42 Muslim Education Quarterly

22. The Quran, 2:7.23 Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary, footnote

no.3l.24. The Qur'an, 26:89.25. Interpretation of the meaning of the Noble Qur ' an in the English Language: a

summarised version of Al-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir with comments fromSa/:lllJAl-Bukhari, summarised in one volume by Muhammad Taqiuddin Al-Hilali andMhammad Mohsin Khan. Darussalam, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

26. The Qur'an, 24:35.27. The Independent, "Citizenship must begin to replace ethos in the classroom" by

Bernard Crick, 27 September 2002.28. The Qur'an, 2:1-3.29. The Qur'an, 3:123-125.30. The Qur'an, 8: 12.31. The Qur'an, 33:43.32. The Qur'an, 40:7-9.33. Al-Tabarani.34. Ibn Miijah, Al-Hakim.35. Dr. T. V. N. Persuad is a Professor of Anatomy, Professor of Pediatrics and Child

Health, and Professor of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and reproductive sciences at the "University of Manitoba, Canada.

36. The Internet committee of Al-Haramain Foundation, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.37. The Qur'an, 4:29-30.38. Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and Nasa 'i.39. The Qur'an, 5:35.40.. Hasan bin Talal, "Respecting the sanctity of life," Conference News Daily.41. Daily Express, Tuesday, September 17,2002.42. The Quran, 30:30.43. The Quran, 11:92.44. "The Spirit of Tolerance in Islam," Muzzamil Siddiqui, url:

http://www.pakistanlink.comlreligion/99/05-07 .html45. The Qur'an, 18:29.46. The Qur'an, 24:54.47. The Qur'an, 88:21.48. "The Spirit of Tolerance in Islam," Muzzamil Siddiqui, url:

Http://www.Crescent<http://www.crescenntl>life.comlspiritualityltolerance-islamic-perspective.htm

49. Harun Yahya, People of the Book and the Muslims.50. Ibid.51. The Qur' an, 42:37.52. The Qur'an, 42:40.53. The Qur'an,16:126-127.54. The Qur'an, 12:92.

Muslim Education Quarterly, Vol. 20, No.1 & 2, 2003The Islamic Academy, Cambridge, United Kingdom

TOWARDS INTEGRATING ARABIC-ISLAMICEDUCATION INTO THE NATIONAL POLICY ONEDUCATION IN NIGERIA

Busari Kehinde Kamorudeen

Introduction

Since its introduction into this country about nine centuries ago, Arabic Studieshas remained essentially a religious education. However, recently its policy,objectives, curriculum and methodology have been challenged by Westerneducation. As a result of this challenge, Arabie-Islamic education in Nigeria is nowconducted at different levels, two of which represent definite reactions to the secularChristian orientation of Western education. The first reaction represents a totalboycott by Islam of the Western education, a reaction which is sustained to_this dayby the survival of traditional Arabic-Islamic education which is testified by the factthat the Qur'anic and 'Ilm Schools can still be found today all over the Muslimareas of the country. The second reaction is a recognition by Islam of Westerneducation, some elements of which it borrows to modemise its traditional systemas madrasah or Islamiyyah schools. There is, thirdly, the introduction of Arabic-Islamic Studies within the National Policy on education.'

However, the curricula of both traditional and modem Arabic-Islamiceducation are still confmed to religion with a veneer of secular subjects. Thecontinuation of these systems is not therefore in the overall interest of Muslimeducation in Nigeria since they could not adequately equip Muslims to functionquite effectively in our contemporary age of industrialisation. There is, on the otherhand, the secular national education which offers both Arabie-Islamic and modemeducation. Permeated by secular, Western and Christian concepts, ethics and values,this system was initially suspected and boycotted by many Muslims. Theirresistance, however, was soon broken by the evolving economic and political order,which now impels them to cultivate the modem secular education despite itsWestern orientation? •

Muslims, however, are still sceptical of the idea of an Arabie-Islamiceducation within a secular, Western and Christian education system. They havetherefore refused to allow the traditional Arabie-Islamic education to be integratedinto the 6-3-3-4 system of National Policy on education. The aim of this paper is

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44 Muslim Education Quarterly

to attempt to break through some of the myths behind this scepticism in order tobe able to contribute positively to the achievement of the aims of the NationalPolicy on education and invariably pave the way also for the eventual integration ofthe traditional Arabic education into the 6-3-3-4 system of the National Policy.

The ball will be set rolling by looking at the secular orientation of theNational Policy on Education and its identification with Christianity for whichreason it has continued to be boycotted by Muslims. The economic and politicalpressure which eventually imposed this secular policy on Islamic education,notionally in Nigeria but allover the Muslim world, is briefly examined. This isfollowed by a close examination of the National Policy and a proposal for how thetraditional Arabic-Islamic education can gradually be integrated into the system?

Modern Secular Education and its Identification with Christianity

By secular education, we mean that system of thought the genesis of which can betraced to the great French philosopher, Rene Descartes (1596-1650) whoseteachings contributed to the Renaissance, Industrial Revolution, Reformation andthe French Revolution. As a system of knowledge, it is sceptical of religious truthand opposed to its education. It concerns itself only with the affairs of this worldand would have nothing to do with life after death. It is based, above all, onrational thinking as opposed to intuition, agnosticism or revelation on whichreligious education is essentially based. Through the revival of learning, men leamtto question the validity of authoritative dogmas, and to apply to the Scripture thetest of reason. Generally known as modem secular thought, this system ofeducation is, therefore, a revolt against all religions, the cross as well as thecrescent.

In Europe, Christianity was the first victim. After its temporal power hadfirst been challenged, its ecclesiastical authority was also challenged by theWittenberg professor, Martin Luther (d. 1546). The Pope Leo X, like hispredecessors, had proposed to issue for sale indulgences, the purchase of which waspopularly supposed to assure the purchaser of pardon for his or her sins. Thispopular belief, however, was challenged by Luther, who had come to theconclusion that the power of forgiving sins did not like with the Pope, and thatpardon for sins, at any rate, could not be purchased. Such indulgences weretherefore, declared an enormous and blasphemous fraud. This event marked thebeginning of a series of developments which culminated in the secularisation ofChristianity.

In the 1897 convention held in Philadelphia, Judaism was also secularised.According to the manifesto adopted on the occasion, the Mosaic Law as interpretedby the Talmud, was declared to be in conflict with modem thought and thus nolonger binding on modem Jews. The historical accuracy of the Bible as divinerevelation was, above all, rejected with insistence that it should always beinterpreted allegorically."Like these two monotheistic religions which it has cometo confirm, classical Islamic thought, since before the last century, has alsobecome subjected to modem secular thought which it has continued to challenge.

Towards Integrating Arabic-Islamic Education 45

By the 19th century when most of the European countries became imperialforces, Christianity had managed, through the Protestant church in particular, toeffect a fragile reconciliation between itself and modem secular thought. Accordingto one Christian writer:

The Protestant or Roman Catholic Missionary is never simply aChristian, he is always a Western Christian, carrying with him thefresh and modem outlook of the Western world as well as theGospel.'

This is the form in which modem secular education was introduced into Nigeria,like many other Muslim countries. So between 1840 when Missionaries arrived insouthern Nigeria and 1897 when the British had their first military clash with theSokoto Caliphate, colonialism had sufficiently identified itself with the missionaryactivities. Apart from its military aid to the missionaries against the Pagans, andthe Muslims in the South, the Colonial administration also allowed the educationalprogramme to be made by the Church, the "main gate into the kingdom ofHeaven." Indeed, no practical distinction was ever made between the administrative,the commercial and the religious arms of the British occupation until such adistinction was forced upon Lord Lugard by the existing religio-political structureof the Sokoto Caliphate after its occupation in 1903.6

In these circumstances, it was simply very difficult for Muslims todistinguish between what was essentially Christianity and what was seculareducation. The situation was further confused by the adoption of the Christiancalendar and the English language within secular education and the :colonialgovernment. The whole idea of colonisation, the growth of nationalism and partypolitics, secular education, scie.ntific and technological inventions were, therefore,viewed traditionally as basically Christian and were nothing but a cold crusadeagainst Islam.' That was resisted as much as possible and one of the best ways ofdoing this was to boycott Christian-oriented secular education with all its politicaland economic advantages.

Economic and Political Impacts of the Secular Education onArabie-Islamic Education

It was not long, however, before the setting up of Western education besidetraditional Islamic edncation generally became a serious threat to the survival of thelatter. In addition to the challenges posed by physical organisation of curriculumand methodology, Rausa, Kanuri, Fulani, Nupe, Yoruba and other languagesspoken by Nigerian Muslims were encouraged to be written in the Roman, insteadof Arabic, script. Above all, the burgeoning socio-economic and political order wasrendering Arabie-Islamic education "increasingly irrelevant to the new life. Thesituation is laconically described by the following quotation:

With the coming of the British colonialists came also a big crisis forIslamic education in Nigeria. The skills given by traditional Islamic

46 Muslim Education Quarterlyeducation seemed to be of little help in the modem world ofcommerce, industry and improved agriculture. The administrativemachinery was also gradually becoming more and moresophisticated, and this placed greater demands on the natives as itrequired slightly different sorts of skills. The change they were beingcalled upon to make was not merely one requiring the natives tochange their Arabic or Hausa for English. It was also to involve theirwhole way of life."

In the subsequent political developments among which the nationalist struggle forindependence was crucial, Nigerian Muslims had no alternative but to cooperate andjoin forces with their non-Muslim compatriots to fight for political liberation andbuild a modem nation on the basis of a common territory rather than a commonfaith. Like many non-Arab Muslim nations, the Nigerian Muslim must havelooked in vain towards Cairo, Makkah and Istanbul for political liberation fromcolonialism. But the Arab-Islamic world had been plunged into the same politicaland intellectual crisis, the temporary solution to which was offered by Arabnationalism. Since independence this secular nationalism, in many Muslimcountries including Nigeria has remained the political order on which most of thecontemporary development policies in arts, literature, education and so on arebased. It is from this secular nationalism that the National Policy on Education inNigeria has evolved to superimpose itself on Arabie-Islamic education which isbased on the universal concept of the Ummah. The policy accordingly emphasises"the inculcation of national consciousness and national unity" in its aims andobjectives.

While Islamic education views the whole concept of education from areligious perspective, secular education does the exact opposite. Islamic education,for instance, is concerned with the welfare of mankind in both this world and thehereafter, but secular education is concerned only with the affairs of this life. Whilereligious education makes God the centre of the universe in relation to whom othercreatures and phenomena are explained, secular education makes a human being thecentre of the universe which it then tries to explain without reference to God.Religion in secular education is consequently reduced to a human intervention andtreated like any other subject. As a result of this secular philosophy, its educationhas continued to promote materialism through industrialisation, science andtechnology at the expense of the moral and spiritual values of mankind. Muslimstherefore prefer their own Islamic education which, although cannot provide themwith modern knowledge, upholds moral and spiritual values.

However, the political circumstances which imposed the National Policycould not have recognised the Arabie-Islamic education in its political context.Neither the traditional nor the modem Arabie-Islamic education is thereforereckoned with as a separate unit in the 6-3-3-4 system of the National Policy.Enough provision is, however, made within the policy for the Arabie-Islamiceducation. The policy also makes it clear in its philosophy that opportunity willcontinue to be made available for religious instruction which is contrary to thewish of his parents.

Towards Integrating Arabie-Islamic Education 47The educational goals of a Muslim today in the light of the above discussion areclear. It is the acquisition of modem knowledge which would enable him tofunction effectively in modem life. Such modern knowledge, however, must bepermeated by Islamic ethics and values in such a way that the aims and objectivesof Islamic education can still be realised by a modern Muslim. To what extent,then, can this goal be realised in the provision made for Arabie-Islamic educationby the National Policy on Education in Nigeria?

The main problem militating against the realisation of this goal, all overth~ Muslim world, has been identified and discussed by the 1977 First WorldConference on Muslim Education held in Saudi Arabia. It is the problem inherentin the acquisition of modern knowledge which is permeated by secular concepts andmethodology. After a thorough examination of the problem it was agreed upon thatthe permanent solution lies in the complete mastery of knowledge by Muslims.This would enable them to reformulate knowledge in the context of Islamic ethics,values, concepts and methodology and re-write their own books. Knowledge wouldthen be incorporated into the Arabie-Islamic education as was the case in theclassical age. This is no doubt a challenging task for the Muslim intelligentsia allover the world. But in the meantime, the present transition in which modemknowledge and religious education form an imperfect blend in our syllabuses has tobe allowed to continue for some time. Within this imperfect blend in Nigeria, theminimum degree of Islamic education a modern Muslim is expected to have and theextent of its realisation in the provision made for it by the National Policy can stillbe determined. A Muslim, according to the recommendation of the first WorldConference on Muslim Education, should be able to read the Qur'an in Arabic evenwithout being able to understand the words," This minimum degree of Arabic-Islamic education can be easily attained with some basic teachings of Islam withinthe primary education of the National Policy. Since religious education is expectedto permeate the whole life of a Muslim including whatever subject he eventuallystudies, every Muslim is not expected to pursue Arabic-Islamic education to adegree level.

So what a Muslim needs most within the secular educational system is notthe special knowledge of Arabie-Islamic education as such, but an atmosphere, acurriculum, textbooks, suitable teachers, methodology, planning, administrationand management that are all permeated by Islamic ethics, values and concepts.Going through the National Policy, this paper is of the view that enoughopportunity is offered through the interplay of all or most of the above mentionedcategories in the context of which both Islamic and modem secular knowledge canbe offered.

~'.

The Process of Integrating Arabic-Islamic Education into theNational Policy on Education.

Eight types of formal and non-formal education are identified by the policy in aboutsix of which Arabie-Islamic education is directly involved. These include the pre-primary, primary, secondary, higher or post-secondary, teacher and adult education.Other types in which Arabie-Islamic education is not directly involved include

48 Muslim Education Quarterly

technical and special education. Both the pre-primary and the primary educationmay be combined here as the type of education given in an educational institutionto children aged three to eleven years. Among its objectives is "the character andmoral training, and the development of sound attitudes" in pursuance of which"moral and religious education is prescribed in its curricular activities." Forimproving the teaching of the subject, the government will ensure, through thevarious Ministries of Education, the production of a suitable curriculum and thetraining of teachers.

This is the foundation stage of the secular education into which the Qur'anicSchool, the Islamiyyah and the primary section of the madrasah can be integrated.Indeed, some state governments are already considering measures by which suitableQur'anic and Islamiyyah Schools, with necessary adjustment of the curricula, canbe absorbed into the primary system as a means of accelerating development inprimary education in certain areas. A certain opportunity is also offered by thepolicy since voluntary agencies, communities and individuals are welcome toestablish and manage both the pre-primary and primary schools alongside thoseprovided by the state governments, as long as they meet the minimum standard laiddown by the Federal government. As a result of this opportunity, a number ofQur'anic schools are gradually being transformed into Islamic NurserylPrimaryschools, many of which have also been established by some private individuals,Muslim cornmunities and organisations with State recognition. In such an Islamicprimary education, the pre-primary stage is able to function properly as an Islamicculture nursery, with provision of a solid foundation in Islamic education,including the ability to read the Holy Qur' an in Arabic.

With this religious background, a Muslim child proceeds to secondaryeducation, including the teacher's college, where he is offered no less anopportunity to acquire his modem knowledge within an Islamic cultural context.This suitable Islamic atmosphere can always be created in the process of teachingand through the various administrative machineries involved in the management ofthe schools. It is stated already by the policy that moral and religious instructionwill be taught in schools through the studies and practices of religion, for the merememorising of creeds and facts from the holy books is not enough. The policy alsoencourages extra-curricula activities such as youth clubs and school societies as animportant character training. In this regard, the various activities of the MuslimStudents Society, through which the youth in their formative and impressionableyears are still able to hold very fast to the cord of Islam, should be commended.Religious and moral instructions are, however, made a core subject only up to theend of the Junior Secondary School in accordance with the minimum degree ofArabie-Islamic education a Muslim is expected to have. After this level, Arabic andIslamic Studies are put in the Electives with adequate provision for those whowould like to pursue the subjects up to the university level.

From the Senior Secondary Syllabus through the tertiary institutions to theUniversity, the distinction between secular and Islamic education becomes more andmore pronounced. While the Arabie-Islamic curriculum tends to emphasisereligious sciences with the aim of producing an Islamic scholar, secular educationemphasises modem knowledge with the aim of producing a modem man who iscapable of functioning effectively in an age of industrialisation with little regards to

Towards Integrating Arabie-Islamic Education 49

his moral and spiritual welfare. This conflict climaxes in the University system,the pinnacle of secular education, with the introduction in 1961 of Arabic-Islamiceducation at the University of Ibadan following the recommendation of the AshybyCommission.IO In 1963, Arabie-Islamic education was also introduced by theAbdullah Bayero College of the Ahrnadu Bellow University, and later, by most ofthe Nigerian universities .11

At first, the system was disturbed by the inherent conflict in the study ofreligious education within a secular system. Invariably most of the universitiesoffering Arabic and Islamic Studies were plunged into a crisis in their bid toharmonise the intellectual gap between their modem secular, ethos and the religiousorientation of the subjects. In a paper presented at the University of Ibadan ArabicSeminar in 1965,12 the Provost of Abdullah Bayero College, Professor AbdullahTayyib, identified a host of problems, most of which were rooted in thisfundamental conflict. The universities were tom, for example, between meeting thesecular demands of the university system and the religious demands of Islamiceducation and those of the Muslim communities they were meant to serve. Shouldthey adopt -English in accordance with university policy as the medium ofinstruction in teaching Arabie-Islamic education instead of traditional Arabic?Should the non-Muslim orientalists be employed to instruct and their booksrecommended for use instead of Arabic textbooks in Arabic-Islamic education?

In the course of time some of the initial secular forces which had provedinsurmountable especially for the University of Ibadan as a pioneer" have beengradually overcome. This is mainly thanks to the leading role of the BayeroUniversity which has consistently identified itself with the policy of Arabie-Islamiceducation, rather than the secular policy of the University. Arabic has thuscontinued to be used as the medium of instruction with Arabic textbooks, while theappointment of non-Muslim orientalists or the use of their books has beendiscouraged in Arabic-Islamic education. At the same time, the syllabus drawn upby the universities for the subject is not inferior to that of any Arab-MuslimUniversity. This trend is becoming widespread in most Nigerian universities whereArabic-Islamic education is offered since every university is expected to identifyitself with the community it is meant' to serve. The National Policy has alsoguaranteed to the universities the academic freedom to appoint their staff, teach,determine course contents, select areas of research and disseminate the result of suchresearch. It is hoped that Arabic-Islamic education in due course will assume itsproper religious position in Nigerian universities if this opportunity is used to itsadvantage.

¥

Conclusion

I

In order to function quite effectively in an age of industrialisation, science andtechnology, a Muslim is expected to acquire modem knowledge. But this modemknowledge is permeated by secular concepts and methodology which are capable ofdestroying the cultural heritage of Islam. Since modem knowledge in itself is notharmful to Islam, its secular orientation, concepts and methodology can be replacedby that of Islam. Knowledge will then be reformulated and imbued with Islamic

50 Muslim Education Quarterlyethics and values in such a way that its acquisition by a modern Muslim will notalienate him from his tradition and religious culture.

Apart from its secular culture, modern knowledge has been identified inNigeria with Christianity and boycotted by the Muslims until they were laterimpelled to cultivate it. In accordancewith the political nationalism which gavebirth to it, the secular National Policy also introduced Arabie-Islamic educationwhich some Muslims have also boycotted for its secular orientation. They haveinstead continued to promote traditional Arabic-Islamic education which cannotequip them to function effectively in modern life. The continued abstinence from,and the preference of this traditional Islamic education to, modern knowledge arenot in the overall interest of the Muslim education in Nigeria.

There are two dimensions to the contemporary crisis in Muslim educationthe first of which was identified and discussed at the 1977 First World Conferenceon Muslim Education. The second dimension has to do with the idea of religiouseducation in the context of secular National Policy on which, after a careful reviewof the situation, a proposal for the integration of the two systems is made by thispaper. This paper proposes primarily the creation within secular the NationalPolicy of a suitable Islamic cultural medium through administration planningmanagement, financing, suitable curricula, teachers and textbooks in the context ofwhich both the modern and the Islamic education can be offered. This measure is 'II

likely to become an interim measure when the first proposal, which consists of thesubstitution of the Islamic for the secular orientation of modern knowledge, is fullyrealised.

Meanwhile, the Qur'anic and the Islamiyyah schools are expected to betransformed into pre-primary and primary stages of the National Policy. Thetraditional 'Ilm schools fall naturally within the adult and non-formal education, thetotal integration of which is expected to pose little problem. Since most of themodern Arabic schools operate at post-primary level, they are also expected to beintegrated into either of the junior or senior secondary school areas of NationalPolicy.

This is the farthest extent, in the mean time, to which a proposal to reformArabic-Islamic education within a National Education Policy in which Islam isonly accorded a political recognition along with other religions can proceed. Whilethe policy appears to be more favourable to other religions in the country, the lotof Islam and Muslims within the secular policy is still better since the governmentis religiously neutral rather than committed to a religion which would have beenthe religion of the majority. Muslims are relatively free to provide Islamiceducation for themselves and their children 14 in which some or even all of the aimsand objectives of the National Policy on Education can be easily achieved.

To conclude, in the Policy, education is regarded as an instrument of change,particularly a change in the intellectual and social outlook of any society. Such achange would be effected by the achievement of the educational objectives from thestated goals and we can say that the best knowledge education can provide is thatwhich helps to develop these ideals in the beneficiaries of education within thecountry. This ideal would invariably lead to education in two realms: education forintellectual development and education for social commitment.

Towards Integrating Arabic-Islamic Education 51Notes

1. Osokoya, L O. (1995) History and policy of Nigerian Education in WorldPerspective, Ibadan: Amo Publishers, Ibadan, p. 100.

2. By Federal Republic of Nigeria, Revised Edition, Federal Government Press, Lagos,1985.

3. Hamrnerton, J. A. The New Popular Educator, London, n. d. p. 78.4. Jameelah, M. (1968) Islam Versus Ahl al-kitab: past and present, London, pp .

103ff.5 .•. Badeau, J. S. (1958) The Land Between the Middle East, New York, p. 239.6. Ayandele, E. A. (1966) The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria, 1842-1914,

London, pp. 137-141.7. AI-Iluri, A. A. (1971) Al-Islam fi Naijiriyyah; Beirut, pp. 148-150.8. Fafunwa, A. B. (1982) History of Education in Nigeria, London, p. 209.9. Husain S. S. and S. A. Ashraf (1979) Crisis in Muslim Education, Jeddah, p. 115.10. Fafunwa, A. B. op, cit. pp. 152-56.11. The writer of this paper is well acquainted with this information as his discipline is

Arabic and Islamic Studies from first degree to Masters level.12. Tayyib, Abdullah "The Teaching of Arabic in Nigeria" in Kano Studies, No.2, July,

1966, pp. 11-14.13. At the inception of Arabic and Islamic Studies in 1961, two of the three pioneer

lecturers, Dr. B. C. Martins, Mr. J. O. Humwick and Mr. M. H. El-Masri wereChristians. The University was also impelled to admit Christian students with noearly acquaintance with Arabie-Islamic education because very few Muslims werethen qualified for admission. A model of London University, the University alsoadopts English as the medium of instruction and allows the use of orientalist booksin Arabic-Islamic education. This secular policy adopted by the University hasexposed it to criticism by many Muslim scholars. Cf, S. A. S. Galadamci,ljarakatu 'l-lughati'l- 'arabiyyak wa adabiha fi Naijiriyyah, Cairo, 1982, pp.272-77 .

14. Cf. Khugro, A. M. "Education in the Islamic Society", in S. S. Hussain and S. A.Ashraf, op. cit., pp. 45-46.