ISLAM AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN NIGERIA

Abstract:
 The relationship between Islam and other religions is growing worse in recent times. Non-Muslims in Islamic states are faced with lot of restrictions in the practice of their faith. Also, the incessant carnages and destruction of properties targeted at Christians by Islamic fundamentalists in Nigeria, draw attention to the perception of Islam on religious freedom. Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, traced its ancestry to Abraham and acknowledges the Prophets from Abraham to Jesus, and believed each Prophet came to renew the message of God in a way specifically designed and earmarked for his culture and period.
 However, Islam as a religion of peace has been accused of being intolerant and hostile to other religions despite passages from the Holy Qur’an as well as important evidence from Islamic history advocating tolerance of other religions, specifically Christianity and Judaism. It is also on records that the attitude of Muslims toward Christians over the centuries had been marked by forbearance and cordiality, though it had also been accompanied by modicum of conflicts.
The Qur’an makes frequent mention of stories from Jewish and Christian sacred history, all of which are believed to have formed the teachings of Islam. Muslims’ repugnance towards religious freedom seems to hinge on: blasphemy, such as the Christian beliefs on the divinity of Jesus and His authority to pardon our sins, the virgin birth of Jesus and the doctrine of Trinity. It is on this ground of protecting Islam from syncretism that the religion seems to be hostile toward other religions.
Also, Islam has been accused of using military force not only to protect its beliefs, but for growth and expansion which is against concept of religious freedom. Nigeria, with proportionate number of Muslims, has had a fair share of religious tension and violence from Islamic fundamentalists whose ultimate desire is to establish an Islamic state despite the status of Nigeria as a multi-religious state. The aftermaths of these conflicts are quite colossal. Many families have been left in agony and communities in disarray. In the light of this quagmire, it is expedient to examine Islam and religious freedom in a multi-religious country like Nigeria.