42 Muslim Education Quarterly Muslim Education Quarterly, Vol. 20, No.

1 & 2, 2003
The Islamic Academy, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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 from TOWARDS INTEGRATING ARABIC-ISLAMIC
Sa/:lllJAl-Bukhari, summarised in one volume by Muhammad Taqiuddin Al-Hilali and
Mhammad Mohsin Khan. Darussalam, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
EDUCATION INTO THE NATIONAL POLICY ON
26. The Qur'an, 24:35. EDUCATION IN NIGERIA
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. Busari Kehinde Kamorudeen
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. Introduction
36. The Internet committee of Al-Haramain Foundation, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
37. The Qur'an, 4:29-30. Since its introduction into this country about nine centuries ago, Arabic Studies
38. Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and Nasa 'i. has remained essentially a religious education. However, recently its policy,
39. The Qur'an, 5:35. objectives, curriculum and methodology have been challenged by Western
40.. Hasan bin Talal, "Respecting the sanctity of life," Conference News Daily. education. As a result of this challenge, Arabie-Islamic education in Nigeria is now
41. Daily Express, Tuesday, September 17,2002.
conducted at different levels, two of which represent definite reactions to the secular
42. The Quran, 30:30.
43. The Quran, 11:92. Christian orientation of Western education. The first reaction represents a total
44. "The Spirit of Tolerance in Islam," Muzzamil Siddiqui, url: boycott by Islam of the Western education, a reaction which is sustained to_this day
http://www.pakistanlink.comlreligion/99/05-07 .html by the survival of traditional Arabic-Islamic education which is testified by the fact
45. The Qur'an, 18:29. that the Qur'anic and 'Ilm Schools can still be found today all over the Muslim
46. The Qur'an, 24:54.
areas of the country. The second reaction is a recognition by Islam of Western
47. The Qur'an, 88:21.
48. "The Spirit of Tolerance in Islam," Muzzamil Siddiqui, url: education, some elements of which it borrows to modemise its traditional system
Http://www.Crescent<http://www.crescenntl>life.comlspiritualityltolerance-islamic- as madrasah or Islamiyyah schools. There is, thirdly, the introduction of Arabic-
perspective.htm Islamic Studies within the National Policy on education.'
49. Harun Yahya, People of the Book and the Muslims. However, the curricula of both traditional and modem Arabic-Islamic
50. Ibid.
education are still confmed to religion with a veneer of secular subjects. The
51. The Qur' an, 42:37.
52. The Qur'an, 42:40. continuation of these systems is not therefore in the overall interest of Muslim
53. The Qur'an,16:126-127. education in Nigeria since they could not adequately equip Muslims to function
54. The Qur'an, 12:92. quite effectively in our contemporary age of industrialisation. There is, on the other
hand, the secular national education which offers both Arabie-Islamic and modem
education. Permeated by secular, Western and Christian concepts, ethics and values,
this system was initially suspected and boycotted by many Muslims. Their
resistance, however, was soon broken by the evolving economic and political order,
which now impels them to cultivate the modem secular education despite its
Western orientation? •
Muslims, however, are still sceptical of the idea of an Arabie-Islamic
education within a secular, Western and Christian education system. They have
therefore refused to allow the traditional Arabie-Islamic education to be integrated
into the 6-3-3-4 system of National Policy on education. The aim of this paper is
 44 Muslim Education Quarterly
to attempt to break through some of the myths behind this scepticism in order to
be able to contribute positively to the achievement of the aims of the National
Policy on education and invariably pave the way also for the eventual integration of
the 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 the
National Policy on Education and its identification with Christianity for which
reason it has continued to be boycotted by Muslims. The economic and political
pressure which eventually imposed this secular policy on Islamic education,
notionally in Nigeria but allover the Muslim world, is briefly examined. This is
followed by a close examination of the National Policy and a proposal for how the
traditional 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 be
traced to the great French philosopher, Rene Descartes (1596-1650) whose
teachings contributed to the Renaissance, Industrial Revolution, Reformation and
the French Revolution. As a system of knowledge, it is sceptical of religious truth
and opposed to its education. It concerns itself only with the affairs of this world
and would have nothing to do with life after death. It is based, above all, on
rational thinking as opposed to intuition, agnosticism or revelation on which
religious education is essentially based. Through the revival of learning, men leamt
::
to question the validity of authoritative dogmas, and to apply to the Scripture the
.il test of reason. Generally known as modem secular thought, this system of
education is, therefore, a revolt against all religions, the cross as well as the
crescent.
In Europe, Christianity was the first victim. After its temporal power had
first been challenged, its ecclesiastical authority was also challenged by the
Wittenberg professor, Martin Luther (d. 1546). The Pope Leo X, like his
predecessors, had proposed to issue for sale indulgences, the purchase of which was
popularly supposed to assure the purchaser of pardon for his or her sins. This
popular belief, however, was challenged by Luther, who had come to the
conclusion that the power of forgiving sins did not like with the Pope, and that
pardon for sins, at any rate, could not be purchased. Such indulgences were
therefore, declared an enormous and blasphemous fraud. This event marked the
beginning of a series of developments which culminated in the secularisation of
Christianity.
In the 1897 convention held in Philadelphia, Judaism was also secularised.
According to the manifesto adopted on the occasion, the Mosaic Law as interpreted
by the Talmud, was declared to be in conflict with modem thought and thus no
longer binding on modem Jews. The historical accuracy of the Bible as divine
revelation was, above all, rejected with insistence that it should always be
interpreted allegorically."Like these two monotheistic religions which it has come
to confirm, classical Islamic thought, since before the last century, has also
become 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 imperial
forces, Christianity had managed, through the Protestant church in particular, to
effect a fragile reconciliation between itself and modem secular thought. According
to one Christian writer:
The Protestant or Roman Catholic Missionary is never simply a
Christian, he is always a Western Christian, carrying with him the
fresh and modem outlook of the Western world as well as the
Gospel.'
This is the form in which modem secular education was introduced into Nigeria,
like many other Muslim countries. So between 1840 when Missionaries arrived in
southern Nigeria and 1897 when the British had their first military clash with the
Sokoto Caliphate, colonialism had sufficiently identified itself with the missionary
activities. Apart from its military aid to the missionaries against the Pagans, and
the Muslims in the South, the Colonial administration also allowed the educational
programme to be made by the Church, the "main gate into the kingdom of
Heaven." Indeed, no practical distinction was ever made between the administrative,
the commercial and the religious arms of the British occupation until such a
distinction was forced upon Lord Lugard by the existing religio-political structure
of the Sokoto Caliphate after its occupation in 1903.6
In these circumstances, it was simply very difficult for Muslims to
distinguish between what was essentially Christianity and what was secular
education. The situation was further confused by the adoption of the Christian
calendar and the English language within secular education and the :colonial
government. The whole idea of colonisation, the growth of nationalism and party
politics, secular education, scie.ntific and technological inventions were, therefore,
viewed traditionally as basically Christian and were nothing but a cold crusade
against Islam.' That was resisted as much as possible and one of the best ways of
doing this was to boycott Christian-oriented secular education with all its political
and economic advantages.
Economic and Political Impacts of the Secular Education on
Arabie-Islamic Education
It was not long, however, before the setting up of Western education beside
traditional Islamic edncation generally became a serious threat to the survival of the
latter. In addition to the challenges posed by physical organisation of curriculum
and methodology, Rausa, Kanuri, Fulani, Nupe, Yoruba and other languages
spoken by Nigerian Muslims were encouraged to be written in the Roman, instead
of Arabic, script. Above all, the burgeoning socio-economic and political order was
rendering Arabie-Islamic education "increasingly irrelevant to the new life. The
situation is laconically described by the following quotation:
With the coming of the British colonialists came also a big crisis for
Islamic education in Nigeria. The skills given by traditional Islamic
46 Muslim Education Quarterly
education seemed to be of little help in the modem world of
commerce, industry and improved agriculture. The administrative
machinery was also gradually becoming more and more
sophisticated, and this placed greater demands on the natives as it
required slightly different sorts of skills. The change they were being
called upon to make was not merely one requiring the natives to
change their Arabic or Hausa for English. It was also to involve their
whole way of life."
In the subsequent political developments among which the nationalist struggle for
independence was crucial, Nigerian Muslims had no alternative but to cooperate and
join forces with their non-Muslim compatriots to fight for political liberation and
build a modem nation on the basis of a common territory rather than a common
faith. Like many non-Arab Muslim nations, the Nigerian Muslim must have
looked in vain towards Cairo, Makkah and Istanbul for political liberation from
colonialism. But the Arab-Islamic world had been plunged into the same political
and intellectual crisis, the temporary solution to which was offered by Arab
~'.
nationalism. Since independence this secular nationalism, in many Muslim
countries including Nigeria has remained the political order on which most of the
contemporary development policies in arts, literature, education and so on are
based. It is from this secular nationalism that the National Policy on Education in
Nigeria has evolved to superimpose itself on Arabie-Islamic education which is
based on the universal concept of the Ummah. The policy accordingly emphasises
"the inculcation of national consciousness and national unity" in its aims and
objectives.
While Islamic education views the whole concept of education from a
religious perspective, secular education does the exact opposite. Islamic education,
for instance, is concerned with the welfare of mankind in both this world and the
hereafter, but secular education is concerned only with the affairs of this life. While
religious education makes God the centre of the universe in relation to whom other
creatures and phenomena are explained, secular education makes a human being the
centre of the universe which it then tries to explain without reference to God.
Religion in secular education is consequently reduced to a human intervention and
treated like any other subject. As a result of this secular philosophy, its education
has continued to promote materialism through industrialisation, science and
technology at the expense of the moral and spiritual values of mankind. Muslims
therefore prefer their own Islamic education which, although cannot provide them
with modern knowledge, upholds moral and spiritual values.
However, the political circumstances which imposed the National Policy
could not have recognised the Arabie-Islamic education in its political context.
Neither the traditional nor the modem Arabie-Islamic education is therefore
reckoned 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-Islamic
education. The policy also makes it clear in its philosophy that opportunity will
continue to be made available for religious instruction which is contrary to the
wish of his parents.
Towards Integrating Arabie-Islamic Education 47
The educational goals of a Muslim today in the light of the above discussion are
clear. It is the acquisition of modem knowledge which would enable him to
function effectively in modem life. Such modern knowledge, however, must be
permeated by Islamic ethics and values in such a way that the aims and objectives
of 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 education
by the National Policy on Education in Nigeria?
The main problem militating against the realisation of this goal, all over
th~ Muslim world, has been identified and discussed by the 1977 First World
Conference on Muslim Education held in Saudi Arabia. It is the problem inherent
in the acquisition of modern knowledge which is permeated by secular concepts and
methodology. After a thorough examination of the problem it was agreed upon that
the 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 would
then be incorporated into the Arabie-Islamic education as was the case in the
classical age. This is no doubt a challenging task for the Muslim intelligentsia all
over the world. But in the meantime, the present transition in which modem
knowledge and religious education form an imperfect blend in our syllabuses has to
be allowed to continue for some time. Within this imperfect blend in Nigeria, the
minimum degree of Islamic education a modern Muslim is expected to have and the
extent of its realisation in the provision made for it by the National Policy can still
be determined. A Muslim, according to the recommendation of the first World
Conference on Muslim Education, should be able to read the Qur'an in Arabic even
without being able to understand the words," This minimum degree of Arabic-
Islamic education can be easily attained with some basic teachings of Islam within
the primary education of the National Policy. Since religious education is expected
to permeate the whole life of a Muslim including whatever subject he eventually
studies, every Muslim is not expected to pursue Arabic-Islamic education to a
degree level.
So what a Muslim needs most within the secular educational system is not
the special knowledge of Arabie-Islamic education as such, but an atmosphere, a
curriculum, textbooks, suitable teachers, methodology, planning, administration
and management that are all permeated by Islamic ethics, values and concepts.
Going through the National Policy, this paper is of the view that enough
opportunity is offered through the interplay of all or most of the above mentioned
categories in the context of which both Islamic and modem secular knowledge can
be offered.
The Process of Integrating Arabic-Islamic Education into the
National Policy on Education.
Eight types of formal and non-formal education are identified by the policy in about
six 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 education
may be combined here as the type of education given in an educational institution
to children aged three to eleven years. Among its objectives is "the character and
moral training, and the development of sound attitudes" in pursuance of which
"moral and religious education is prescribed in its curricular activities." For
improving the teaching of the subject, the government will ensure, through the
various Ministries of Education, the production of a suitable curriculum and the
training of teachers.
This is the foundation stage of the secular education into which the Qur'anic
School, the Islamiyyah and the primary section of the madrasah can be integrated.
Indeed, some state governments are already considering measures by which suitable
Qur'anic and Islamiyyah Schools, with necessary adjustment of the curricula, can
be absorbed into the primary system as a means of accelerating development in
primary education in certain areas. A certain opportunity is also offered by the
policy since voluntary agencies, communities and individuals are welcome to
establish and manage both the pre-primary and primary schools alongside those
provided by the state governments, as long as they meet the minimum standard laid
down by the Federal government. As a result of this opportunity, a number of
Qur'anic schools are gradually being transformed into Islamic NurserylPrimary
schools, many of which have also been established by some private individuals,
Muslim cornmunities and organisations with State recognition. In such an Islamic
primary education, the pre-primary stage is able to function properly as an Islamic
culture 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 secondary
education, including the teacher's college, where he is offered no less an
opportunity to acquire his modem knowledge within an Islamic cultural context.
This suitable Islamic atmosphere can always be created in the process of teaching
and through the various administrative machineries involved in the management of
the schools. It is stated already by the policy that moral and religious instruction
will be taught in schools through the studies and practices of religion, for the mere
memorising of creeds and facts from the holy books is not enough. The policy also
encourages extra-curricula activities such as youth clubs and school societies as an
important character training. In this regard, the various activities of the Muslim
Students Society, through which the youth in their formative and impressionable
years 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 the
end of the Junior Secondary School in accordance with the minimum degree of
Arabie-Islamic education a Muslim is expected to have. After this level, Arabic and
Islamic Studies are put in the Electives with adequate provision for those who
would like to pursue the subjects up to the university level.
From the Senior Secondary Syllabus through the tertiary institutions to the
University, the distinction between secular and Islamic education becomes more and
more pronounced. While the Arabie-Islamic curriculum tends to emphasise
religious sciences with the aim of producing an Islamic scholar, secular education
emphasises modem knowledge with the aim of producing a modem man who is
capable 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-Islamic
education at the University of Ibadan following the recommendation of the Ashyby
Commission.IO In 1963, Arabie-Islamic education was also introduced by the
Abdullah Bayero College of the Ahrnadu Bellow University, and later, by most of
the Nigerian universities .11
At first, the system was disturbed by the inherent conflict in the study of
religious education within a secular system. Invariably most of the universities
offering Arabic and Islamic Studies were plunged into a crisis in their bid to
harmonise the intellectual gap between their modem secular, ethos and the religious
orientation of the subjects. In a paper presented at the University of Ibadan Arabic
Seminar in 1965,12 the Provost of Abdullah Bayero College, Professor Abdullah
Tayyib, identified a host of problems, most of which were rooted in this
fundamental conflict. The universities were tom, for example, between meeting the
secular demands of the university system and the religious demands of Islamic
education and those of the Muslim communities they were meant to serve. Should
¥ they adopt -English in accordance with university policy as the medium of
instruction in teaching Arabie-Islamic education instead of traditional Arabic?
Should the non-Muslim orientalists be employed to instruct and their books
recommended for use instead of Arabic textbooks in Arabic-Islamic education?
In the course of time some of the initial secular forces which had proved
insurmountable especially for the University of Ibadan as a pioneer" have been
gradually overcome. This is mainly thanks to the leading role of the Bayero
University which has consistently identified itself with the policy of Arabie-Islamic
education, rather than the secular policy of the University. Arabic has thus
continued to be used as the medium of instruction with Arabic textbooks, while the
appointment of non-Muslim orientalists or the use of their books has been
discouraged in Arabic-Islamic education. At the same time, the syllabus drawn up
by the universities for the subject is not inferior to that of any Arab-Muslim
University. This trend is becoming widespread in most Nigerian universities where
Arabic-Islamic education is offered since every university is expected to identify
itself with the community it is meant' to serve. The National Policy has also
guaranteed to the universities the academic freedom to appoint their staff, teach,
determine course contents, select areas of research and disseminate the result of such
research. It is hoped that Arabic-Islamic education in due course will assume its
proper religious position in Nigerian universities if this opportunity is used to its
advantage.
Conclusion
In order to function quite effectively in an age of industrialisation, science and
technology, a Muslim is expected to acquire modem knowledge. But this modem
knowledge is permeated by secular concepts and methodology which are capable of
destroying the cultural heritage of Islam. Since modem knowledge in itself is not
harmful to Islam, its secular orientation, concepts and methodology can be replaced
I
by that of Islam. Knowledge will then be reformulated and imbued with Islamic
50 Muslim Education Quarterly
Towards Integrating Arabic-Islamic Education 51
ethics and values in such a way that its acquisition by a modern Muslim will not Notes
alienate him from his tradition and religious culture.
Apart from its secular culture, modern knowledge has been identified in 1. Osokoya, L O. (1995) History and policy of Nigerian Education in World
Nigeria with Christianity and boycotted by the Muslims until they were later Perspective, Ibadan: Amo Publishers, Ibadan, p. 100.
impelled to cultivate it. In accordance with the political nationalism which gave 2. By Federal Republic of Nigeria, Revised Edition, Federal Government Press, Lagos,
1985.
birth to it, the secular National Policy also introduced Arabie-Islamic education
3. Hamrnerton, J. A. The New Popular Educator, London, n. d. p. 78.
which some Muslims have also boycotted for its secular orientation. They have 4. Jameelah, M. (1968) Islam Versus Ahl al-kitab: past and present, London, pp .
instead continued to promote traditional Arabic-Islamic education which cannot 103ff.
equip them to function effectively in modern life. The continued abstinence from, 5 .•. Badeau, J. S. (1958) The Land Between the Middle East, New York, p. 239.
and the preference of this traditional Islamic education to, modern knowledge are 6. Ayandele, E. A. (1966) The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria, 1842-1914,
London, pp. 137-141.
not in the overall interest of the Muslim education in Nigeria.
7. AI-Iluri, A. A. (1971) Al-Islam fi Naijiriyyah; Beirut, pp. 148-150.
There are two dimensions to the contemporary crisis in Muslim education 8. Fafunwa, A. B. (1982) History of Education in Nigeria, London, p. 209.
the first of which was identified and discussed at the 1977 First World Conference 9. Husain S. S. and S. A. Ashraf (1979) Crisis in Muslim Education, Jeddah, p. 115.
on Muslim Education. The second dimension has to do with the idea of religious 10. Fafunwa, A. B. op, cit. pp. 152-56.
education in the context of secular National Policy on which, after a careful review 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.
of the situation, a proposal for the integration of the two systems is made by this
12. Tayyib, Abdullah "The Teaching of Arabic in Nigeria" in Kano Studies, No.2, July,
paper. This paper proposes primarily the creation within secular the National 1966, pp. 11-14.
Policy of a suitable Islamic cultural medium through administration planning 13. At the inception of Arabic and Islamic Studies in 1961, two of the three pioneer
management, financing, suitable curricula, teachers and textbooks in the context of lecturers, Dr. B. C. Martins, Mr. J. O. Humwick and Mr. M. H. El-Masri were
which both the modern and the Islamic education can be offered. This measure is 'II Christians. The University was also impelled to admit Christian students with no
likely to become an interim measure when the first proposal, which consists of the early acquaintance with Arabie-Islamic education because very few Muslims were
then qualified for admission. A model of London University, the University also
substitution of the Islamic for the secular orientation of modern knowledge, is fully adopts English as the medium of instruction and allows the use of orientalist books
realised. in Arabic-Islamic education. This secular policy adopted by the University has
Meanwhile, the Qur'anic and the Islamiyyah schools are expected to be exposed it to criticism by many Muslim scholars. Cf, S. A. S. Galadamci,
transformed into pre-primary and primary stages of the National Policy. The ljarakatu 'l-lughati'l- 'arabiyyak wa adabiha fi Naijiriyyah, Cairo, 1982, pp.
272-77 .
traditional 'Ilm schools fall naturally within the adult and non-formal education, the
14. Cf. Khugro, A. M. "Education in the Islamic Society", in S. S. Hussain and S. A.
total integration of which is expected to pose little problem. Since most of the Ashraf, op. cit., pp. 45-46.
modern Arabic schools operate at post-primary level, they are also expected to be
integrated into either of the junior or senior secondary school areas of National
Policy.
This is the farthest extent, in the mean time, to which a proposal to reform
Arabic-Islamic education within a National Education Policy in which Islam is
only accorded a political recognition along with other religions can proceed. While
the policy appears to be more favourable to other religions in the country, the lot
of Islam and Muslims within the secular policy is still better since the government
is religiously neutral rather than committed to a religion which would have been
the religion of the majority. Muslims are relatively free to provide Islamic
education for themselves and their children 14 in which some or even all of the aims
and 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 a
change would be effected by the achievement of the educational objectives from the
stated goals and we can say that the best knowledge education can provide is that
which helps to develop these ideals in the beneficiaries of education within the
country. This ideal would invariably lead to education in two realms: education for
intellectual development and education for social commitment.