CONSTRUCTING PLURALISM AND INTERFAITH HARMONY: EVIDENCE IN ṢỌLÁ ALLYSON’S SONGS

This article examines how the songs of Ṣọlá Allyson, a Yorùbá singer contribute to the construction of interfaith tolerance in contemporary Nigerian society. Although usually categorised as a “gospel” or inspirational artist, Allyson’s work circulates across Christian, Muslim and indigenous Yorùbá religious communities, especially in the southwestern Nigeria, where religious plurality is woven into everyday life. Drawing on scholarship on Nigerian religious pluralism, popular culture and music as social practice, the article argues that Allyson’s songs promote a lived ethic of interfaith coexistence through three interlocking strategies: the use of theologically “unmarked” Yorùbá names of God that resonate across religions; the centring of shared human experiences of suffering, hope and gratitude; and a performance style that invites affective participation without demanding doctrinal alignment. Close readings of selected lyrics in Yorùbá, presented with transliteration and interpretive commentary, show how concepts such as Olódùmarè (the Supreme Being), orí (destiny), and ìwà (character) are mobilised to articulate a vision of divine mercy and moral responsibility that Muslims, Christians and adherents of indigenous traditions can affirm together. Through Allyson’s subtle avoidance of aggressive conversionist rhetoric, she demonstrates how she has successfully incorporated Yorùbá proverbial language into the circulation of her music in a multi-faith society such as Nigeria. However, the paper concludes that while there are limits in musical interventions in line with structural drivers of religious conflict, Allyson’s oeuvre can be understood as a sonic practice of coexistence that normalises a multi-faith public bound together by shared devotion to a just and merciful God rather than by exclusive religious identities.