IIARD International Institute of Academic Research and Development

RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES AND CULTURAL STUDIES (RJHCS )

E-ISSN 2579-0528
P-ISSN 2695-2467
VOL. 11 NO. 4 2025
DOI: 10.56201/rjhcs.v11.no4.2025.pg32.53

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Understanding the Issues Behind Religious Conversion: A Study on Changing Statistics of Religious Affiliation in Ebira Land of North Central Nigeria

Danjuma Doma PhD

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Abstract

This study examined the spate of Ebira Muslims renouncing Islam in recent times thereby causing a noticeable change in religious affiliation in the Ebira Muslim community of north-central Nigeria. To fathom what have happened as a build up to such an occurrence, the research asked six questions some of which are; what are the perceived strategies adopted by Christians for converting Ebira Muslims? What is the nature of Ebira Muslims renouncing Islam and what are their perceived reasons? Although religious conversion is an abstract spiritual experience that cannot be subjected to a laboratory analysis, nevertheless, it doesn’t take place in a social vacuum. It is often the result of ordinary tangible human events, hence the quest to unravel why some people renounce their religious beliefs in favor of other faith persuasions. The study adopted the action- based research format involving intrinsic case study aimed at deeply understanding the unique qualities, intricacies and complexities of the subject under investigation. The study revealed that sustained aggressive missionary drive through organized crusades and public lectures with renown Christian experts and evangelists as guest speakers, charitable gestures and philanthropic engagements were some of the strategies adopted by the Christians to convert vulnerable groups among the Muslims which include. The poor and the destitute, the sick and the invalid and mostly female spinsters desperate to get married. It is recommended that towards perpetuating the Islamic identity of the Ebira Muslim community of north central Nigeria, Muslim parents should accord the Islamic education of their children the priority it deserves going beyond merely after “finishing reading the Qur’an”. Similarly, the curriculum of the Islamiyya schools should include Aqeedah and Tarikh due to their relevance in laying a sound foundation of Islamic consciousness.

keywords:

Spate, Renouncing Islam, Ebira Muslims, Religious Conversion.

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