THE QUR’AN: ETERNALLY GLORIOUS

The Workshop, facilitated by the Government of Australia, was chaired by the Grand Imam of Kano and former Vice Chancellor (VC) of BUK Professor Muhammad Sani Zahradeen while Professor Shehu Galadanci, former VC of the University of Sokoto (now Usmanu Danfodio University) and one-time Nigerian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia delivered a thought-provoking keynote address.BUK’s plush […]

The Workshop, facilitated by the Government of Australia, was chaired by the Grand Imam of Kano and former Vice Chancellor (VC) of BUK Professor Muhammad Sani Zahradeen while Professor Shehu Galadanci, former VC of the University of Sokoto (now Usmanu Danfodio University) and one-time Nigerian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia delivered a thought-provoking keynote address.
BUK’s plush new CQS, according to both the University’s VC Professor Abubakar Rasheed and the Centre’s Director Professor Ibrahim Muhammad, was built and donated to BUK by Shaikh Isyaka Rabi’u, the renowned Kano Qur’anic scholar more famously known as a tycoon, in a perfect ‘town and gown’ synergy. The hosts further explained that the programmes of the Centre were designed with global expertise plus local perspectives and connections aimed at harvesting opinions to trigger new perspectives and innovative approaches in Qur’anic education and research.
At the Workshop, many scholarly papers were presented. From Southern Nigeria came Post-Colonial Qur’anic Education in Southern Nigeria by Dr. A. A. Alaro of the Department of Islamic Law at the University of Ilorin, in collaboration with al-Hafiz Uthman Abdul-Hameed. They evaluated the postcolonial historical trends of Qur’anic education and its contribution to the development of Islamic knowledge in Southern Nigeria, while emphasising the significant contribution of the Ilorin Emirate (of today’s Kwara State) and its scholars on Islamic scholarship in the area.
A related paper, Qur’anic Education in Postcolonial Nigeria – The Southern Nigerian Experience was presented by Professor Is-haq Oloyede (former VC of the University of Ilorin and now Secretary General of the Nigerian Supreme Council on Islamic Affairs, NSCIA) leading Rafiu Adebayo and Afis Oladosu. They also appraised Qur’anic education in the postcolonial period and did a schematic classification of major stakeholders in this type of education to include Traditional Ulama, the ‘Dualised Ulama’ and the Modern Scholars of the Quran.
From the North East came The Role of Kanem-Borno Ulama in Qur’anic Education Before Colonial Rule in Nigeria by Dr. Kalli Gazali, and The History of Governmental Interventions in the Development of Qur’anic Education in Nigeria (C.670-2014) by Professor Abubakar Mustapha. The first highlighted the role of Kanem-Borno Ulama (Islamic Scholars) in Qur’anic education before colonial rule and how the interactions between the Ulama and other communities in Nigeria were facilitated by movements and migrations in various forms with particular reference to the influence of Bornoan scholars on Kano, Zazzau and Katsina, and places beyond.
The second paper traced the history of Qur’anic education in Nigeria from the era of fortune (when Government fully funded it), to the era of calamity (when Government appeared to support but was actually sabotaging it), in turn followed by the era of indecision and neglect. The Qur’anic education system exhibited its resilience and demonstrated its ability to survive despite all odds in its journey.
Another group of interesting papers were those by Dr. Bashir S. Galadanci of BUK’s Department of Software Engineering (and one-time Special Adviser to the Kano State Governor on Qur’anic Education) on Reforms for the Promotion and Development of Tsangaya Schools in the Context of the Nigerian Educational System; on Qur’anic Education In Post-Colonial Nigeria by Dr. Usman Sani Abbas also of BUK and on Innovative Approach to Qur’anic Education in Nigeria: Reflections on the Developments of Qur’anic Education in Katsina from the Period of Nigerian Independence to the Present Times by Dr. Salihu Lawal.
Bashir’s paper narrated how during the Shekarau Administration in Kano State Government was able to carry out a state-wide census on Qur’anic, Islamiyya and Ilmi schools which found 26,000 schools with 2 million students, and provided very useful baseline data for planning; it also highlighted visits of Kano Alarammas (Qur’anic Scholars) to Sudan, Gambia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bangladesh as eye-openers on how other Muslim countries dealt with similar challenges; and also appraised the recognition of the products of Qur’anic Schools when in 2007 the Kano State House of Assembly passed a law equating all those that have fully memorised the Holy Qur’an with university graduates.
Usman’s interesting intervention discussed the old and the new in Qur’anic Education; the nuances of the Huffaz (memorisers) and Mufassirun (exegetists), the old competition between the Qadiriyyah and Tijjaniyyah Tariqas (sects) rooted in Islamic Scholarship, and their later collaboration to confront a common enemy, the Izala. The paper provided interesting analyses of the Tafasir (exegeses) of the leaders of these three main movements – respectively Shaikhs Nasir Kabara, Dahiru Bauchi and Abubakar Gummi in their efforts to support or oppose Sufism.
Salihu moved up north to Katsina, and appraised the arrival in the ancient city of Shaikh AbdulKarim al Maghili (d. 910AH/1504CE) around 1493CE from Tilmisan (Tlemcen) in modern Algeria. His arrival revolutionised Islamic scholarship as he was both a judge and alim, teaching the Qur’an and matters affecting administration and worship.
At the end of the two-day workshop, participants issued a communique signed by Professor Abubakar Mustapha (Chairman of Workshop Organising Committee and former VC of the University of Maiduguri) and Dr. Muhammad B. Muhammad, who headed the Communique Committee. In it, participants observed that the period prior to colonial rule was the golden age of Qur’anic as it was then fully funded by the Caliphates of Kanem-Borno and Sokoto. Its students were being sponsored to the universities of Qayrawan, Zaytuna and Al-Azhar in North Africa for further education and such graduates were given prominent positions in the service of the states.
It was also observed that the colonial period 1903 – 1960 represented the lowest point, a nadir, for Qur’anic Education when the colonial authorities appeared to support but actually sabotaged the system. They actively blocked students from seeking higher degrees from Maghrebian and Egyptian institutions. It was further observed that political independence ushered in an era of indecision and neglect. The lack of funding and poor infrastructure, curriculum and welfare left the system wretched, with its students begging on the streets in tattered clothes.
However the last four decades have seen innovations in Qur’anic Education in Nigeria, resulting in the emergence of the Islamiyyah Schools, later Islamiyyah primary and secondary schools, attempting to integrate Qur’anic Education into the formal curriculum, lately giving rise to Tahfeez nursery, primary and secondary schools with a higher level of Qur’anic Education in the curriculum.
But though commendable, the policy of integration of Qur’anic Education into the formal education system at present is not systematic and comprehensive enough, with the teaching of the sciences, social sciences and humanities reflecting only Western perspectives, neglecting the Islamic perspectives.
Participants also observed that the recent relegation of Religious Studies as optional subject in post primary schools portends a moral danger to society and is disturbing to all morally-conscious parents, but the establishment of model Tsangaya Schools in states by the Federal Government is a commendable initiative capable of making a positive impact on the communities if replicated faithfully by the state governments.
Arising from the points raised, the Workshop recommended that, as opposed to retaining the largely secular unified educational system, or creating a parallel Qur’anic Education system alongside the secular system, there should be a standards-based model with a level playing field to both systems of education that gives parents and students the benefits of both systems. Based on this model, Government should put in place minimum standards that must be fulfilled by any system in terms of especially the curriculum and other basic requirements.
Further, the Workshop recommends that in the meantime, while standards-based model recommendation is being processed, the study of Religious Studies should be made compulsory in all basic and post basic schools.