Trends and Causes of the Recurrent Conflicts among Ulama in the Emirate
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Date
2024-10-02
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Publisher
ASRF JOURNAL
Abstract
Ilorin Emirate in the last three decades has been confronted with various forms of
conflicts among Muslim clerics, which posed a threat to life and peaceful
coexistence, for which the city is predominantly known. This study, therefore,
surveyed trends and predominant causes of conflicts among Ulama (Muslim
clerics) in Ilorin Emirate, Kwara State, Nigeria. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey research design, which encompasses both quantitative and
qualitative methods and data collection techniques. The target population
comprised Imams, traditional leaders/chiefs, the Council of Ulama, security
operatives (police and state security service), leaders and members of Islamic
organizations, and sociopolitical groups within Ilorin Emirate. A multi-stage
A sampling technique was used to select 840 research subjects. Additionally, ten
key informant interview (KII) participants and ten focus group discussion (FGD)
groups were selected through the purposive and convenience non-probability
sampling techniques. Quantitative data were collected through a pre-test (a
reliability index of .80) and administered questionnaire, while FGD and KII
guides were used to collect relevant qualitative data for the study. The
quantitative data collected were analyzed using percentage, mean (M),and ranking
order, while content analysis and thematic analysis were used to analyze the
qualitative data. The findings of the study revealed that: conflict often occurs
among Ulama in Ilorin Emirate and the level of conflict among them was high in
the last ten years. The study also found that the predominant causes of conflicts
among them were political gain, syncretism, doctrinal differences, and lack of
research on the part of Ulama. The study concluded that even though a high level
of conflict exists among Ulama in the last ten years, political gain and syncretism
were the predominant causes. It was therefore recommended, among others, that
the government should convene an Ad-Hoc State Summit on Islamic Matters
comprising of major stakeholders (i.e. leaders of Islamic groups/sects) as well as
state representatives with the primary mandate of developing a State
Policy/Strategy on Religion and Conflict (SPSRIC)