ABSTRACT
From the beginning, Islamization in Nupe was bound up with political interests and represented a change 'from above'. The five basic duties of Islam-bearing witness to the One God; reciting the five daily prayers (ât); giving alms; observing the Fast (Ramadhan); and making the pilgrimage to Mecca-are, for most Nupe, reduced to two. This chapter notes that in embracing only three of the festivities of Islam the Nupe have retained that 'normal level' of regular ceremonials which we could discern in their traditional religious life. It focuses on the confused notions of the Nupe on Moslem cosmology and hagiology, and their lack of interest in the historical background of Islam. The chapter highlights that Nupe-Islam is not so-and-so much Nupe religion plus so-and-so much Islam but a fundamentally novel phenomenon, unprecedented, integrated, self-contained. The great ceremonials of Islam conspicuously serve political interests and the regulation of adolescence; equally they have been fitted into the cycle of routine and recreation.
