Khalawiy in Sudan: A Qur’anic school system without almajiranci
With its long history in Nigeria, the Qur’anic school system has witnessed, though in its conservative form, some transformations leading to the birth of different models of the system. These include the Tsangaya model; the Qur’anic schools (or Makarantun allo in Hausa); and the Islamiyyah schools. The Tsangaya, which curriculum is basically designed for the […]
With its long history in Nigeria, the Qur’anic school system has witnessed, though in its conservative form, some transformations leading to the birth of different models of the system. These include the Tsangaya model; the Qur’anic schools (or Makarantun allo in Hausa); and the Islamiyyah schools. The Tsangaya, which curriculum is basically designed for the memorization of the Qur’an, is a model by which Qur’anic schools operate on the basis of organized isolated settings usually located in rural or very remote environments where human activities are limited. The makarantun allo refers to the residential or semi-residential type of Qur’anic schools usually found in neighborhood of towns and cities. Mosques, family houses and open spaces are used as centers for such schools. The Islamiyyah model of Qur’anic schools blend Islamic education with formal basic education curriculum of public schools.
If any aspect of the Qur’anic school system in Nigeria has remained a social phenomenon that dominated public discourse over the years, it is the almajiranci syndrome and its institutionalization. Almajiranci is a Hausa word from which derives almajiri. By definition, almajiranci is a traditionally adopted means of sustenance for pupils and students of Qur’anic schools. Technically, it entails Islamically prescribed means of providing welfare and meeting the needs of Muslims who have travelled in search of knowledge. Alms (or Sadaqa) and donations from well wishers were originally the only legitimate and major means upon which such schools survive. But over time, begging (or bara in Hausa), was incorporated into the system.
The Hausa word “almajiri” which derives from the Arabic word “almuhajir”, refers to a Muslim youth or adult (and not necessarily a child), who is out of his place of birth to another community in search of Qur’anic and Islamic knowledge. The English meaning of “almuhajir” is a “migrant”. With the incorporation of almajiranci into the Qur’anic school system (particularly the Tsangaya model and the makarantu allo), almajiranci became a synonym of the system as if it were an integral part of it.
A one-week trip to the Republic of the Sudan in July, 2011 availed me an opportunity to visit two famous Tsangaya Qur’anic schools. The most salient discovery on this trip lies in the fact that the entire traditional Qur’anic school system in Sudan is devoid of almajiranci. I paid separate visits to two Khalawiy schools located in the villages of Wadul Fadni and Sheikh Taha repectively. Khalawiy in Sudan is the equivalent of the Tsangaya model of Qur’anic schools in Nigeria.
The village of Wadul Fadni is located at a distance of about 160km to the south of Khartoum city on the way to the town of Madaniy. It is about 11km to the south of al-Hasahisa town. Wadul Fadni is 2km off the main road. From the main road, visitors and indeed, everyone can access the school on foot as there are no taxi cabs to carry passengers to the school. The Khalawiy which rests on a plain land of about 168, 000sq meters consists of two big mosques; one of which is used for the Friday congregational prayers. Other facilities at the Khalawiy in Wadul Fadni include hostels with adequate number of toilets; a dining hall; a clinic and a cattle ranch from which the school gets some income.
As at the time I visited the Khalawiy at Wadul Fadni, there were a total of 600 students out of which 28 were from Nigeria. The students were at various stages of memorizing the holy Qur’an. I found it amazing when, during my visit to the Khalawiy, I came in contact with a young Nigerian student whom I guess is about 14 years of age. He is Sa’ad Muhammad Gidado from Katsina state. The young Sa’ad rather than appears sick for missing several things including the love of his parents, the company of his friends, the friendly weather and traditional dishes of his home-country, was not only looking cheerful but also expressed joy through the frequent smiles on his face; indicating that he was not missing anything and was actually comfortable pursuing the memorization of the holy Qur’an in a country which average daily weather is as harsh as 40 degrees celsius.
Sa’ad Gidado, who had covered more than half of the Qur’an in his memorization programme at the time of my visit to the Khalawiy, mentioned that he had only spent barely over a year in the school. Throughout my interaction with Sa’ad Gidado, he never bothered about discussing Nigeria. In truth, he was more interested in discussing his host-country, Sudan and the independence of South Sudan which was then only two days old.
According to the head of student affairs division of the Khalawiy at Wadul Fadni, Khalifah Muhammad Khalifah Ar-Rayh, no tuition fees are charged by the school. Admission which is not only open to all but also free, has requirements which include expression of interest by the candidate; psychological and physical preparedness of the candidate; previous knowledge or background of the candidate in memorization of the Qur’an; and a certified medical certificate of fitness. A student admitted in the Khalawiy is required to report with only a bag (containing his personal belongings), a slate and a blanket or bed sheet. However, there is age limit in the prerequisites for admission. Only candidates who have attained 13 years of age and above are admitted in to the Khalawiy. This is contrary to the widespread practice particularly in northern Nigeria where children as young as two years are taken to proprietors of Tsangaya schools, not only to be taught in this case but also to be cared for on behalf of the parents!
At the Khalawiy in Wadul Fadni, students are fed three times a day. Special meals are cooked for foreign students who find it difficult to eat the dishes provided upon their arrival at the school. New students would continue to enjoy such privileges until they adapt to Sudanese dishes cooked and provided by the school. In the hostels, students are accommodated according to their respective academic level or career with which they joined the Khalawiy. There are hostels officially designated for university students, secondary school students, soldiers and the blind.
The day for students of the Khalawiy Wadul Fadni begins at 3am when they will be engaged in the recitation and memorization and this continues until it is time for observing early morning (subhi) prayer.
The entire day is sub-divided into recitation and memorization sessions during which students revise and take new memorization lessons from their teachers. Students are free to rest between 10am and 1pm which period is considered lesson-free. The whole of Thursdays and Friday mornings are periods, though optional, for sporting activities including football.
In his response to my question on reasons for the absence of almajiranci in their Khalawiy, Sheikh Khalifah Ar-Rayih explained that the almajiranci syndrome is more of a social than a religious phenomenon. Three reasons, he illustrated, could account for the non-presence of almajiranci in their Khalawiy model of Qur’anic school system. First, the Khalawiy in Sudan are located in places far away from towns and cities; making it difficult for students to beg for alms from sympathizers. Second, all that a student needs for minimum comfort including meals, sporting equipments, dormitory and health facilities are reasonably provided by the school. I could not agree more with Khalifah Ar-Rayih when I cast my mind to what obtains in the Tsangaya system in Nigeria where toilets are scarcely provided let alone talk of a sick-bay to cater for the health of students. This is perhaps why most students of our Tsangaya Qur’anic schools look more like children in ghetto or refugee camps than students in search of knowledge.
The third and most crucial factor is that, parents over there in Sudan have a better sense of responsibility. According to Khalifah Ar-Rayih, parents of students at the Khalawiy school provide their children/wards with necessary domestic needs such as foot wears, washing and bathing soaps as well as clothing materials. Unfortunately, the reverse is the case with most parents in Nigeria who send their children to Tsangaya schools. Tsangaya schools in Nigeria seem to have rather become orphanages because some parents, out of irresponsibility, take children to dump with proprietors of such schools sometimes even without a slate or copy of the holy Qur’an which is the most important material required for learning and memorization. Some children are taken to Qur’anic schools here in Nigeria without a pair of slippers on their feet. Neither do such children have clothes apart from the one on their body nor bathing soap. This situation which is common to most children in Tsangaya schools in Nigeria, makes them vulnerable to diseases and hunger. In my view, it is a deliberate action by some irresponsible parents to make their children vulnerable. We are provoked to think this way because many parents take their children to Tsangaya and makarantu allo in towns other than theirs, not because of the purpose for which such schools were established, but because they see their children/ward as liabilities.
The Khalawiyih schools in Sudan are run by their proprietors on alms and donations received from individuals, government, corporate bodies and parents. In the Sudan, everyone whose wealth requires him to give poor rate (zakat) does so without waiting to be told. Those who evade the payment of zakat in Sudan are, of course, compelled to do so by government. A large percentage of the zakat usually goes to Khalawiy schools. However, even when donations and alms appear to be forthcoming in the case of Qur’anic and Tsangaya schools in Nigeria, the almajiranci is likely to remain an integral part of the Tsangaya system unless parents resolve to be responsible by adequately taking up the obligations placed upon them towards their children/wards by the common but social law of existence. It is the natural right of a child to be fed, clothed catered for, educated, loved and cared for.
At the Khalawiy of Sheikh Taha, the structure and facilities I found were not different from those at the Khlawiy in Wadul Fadni. The story is the same in all Khalawiy across Sudan. Sheikh Taha is about 30km from Wadul Fadni. The only difference I noticed at Sheikh Taha was that there were no Nigerian students there.
One interesting aspect of the khalawiy system in the Sudan is that there is an arrangement which caters for graduates of such schools to continue with their education in the main stream of public schools. On graduation, students are subjected to an aptitude test which result is used to place them at the appropriate level in the secondary school or at 100 level in the university if the candidate already possessed entry requirements into tertiary institutions. Here in Nigeria, nothing of such yet exists within the system; making graduates of Tsangaya restricted to Qur’anic education.
Kano state government under the eight-year administration of Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, attempted to find a solution to the intractable almajiri syndrome through a pilot Tsangaya programme. The scheme chose a Tsangaya school in each of the three senatorial zones in Kano state as a demonstration center for the pilot programme. The Tsangaya pupils/students under this pilot scheme were fed three times a day just as the khalawiy schools in Sudan do. The schools had enough boarding facilities including toilets, dining hall and a clinic like the Khalawiy schools; to cater for the welfare of all the students. Every Tsangaya student from the three schools involved in the pilot scheme was provided with personal needs such as washing and bathing soaps which ordinarily should have been provided by parents.
Throughout the three months which the scheme lasted in the three senatorial zones of Kano state, no almajiri-student from the three pilot Tsangaya schools was seen begging on the streets. The reason was no more than the provision of all that each Tsangaya pupil or student needed to remain reasonably undistracted in school. Kano state government terminated the scheme after a successful trial of three months; the only reason being that the scheme was draining much from its resources.
Sokoto state government made an attempt at integrating Qur’anic education with the western system by establishing a model pilot school at Shuni village in the outskirts of Sokoto metropolis. The question being asked is when will the pilot scheme translate into a regular system adopted for implementation throughout Sokoto state. Kaduna state government also made a similar attempt through the State Universal Basic Education Board even though the life-span of the scheme was shortened by dearth of funds.
It is obvious today, four years after some state governors inaugurated committees to integrate western education with the Qur’anic school system, that their declarations, like the euphoria for shari’ah implementation, were no more than political statements made to win the support of Muslim scholars in their respective states. The failure by state governors, particularly in the northern part of the country (where almajiranci among Qur’anic school pupils is more pronounced), to show any serious commitment to tackle the challenges of almajiri pupils demonstrates how indifferent leaders in Nigeria could be to issues that concerns the socio-economic well being of their people.
Yet, several government agencies at various levels including the Federal Ministry of Education; Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development; and the National Agency for Mass Literacy claim to be working on solutions to almajiranci among school-age children. They set up committees after committees and appropriate funds annually for workshops and conferences on the matter with no concrete strategy fashioned out for implementation. The only feat from government initiatives on the issue is that the phenomenon is still as pronounced as their official half truths. The more leaders continue to pay lip service to matters of common interest, the longer the country might live with her critical challenges.