Group D Assignment

Course: History of education

Course Code: 5101 (B)

Assignment:
A brief account of the Islamic Education in Nigeria

Presented By;
• Esugo Joy
• Monu Donald
• Bethel Uju Anyanwu
• Okenyi Anthony
• Nwadei Arthur Solomon
• Gabriel Agbanyi
• Usifoh Nicole
• Obuseh Alex
• Nwachukwu Kanayo J.
• Adebayo Fatai Kola
• Okonye Odigwe
• Okafor Ogechukwu Lilian
• Osefiana Ofor Joseph
• Oguezi Veronica Uju
• Imasue Osaze
INTRODUCTION

Islam which was promulgated by the ‘Prophet’ Mohammed is not just a

religion; it is the totality of the way of life of its adherents. It is a religion, a
culture, and an educational system all combined into one. Islam advocates the
pursuit of knowledge, of any kind in any way, though in recent times, this
pursuit of knowledge has been limited to purely theological matters. According
to Ashraf and Hussain (1979), Islamic education entails giving instruction on
purely theological pillars, such that the trainee would be able to practice the five
pillars of Islam. Similarly, Mohammad (1980) opined that Islamic education is a
process of self -discipline, which ensures the spiritual and intellectual growth of
the individual.

The Muslims are noted for making a lot of contributions to present day
knowledge. According to Itedjere (1997), “Islam and the Arabs contributed to
the world civilization”. Some of these contributions are in the fields of;

• Numeracy: the Arabs introduced the Arabic numerals from which our
present day numerals developed.

• Chemistry: The y discovered many chemicals, and chemical

combinations that are in use in our world today.

• Geometry and Mathematics: They discovered and developed to a great

extent geometry, algebra, trigonometric concepts etc.

• Medicine: They advanced world knowledge in medicine, and many

methods in their ‘Materia Medica’ are still in use today.

The advent of the Islam religion into Nigeria predates that of the Christian
religion. It was introduced into West Africa via the trans-Saharan trade in the 8th
century, and by the 11th century, it was accepted by Umme Jilmi of the old
Kanem Empire. By the 13th century, Islamic religion, and by extension its
education had spread to all parts of what is now known as Northern Nigeria,
with Kano and Katsina, being popular centres for Islamic learning. With the
Jihad of Uthman Dan Fodio of 1804, the Islamic religion and education spread
to parts of what is now known as Western Nigeria, with Illorin and Ibadan being
great centres for Islamic studies.

As has been said above, Islamic religion demands the education of its adherents
and it is even written in the Qur’an ‘that the ink of the scholar is more sacred
than the blood of the martyr’, and has thus provided in its teachings, a system
for the education of its followers. Hence with the religion, came the
establishment of schools known as Madrasahs or Qur’anic schools.

OBJECTIVES

Islam was aimed at;

• The all round development of the individual (physically, spiritually, and

mentally).

• Equipping the individual for progress and advancement in this life and in
the hereafter.

• Leading its adherents from darkness to light.

• The creation of individuals who are philosophers, scientists, artists,

selfless workers etc.

• Creating in its adherents a God consciousness.

ISLAM IN NIGERIA

As stated above the advent of Islam into Nigeria predates that of Christianity, as
such Islam had room to make a lot of impact in Nigeria. Some of these impacts
are;

• It fostered unity among its adherents, hence we see a very strong sense of
unity among the Northerners.

• It greatly affected the mode of dressing of its adherents especially in the

Northern areas of Nigeria.

• It fostered literacy, as its converts had to be educated albeit in a limited

manner, so as to be able to read the Qur’an.

• It helped to spread civilisation, as pilgrims travelled to Holy places, learnt

from those places and brought back this knowledge to their various
communities.

• It engendered a sense of unity of belief, because prior to its advent there

were many gods and goddesses who had many confusing functions.
CHARACTERISTICS

• The general characteristics of Qur’anic schools are basically the same in

all Muslim countries, with a little variation from place to place. For
example in Morocco, the school is situated beside the mosque, while in
Nigeria, it could be situated in the compound of the ‘Mallam’, under a
tree, or by the mosque.

• The education is basically theological in nature, and covers the teaching

of the Qur'an in relation to human existence and interaction. The main
reading materials used in these Qur’anic schools consist of the Qur’an,
and other Islamic books. These schools as opposed to Western schools
only catered to Muslim children.

• The proprietors of the Qur’anic schools are usually the teachers in the
schools. In times past, they were known as ‘Umma’, but now they are
referred to as ‘Mallam’. The proprietor can appoint other teachers
(usually his old students) to assist him.

• These proprietors have absolute control of their schools and as such are
not answerable to anybody or ministry.

• The proprietor is seen as the surrogate parent of the child, and as such is
expected to train the child as he would his own.

• These Qur’anic schools follow no rigid guidelines with regard their

operation, as a result of which the period for resumption, for example, for
these Qur’anic schools, vary. Though it is generally accepted, that
schools should commence classes from 8 o’clock in the morning. The
school week usually commences on Saturday and ends on Wednesday,
with Thursday being set aside for preparation for worship on Friday.

• These schools have no defined curriculum. It varies in accordance to the

whims and caprices of the proprietor.

• These Qur’anic schools run either two sessions a day, or three sessions a
day. In the case of those running the two-session-a-day system, the first
session usually begins by 8 o’clock in the morning, and ends by 10
o’clock in the morning, and the second session then begins by 2 o’clock
in the afternoon, and ends by 4 o’clock in the evening. Where the school
operates the three-session-a-day system, in addition to the times listed
 above, the school opens again by half past seven in the evening (7.30pm)
and ends by 9 o’clock in the evening. These sessions are usually run by
the same set of students.

• Fees are usually paid in cash or in kind, hence the ‘Mallam’ is usually
paid with agricultural produce, gifts and in some rare cases, money. There
is a prevalent air of informality in these schools, which is usually
mirrored in the close bond between the ‘Mallam’ and his students. He
visits their homes, and he is usually assisted by his pupils in his personal
projects.

• There are two main classes of teachers, the ‘Muallim’ whose qualification
is Qur’anic recitation, and knowledge of the Arabic alphabets. Their
status is usually very low, and they are usually just a little more than
beggars. The second category is the ‘Ulama’. These are scholars in
Islamic studies, and they are well respected.

• The teachers see their job as a religious responsibility.

STAGES OF EDUCATION

The Islamic education is divided into three stages.

The First Stage (Makaranta Allo)

This stage which is equivalent to the primary school of the Western education,
marks the beginning of the child’s education. Children from the ages of five and
above are expected to attend these classes. Its main aims can be summarised as;

1. To teach children the first two parts of the Qur’an

2. To teach them the Arabic language.

This stage is further divided into three steps:

The first step involves the memorisation of short chapters of the Qur'an through
repetition method. The teacher recites the verses he intends to teach, and the
children repeat after him. This process is repeated several times, until the
‘Mallam’ is satisfied at their memorisation and at the children’s’ pronunciation.
The children are then given a new set of verses to memorise which are then
linked to the earlier verses that they have memorised. This continues until the
children have memorised at least one or two parts of the Qur’an.
The second step involves the learning of the Arabic letters of which there are
twenty-six in number, and are all consonants. These alphabets are divided into
three sets of ten, ten, and six. The children are made to learn them in this order,
and can only move to the next set when they are proficient in the previous set.
When they are deemed to be proficient in these alphabets, they are then taught
how to write them. The ‘Mallam’ achieves this by writing it out on the
blackboard, and the children are then expected to reproduce these letters on
their slates.

The third step involves in teaching of the vowels. The children are taught how
to form the vowels (of which there are four) at the appropriate positions. They
continue doing this until they are deemed by their ‘Mallam’ to be proficient.

At the end of this stage, a formal ceremony known as ‘Man-Ad’Afu’ is held to

mark the completion of the children’s ‘primary’ education. Here, food and
drinks and gifts are given to the ‘Mallam’ and the children, and the children are
issued with a certificate, which qualifies them for admission into the Arabic or
Islamic secondary schools.

The Second Stage (Makaranta Ilmi)

This stage which is the Islamic equivalent of the secondary school of the
Western educational system has a much wider scope and curriculum than the
first stage. The students at this stage are instructed by more than one ‘Mallam’,
because the ‘Mallams’ are expected to be experts in their respective fields so as
to effectively teach the children.

The venue for these lectures is like the first stage, at the private residence of the
instructor. By this stage, the children are assumed to be proficient in the
memorisation of the verses in the qur’an. So the teacher embarks on educating
them on the meanings of these verses, through the technique of translation and
repetition, until the ‘Mallam’ is satisfied.

This stage also exposes the children to other areas, like the Hadith, Islamic law,
logic, rhetoric, algebra, arithmetic, grammatical syntax and inflections, etc. It
also affords the child a range of choices when deciding the area he wants to
specialise in. At the end of this stage, the children are expected to have mastered
the Arabic language, and are proficient in it.
At the end of this stage, the individual is issued a certificate which qualifies him
as a leader in any Islamic gathering. He is also by this certificate, qualified for
admission at any Islamic University for further studies.

The Third Stage

This stage is the Islamic equivalent of the university under the Western
educational system. In this stage, the individual having chosen his area of
specialisation proceeds to such learning centres as the University of Cairo, or
Illorin, Ibadan, etc, or he could continue his studies under local specialists.

At the end of this training period and depending on his area of specialisation,
the individual is given a license to practice as an Iman (preacher), an Alkali
(judge), or a Mallam (teacher).

Islamic education is hailed basically because of its accessibility, in that people

from all social classes, can avail themselves of Islamic education, however its
curriculum has been frowned upon as being too limited in scope, since the
knowledge gained is limited to the reading and writing of the Arabic language,
and religious studies.

Islam was originally transmitted in the Arabic language, thus limiting its
adherents to having knowledge of the Arabic language, but with the glaring way
in which it handicapped its adherents, some reforms were therefore put in place.
These reforms were promulgated by some notable Muslims like Alhaji
Abdullahi Bayero, the Emir of Kano. He established the Northern Provinces
Law School which aimed at producing Alkalis. However in 1947, the
government changed its name to the School of Arabic Studies, its major task in
addition to teaching the required Islamic studies, was to teach English and
Arithmetic. By 1954, the government introduced a new programme that
promoted the education of the existing primary school teachers, they were also
encouraged to go to University. Presently in many schools across the Federation
like the Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
etc, the course Islamic studies is being studied.

This serves the purpose of blending the Islam religion with the change in times,
and the production of current philosophers, scientists, artists, etc along Western
lines, but with a strong Muslim background.