Heathenism, Delusion, and Ignorance: Samuel Crowther's Approach to Islam and Traditional Religion

Nigeria experienced a great deal of change in the middle of the nineteenth century. War, the collapse or restructuring of political systems, the slave trade and its gradual replacement with other forms of trade and manufacture, and growing British colonial intrusion all caused social upheaval. Into this context came Christian evangelists, many of them African converts, introducing Christianity throughout the region. One of the most prominent of these figures was Samuel Ajayi (or Adjai) Crowther, a former slave of Yoruba origin who dedicated much of his life to bringing the gospel to his fellow Africans. The successful outcome of his evangelizing endeavors was not a foregone conclusion, for throughout most of his ministry, "African traditional religion and Islam were in a position of social and political strength compared to Christianity."1 In this paper, I examine Crowther's interreligious encounters to see how he approached Islam and traditional religion,2 paying particular attention to the terms he uses to describe them and the analytical frameworks he draws upon to give them meaning. Overall, his assessment of both Islam and traditional religion is negative, especially compared with the superiority he accords Christianity, yet Crowther treats traditional religion differently from the way he treats Islam. I explore these differences and the factors that produce them, with particular attention to how the past histories of and nineteenth-century expectations about Christianity's engagement with each religion contribute to the disparities.Crowther's Life and Ministry in Western AfricaBorn around 1807 in the Yoruba town of Osugun, Crowther was captured and enslaved by a Muslim raiding party in 1821.3 He was sold to five or six different African masters before Portuguese traders purchased him and placed him on a slave ship to cross the Atlantic. His horror at the idea of being sold to the Portuguese was so great that he tried on several occasions to commit suicide. In 1822 his prospects changed unexpectedly when the British vessel Myrmidon intercepted his slave ship, liberated him and his fellow slaves, and brought them to the recently established colony of Sierra Leone. Crowther reports that in six months he learned to read the New Testament, and that he became "convinced that [he] was a sinner, and desired to obtain pardon through Jesus Christ."4 On December 11,1825, the Reverend John Raban baptized him. Crowther continued pursuing his education, becoming one of the first students at Fourah Bay College, established in Sierra Leone in 1827.In 1841 he participated in the first Niger Expedition, mounted with the goal of eradicating the slave trade through promoting "legitimate commerce" along the Niger River. The Church Missionary Society (CMS) sent Crowther and James Frederick Schon, a veteran European missionary, along with the expedition to explore the possibility of establishing mission stations to reach the people along the river.5 Malaria ravaged the expedition; nearly all of its European members became ill, and many of them died. Most considered the expedition a grand disappointment, but the CMS drew valuable lessons from even these failures. Most notably, the experience helped convince the CMS of the important role Africans could play in the evangelization of Africa. As Eugene Stock observes in his History of the Church Missionary Society, "although it was easy to appoint men to West Africa, it was not so easy to get them there."6 7 Once there, everything from the climate to local languages presented additional difficulties for their ministry. The CMS realized that African agents familiar with the region had the potential to succeed where European missionaries would fail.Impressed with Crowther s conduct on the Niger Expedition, the CMS brought him to England for additional education, and on June 11, 1843, he was ordained for ministry in the Anglican Church. Returning to Sierra Leone later that year, he began ministering to his fellow liberated slaves. …