National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies: The journey so far (III)
The present Hon. Minister of Education and the Federal Executive Council merely handled the matter pending before them with the approval given to the establishment of NBAIS as a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Education at its meeting of November 30, 2016. This of course awaits the concurrence of the National Assembly where I […]
The present Hon. Minister of Education and the Federal Executive Council merely handled the matter pending before them with the approval given to the establishment of NBAIS as a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Education at its meeting of November 30, 2016. This of course awaits the concurrence of the National Assembly where I am sure Senator Sam Egwu will be as enthusiastic as many other distinguished senators and Hon. Aishatu Dukku along with other Hon. members will be glad to finish a good work initiated to cater for the future of millions of Nigerians who see Arabic just as others see English and French.
Why opposing NBAIS?: The opposition to NBAIS was witnessed at the different legitimate stages mentioned above. At the 62nd Joint Consultative Committee on Education (JCCE) Reference Committee held in Uyo in May 2010 where all Directors of Education nationwide, Federal and States and all other stakeholders of education were present, the mis-apprehension was imminent. But this was doused by a proper understanding generated from within the body which appreciates that far from NBAIS being a northern agenda; it is a national project covering nearly all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.
The North under the late Sir Ahmadu Bello gave support to the project from 1952 but Sheikh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory that foremost scholar of the West African 20th century established his famous Arabic Training Centre, Abeokuta also in 1952 and moved to Agege in 1954. Just as the foresight of Sir Ahmadu Bello produced from the NBAIS medical doctors, university professors, vice-chancellors, judges and brilliant lawyers, so also, Al-Ilory’s products along with scores of its type in southwestern Nigeria, in Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire also produced university professors, vice-chancellors, registrar of JAMB and brilliant lawyers.
It is a misguided credulity and outright fallacy for anyone to construe NBAIS as a northern provincial agenda. The truth of the matter is that while the colonial masters were working in concert with the missionary agents in the southern part of Nigeria to supplant Islam and African traditional religion with Christianity using the taxpayers’ money and converting children of these tax payers to Christianity through education and through healthcare delivery, the resilient Muslims in the south continued to keep the flag of Arabic and Islamic Studies flying throughout the colonial rule.
Through a law of natural consequence, the good work of the Sheikh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory, Sheikh Kamalud-din of Ilorin, Sheikh Murtada Abdussalam of Ibadan, Sheikh Khidru Apaokagi of Owo, and Sheikh Adedemeji Mahalli of Iwo, paid off as the Arab embassies granted scholarships to their products to further their studies in the Arab heartlands.
It is obvious that NBAIS and what it portends is like gold which has no place for hiding, concealing or devaluation. If Arabic and Islamic studies are studied in universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London in the United Kingdom, Harvard, Yale, Princeton in the United States of America, Berlin, Ruhr, and Bayreuth in Germany, McGill in Canada, University of Tokyo in Japan, for centuries, then no amount of religious bigotry can diminish from the academic value of the twin disciplines.
If the first work containing printed Arabic script was produced in Fano, Italy, in 1514, and the first known edition of the Qur’an in printed form was also of Italian origin, published in Venice in 1518 and if the French contribution saw the daylight in the cutting of the punches by Robert Granjon for the Arabic type which was printed as part of a book in 1585 and in 1635 Oxford University was encouraged by Archbishop Laud to establish a Chair of Arabic which culminated in the cutting of Arabic type for printing purposes by William Castol in 1720, it will be clear that the rantings of those filled with prejudices against the subject are baseless and completely out of tune with the facts of history.
The whole world recognises that Al-Azhar University in Egypt which celebrated its 1000 years of existence in the 20th century, the University of Fez in Morocco and the University of Timbuktu in West Africa all contributed to the civilizations carried over to Europe through Spain and southern Portugal in the annals of history.
Following the terrorist attack on America of September 11, 2001, the general reaction of the American public towards Arabic and Islam became more positive surprisingly. Americans requested for more materials on Islam and Arabic programme increased substantially as reported by the United States Department of State, International Information Programs of 18th October 2001.
For instance, Chief Obafemi Awolowo when he wanted to start free primary education in 1955 realised that he could not possibly enlist the support of Muslim parents in the Southwestern region without teaching Arabic and Islamic Religious Knowledge. He appreciated the dearth of competent teachers to handle the subjects. Thus, he introduced a central examination for teachers of Arabic and Islamic religious knowledge, the passing of which qualified the Arabic teachers to teach in the Muslim primary schools across the length and breadth of the Western region from January 1955 when Universal free education began in the region.
The University College, Ibadan, when it supported the teaching and learning of Arabic and Islamic Studies, also encouraged the learning of Christian Studies, Hebrew, Greek and African Religion. It promoted researches into Yoruba language and Literature.
Again, when the Jews and Christians identified Saturday and Sunday as their Sabbath days respectively, and there is no Sabbath in Islam, the Muslims inspite of their control of the central government on or before independence never insisted on a Friday to be a Sabbath day because there is no Sabbath in Islam. The Qur’an enjoined them to carry on with their businesses after the observance of Jumat prayers on Friday.
Also of late, the National Assembly passed for the second reading the establishment of a Christian Court in Nigeria to pantomime the Sharia’h Court of Appeal as if the Common Law borrowed from England is not essentially a Christian law with its doctrine of one man, one wife in the law of personal status. Yet, Muslims are not opposed to the Cardinal Court of Appeal because the Qur’an is apposite that Christians should be judged by their religious laws.
When a Nigerian military Head of State decreed one day that French should become second Nigerian official language, Muslims did not raise alarm that another Euro-Christian language had been foisted on them. The same spirit of give and take should prevail, because a good brother should rejoice with his brother’s success and not meet it with envy.
Nigerians live in harmony; let no group of persons set brothers against themselves through sheer jealousy, prejudice and myopic view of life.
Concluded
Professor Abubakre is of the University of Ilorin. He presented this paper at the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies Stakeholders Conference in Kaduna,