered the invitation extended by Awotinde to his cleric friend (Opeloye, 2012, 145). As such, Mallam Danialu engaged in visitations to Ilé-Ifè and continued to ply his trade of magico-spiritual services for his friend, Awotinde (Personal communication with Goke Awotinde, Oluyole Estate, Ibadan, 23rd March 2020).
Available texts indicate that Mallam Danialu lodged at Òrúntó Jàojo compound during his visits (Adelowo, 1992, 144). However, a tour of the site of his residence revealed a partly collapsed building situated in Òwín compound conterminous with Òrúntó Jàojo compound. This, therefore, suggests that he settled at the Òwín compound rather than the Anikin compound as recorded in certain accounts (Personal communication with Ifalekan Elugbindin, Chief Megbon Awo Iremo, Orunto Jaojo Compound, Iremo, 5th April 2020). Furthermore, existing literature relates that Danialu introduced Islam to Ile-Ifè (Opeloye, 2012, 145). Thus, it is generally agreed within the Ifè Muslim community that Danialu did not attempt to introduce his religion to Ilé-Ifè and it was instead a religion solely practised by non-Ifè settlers at the time, particularly the Ìlorin and Ògbómòsó migrants. Rather, Momodu Kasumu Adeosun was credited with the introduction of Islam to the people of Ifè and laying the groundwork for the entrenchment of Islam in the town and surrounding settlements.
The presence of Mallam Danialu in Ilé-Ifè preceded that of Kasumu Adeosun despite being a native of Ifè from Iredùnmí compound of Òkèrèwè quarters. This is predicated on the experience Adeosun had with being kidnapped and sold as a slave at a young age (Personal communication with Imam Mutui Adeosun, Ita Akogun Mosque, 15 March 2020). As a slave, Adeosun was encouraged by his master to acquire knowledge in Islam, to study Quran, and partake in trade in ammunitions and agricultural products such as rubber (Adelowo, 1992, 144). The acquisition of raw materials and search for market led him into the interiors of Yorubaland, including Ile-Ife. This trade was profitable for Adeosun, and during one of his business travels to Ilé-Ifè, he proceeded to the palace where he sought help with locating his family (Personal communication with Imam Mutui Adeosun, Ita Akogun Mosque, 15 March 2020). The eventual relocation of Adeosun to Ilé-Ifè between 1882 and 1894 facilitated his encounter with Mallam Danialu (Personal communication with Imam Mutui Adeosun, Ita Akogun Mosque, 15 March 2020). This encounter between Danialu and Adeosun is generally agreed to mark what would go on to be the beginning of the introduction, establishment, and spread of Islam in Ile-Ifè.
In fact, as a result of Danialu's acquaintance, Adeosun expended a certain number of years expanding his knowledge in Islam through visitations to several towns with a strong presence of Islam (Personal communication with Imam Mutui Adeosun, Ita Akogun Mosque, 15 March 2020). After the extensive acquisition of Islamic learning, Adeosun began a gradual diplomatic method of introducing Islam to Ifè. This entailed hosting the people of Ifè to a daily supply of assortments of food and locally brewed alcoholic beverages (Personal communication with Imam Mutiu Adeosun, Ita Akogun Mosque, 15 March 2020). These included sèkèté (corn beer), ògòrò (bamboo wine), emun (palm wine), bùrùkùtú (liquid from a fermented admixture of several fruits and water) (Bascom, 1951). At the end of this feast, Adeosun encouraged his guests to partake in Islamic prayer sessions with him (Personal communication with Imam Mutiu Adeosun, Ita Akogun Mosque, 15 March 2020). This further raised curiosity among the people who were said to have at various times asked him questions about the prayers, the Muslim Tasbiu (rosary), and other general questions about the religion (Personal communication with Imam Mutiu Adeosun, Ita Akogun Mosque, 15 March 2020).
In this manner, Adeosun was said to have introduced Islam into Ilé-Ifè, and by the twentieth century, the need for a local mosque in Ifè became topical. Muslims had difficulty acquiring land and, as such, leading to the eventual acquisition of a waste midden known as akitan aso located in the present-day Akogun market of Okerewe quarters (Personal communication with Imam Mutui Adeosun, Ita Akogun Mosque, 15 March 2020). A building made of burnt clay bricks was erected on the midden after it had been cleared of waste. In 1903, the first mosque in Ilé-Ifè had become fully functional for prayers (Personal communication with Professor Muhib Opeloye, Parakin area, Ilé-Ifè, 10th May 2019). Thus, marking the establishment of Islam in Ilé-Ifè.
Conclusion
From the foregoing, it is evident that the narratives surrounding the history of the incursion of Christianity and Islam into Ilé-Ifè are fraught with contentions. This is such that, despite being a recent event in human memory, certain aspects of the history of these religions in Ilé-Ifè, such as the period of inception, human agencies, and the sacred spaces of these religions which, according to the explored pieces of evidence, have crystallized into contested issues in oral accounts and literature. This paper has identified the disparities in the available accounts and has attempted to resolve the existing contentions. Thus, a reconstructed history of the advent of Christianity and Islam into Ilé-Ifè has been presented in this paper to impact-related research studies in the future.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
