Islamization of knowledge a jihad for muslim intellectulas

ISLAMIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE: A JIHAD FOR

MUSLIM INTELLECTUALS

BY

DR. RAFIU IBRAHIM ADEBAYO

E-mail address: [email protected]

Phone number: 0703 546 7292, 0805 978 3314

DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIONS, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN,

P.M.B. 1515, ILORIN,NIGERIA.

ABSTRACT

The current trend in Islamic thought - Islamization of

knowledge, is becoming a global issue in the Muslim world.

0

Scholars in various disciplines have been striving tirelessly to

recast knowledge in its entirety, from the Islamic perspective.

The proliferation of Muslim schools in Nigeria is an indication

of the Muslims’ awareness of the programme. However, most

of these Muslim schools are yet to grasp the major intent of

the programme as they regard mere inclusion of Islamic

Studies and Arabic in the school curricula as Islamization of

knowledge. This paper exposes the expected Islamization

agenda of Muslim schools with particular reference to private

Islamic nursery schools. In this wise, the programmes of

studies, activities and guidance in the school set-up are given

Islamic touch.

INTRODUCTION

Pre-primary education according to the National Policy on

Education is “the education given in an educational institution to children

aged three to five plus prior their entering the primary school.”1 The first

five years of a child are very crucial and important in his life as whatever

he is exposed to during the period has a serious and lasting effect on him

in future. No serious government takes the education of her citizens at

that stage with levity. In France, the central government shares the

largest responsibility of the total cost of educating the children while the

local authority provides the remainder. In England and Wales, it is the

local authorities that control and administer the pre-school education

through nationally prepared guidelines. In West Germany, the pre-

primary institutions are privately owned.2 This is equally the case in

Nigeria.

As precious as the pre-primary education is, it is sad to note that it

received an unappreciable attention by the Nigeria government and

1

citizens for a long time. The National Curriculum Conference held in

Lagos in September 1969 as historic as it was, failed to address any issue

related to pre-primary education. Rather, it focused much on primary,

secondary, tertiary education, teacher education, science and technical

education as well as women education.3 The 6-3-3-4 system of education

is silent about pre-primary education as well. It was not until recently that

the Federal Government of Nigeria broke its silence on it and realized the

need to have a say in the conduct of nursery education and thus clearly

stated the purpose and direction of pre-primary education in Nigeria in

the National Policy on Education (NPE) published in 1977 and revised in

1981and 1998. This policy stipulates that the first ladder of education

would be handled and manned by private individuals but monitored by

the government.4 Consequently, the Nigerian Educational Research

Council (N.E.R.C) started to organize series of seminars, workshops and

lectures to educate proprietors of nursery schools on how the goals of

nursery education could be achieved.

The indelibility of the knowledge acquired by young and innocent

children suggests the paramount importance of early childhood

education. Knowledge in childhood is likened to an engraved mark on a

rock, which is difficult to rub off. As it is better to train boys than to mend

men, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (P.B.O.H.) emphatically mentioned it

that children must be religiously educated in their early stages. He asked

parents to command their children to be observing salat when they are

seven years of age. In another instance, he observed that the moment a

child is able to distinguish between the left and the right hands, he

should be commanded to pray. They should have been given elementary

knowledge of Islam before this time. This is because a child could only

be asked to pray after he had been taught what to say while praying,

how to pray, whom to pray to and other pre-requisites of prayer. Sowing

the seed of Iman and Islam in the heart of children was not taken lightly

2

by the companions of the prophet. Once a man was arrested by the

police for drinking in Ramadan and when the case was brought before

‘Umar, he remarked: “Woe to you! Even our children are keeping fast in

this month”5

Pre-primary education is not a new development among Muslims in

Nigeria. The first stage of Qur’anic education started as early as the third

year of life. Before the advent of Western education in the country, early

Islamic and Qur’anic education was given prominence among the

Muslims. Classes were held at the Mallams’ houses under the shade of

trees and in the mosque premises. Major Denham and Captain

Clapperton observed that such schools were scattered all over Nigeria as

they saw them in places like Kuka, Katsina and Sokoto between 1821 and

1830. In 1961 there were about 27,600 Quranic schools with a total of

about 423,000 pupils in northern Nigeria.6 In this level of education,

emphasis was laid on learning shorter chapters of the Qur’an through

repetition and by rote, alphabets of the Arabic language as well as

acquisition of some writing skills.

In the Nigeria situation, the reasons for establishing contemporary

nursery institutions are summed up in the words of Orebanjo who says:

The increasing awareness in education resulting from the UPE

(Universal Primary Education) scheme, the need for working

mothers to leave their children in safe hands, the dwindling number

of domestic hands, nannies and grandmothers and others factors

led to the establishment of these Institutions in urban and rural

areas.7

It is an undeniable fact that nursery schools are established to

create an atmosphere conducive for the children to use language for

3

comparing, describing, analyzing and explaining. The language is no

other than English. The mother tongue is thus relegated to the lowest

ebb. Under the pretext of providing the above opportunities for children,

the Christians started establishing nursery institutions as a means of

transforming and preserving their religious culture and tenets. The

failure of the Muslims to realize that education is a product of a particular

worldview and is tailored towards some particular socio-historical and

civilizational contexts, made them register their children and wards into

these Christian oriented schools. Before they realized it, their children

had started praying in Jesus name, closing their eyes while praying and

shouting Halleluyah. The little Islamic culture imbibed from home was

technically knocked out of their hearts and instead of developing interest

in their religion, they are taught to hate it unconsciously.

The reaction of some conscious Muslim organizations and

individuals to the evangelization plot of the Christians via nursery

education culminated in the establishment of Muslim nursery schools

where Muslim working parents could leave their children to be exposed to

western education without losing their religious identity. The dwindling

patronage of Qur’anic schools by Muslims equally calls for the

establishment of Islamically oriented nursery schools. Except in rear

cases, most Qur’anic schools operate only in the afternoon for children to

attend after their normal western school hours.8 The financial constraints

facing most of the Quranic schools as a result of running ‘free education’

by them forced many of these schools to metamorphosise into Islamic

nursery primary schools where fees are charged and parents are ready to

pay.

The involvement of Muslims in the contemporary nursery education

business is a new development in Nigeria. Schools of such are expected

to carry out dual roles of meeting the challenges of western education as

4

well as creating an environment conducive for learning Islamic oriented

disciplines. In the bid to combine these two responsibilities, many of

these schools have fallen into either of the two extremes of introducing

too much Arabic subjects to their curriculum or rather giving too much

western subjects priority that Islamic ones are gradually elbowed out.

Thus, the need to propound an agenda towards Islamizing the curriculum

of Islamic nursery schools to enable them function effectively in the two

realms of western and Islamic contexts.

A CRITIQUE OF THE DOMINANT NURSERY SCHOOL CURRICULUM.

Various attempts to define, classify, analyze and conceptualize the

word ‘curriculum’ have resulted into loss of some of its essential realities.

While some take it to mean what teachers teach and what learners learn,

it is a synonym of syllabus, course of study, scheme of work, lesson note

or lesson plan to some. However, such mean and shallow definitions

have been rectified by Wilkins who sees curriculum as ‘the overall

learning programme in a school which covers time-tabled lessons, sports,

social activities and all other facilities through which the school aids the

development of its pupils.’9 In other words, curriculum consists of the

programme of studies, programme of activities and programmes of

guidance. The programme of studies refers to all academic subjects

offered in schools, while the programme of activities includes inter-

scholastic and inter-moral activities like athletics, school publications,

music programmes, clubs and societies, all which vitalize the curriculum.

The programme of guidance involves guidance services rendered in the

school. Concisely, curriculum is the totality of all the experiences,

planned or unplanned, which the child is exposed to in the four walls of

the school.

The profanity of the aims and objectives of the dominant nursery

school curriculum is one of the serious setbacks of the curriculum. The

5

secularist modernist worldview as well as the dismissal of God as a major

characteristic of western education generally raises its ugly head in the

nursery curriculum. According to the Nigerian Educational Research

Council, the general goals of nursery education in Nigeria are:

(i.) To effect a smooth transition from home to school and to provide

adequate care and supervision for the children while their parents

are at work;

(ii.) To help the child to adjust to social norms;

(iii.) To inculcate in the child a spirit of enquiry and creativity through the

exploration of nature and the local environment, playing with toys,

and artistic and musical activities, etc;

(iv.) To teach good habits especially good health; and

(v.) To teach the child the basic academic skills.10

One important manifestation of the goals is that they are tailored

towards producing godless children who right from the onset of their

lives are devoid of seeking knowledge of their creator. It thus

produces a materialistic personality in the individual who looks at

religion and spiritual needs as private and not basic to human life on

this earth.11

In realisation of the above objectives, subjects like Creative Art,

Social Norms, Physical and Health Education, Language and

Communication Skills, Mathematical Skills as well as Scientific and

Reflective Thinking are prescribed by the Nigerian Educational Research

Council for nursery schools. Guidelines on these subjects are made

available for effective teaching and learning.12 This further reveals the

secularist tendency of nursery education curriculum. In this curriculum

guideline, religious education is conspicuously not included. Education

without religion is like tea without sugar, a zombie or rather, a body

without soul, and the absence of soul in the body makes it hopeless,

6

useless and valueless. Mutahheri aptly observes the result of such kind

of education when he says:

Knowledge without faith is a sharp sword in the hand of a

drunken brute. It is a lamp in the hand of a thief to help him

pick up the best articles at midnight. That is why there is not

the least difference in the nature and conduct of the faithless

man of today who has knowledge and the faithless man of

yesterday who had no knowledge. After all what is the

difference between the Churchills, Johnsons, Nixons and

Stalins of today and the Pharaohs, Genglis Khans and Attilas

of yore?13

Apart from the above, any education aiming at effecting a smooth

transition from home to school but which lacks religious education at that

crucial level of education may be contrary to the cultural state of the

environment which education must portray. It thus becomes irrelevant to

Nigerians majority of who profess one religion or the other; hence the

first goal of nursery education is rendered unachievable. Realizing this

shortcoming in the nursery curriculum, some schools introduced

Religious Education into their curriculum. A sort of window dressing

Islamic Studies is introduced into some so-called Islamic nursery schools

curriculum as a subject thereby giving the false impression that pure

Islamic tenets are imparted to the young ones. Or what can we say of

some Christian proprietors who include Islamic Studies as a subject into

their schools’ curriculum to lure unconscious Muslim parents to bring

their children to their schools? This attitude is confirmed by Salaudeen

when he writes:

The inclusion of Islamic Studies in most of the nursery

schools is simply to make them attractive to Muslim parents

7

who will assume that the aspect of Islamic education is being

taken care of. In fact, it is merely window- dressing14

The force of homogenization, hegemonization and Europeanization

in the name of globalization has eroded not only the Islamic culture from

the innocent minds of the young pupils, but also their natural language.

The medium of instruction in the conventional nursery schools is English.

The standard of nursery schools is measured by the level of their

students’ mastery of the language. Without any scintilla of doubt,

English is the lingua franca in every nursery school in Nigeria. This

however is, at the expense of the mother tongue, which according to the

National Policy on Education should be the prescribed language of

instruction at that level of education.15 This creates a gap between the

theory and practice of education in the country. According to Fafunwa,

instruction through the mother tongue at the early stage of education

helps to develop curiosity, manipulative ability, manual dexterity,

mechanical comprehension and co-ordination of the hand and eye.16 One

evil effect of emphasizing foreign language over mother tongues is that it

isolates children from their culture and from their nature. They thus

become specialists in foreign language, unable to use their own mother

tongue and unable to function well in their own world. Thus, education at

this stage fails to play the role of cultural transformation and

preservation, whereas according to Al-Attas “education preserves the

basic structure of society by conserving all that is worthwhile in basic

values and institutions by transmitting them to the next generation and

by renewing culture afresh whenever degeneration, stagnation or loss of

values occurs.”17

Another significant problem with nursery education in Nigeria is the

siting of the nursery schools. There is nothing to write home about in the

location of some of these schools. The use of residential houses and

8

face-to-face type of rooms as classrooms is one of the common

characteristics of nursery schools in the country. Some are even located

very near market squares directly to the main road, while large halls,

verandas, garages and sheds with varying degrees of ventilation,

sanitation, illumination, equipment and infrastructure are the physical

features of many of these schools. As a result of non-availability of space

in some of these schools, the provision for outdoor activities is grossly

inadequate while the manner of overcrowding of pupils in the classrooms

is quite outrageous. The case is not different even in public primary

schools. Lamenting on the pathetic status of public primary schools, the

ex-minister of Education, Iyorchia Ayu noted, “not many schools could

boast of desks, dusters, chalk and staff quarters. Overcrowded

classrooms and dilapidated structures remained the typical feature of

primary school system.”18

Another glaring shortcoming of the government policy on nursery

education is that it makes no provision for the government’s pre-primary

schools, which can serve as model for the ones established by private

individuals and voluntary organizations. Coupled with this is the

influence of materialism on the government itself. At different levels,

government charges exorbitant amount of money as registration and

annual renewal fees. This step reduces nursery education to middle

cadre of the society who can afford the high fees charged by these

schools in order for them to meet the financial demand of the

government. Thus, government regulations guiding the establishment of

private nursery schools connotes that the proprietors must not

necessarily need to be qualified professionally, nor committed to the

needs of children, but must be rich enough to pay the exorbitant amount

as registration and renewal fees to the government purse. The throat-

cutting school fees consequent upon the government charges no doubt

adds to the burden of the Muslims community as many could not afford

9

to pay due to the size of the family in addition to other factors such as

indolence, laziness, insensitivity on their part as noticed by Shehu.19 Thus

the backwardness of the Muslims in the acquisition of nursery education

is imminent.

With the little critical appraisal of the contemporary nursery

education system, we contend that there is the need for the Muslims to

design and formulate their own nursery education agenda by Islamizing

the curriculum of the Muslim schools or else they found their schools as

centres of promoting anti-Islamic education, centres of Islamic

marginalisation and centres of breeding Muslim children against the

worldview and culture of their religion.

AN AGENDA FOR ISLAMIC NURSERY SCHOOLS.

The only available agenda for all Islamic nursery schools is no other

than Islamizing their curriculum. This agenda becomes incontestable in

view of the dual roles expected of any Islamic school namely functioning

effectively as a centre of Islamic culture propagation and production of

candidates who will be effectively functional in the contemporary Nigeria

situation in terms of western education. Failure to Islamize the

curriculum, an Islamic school will incredulously be undoing its worldview

and will be producing unIslamic Muslims. This is equally the view of Qutb

who succinctly put forward two suggestions on how to avoid such a

pathetic situation, saying:

If we are serious about giving religion its true place in

educational curricula, we have to do two things almost

simultaneously. Fist, we must not restrict religious guidance

to the formal traditional lesson. Second, we must reconsider

the syllabuses devised for this particular lesson and re-

evaluate them in most parts of the Muslim world. The

objective of religious education is to produce a Muslim man

10

or woman. This end cannot be achieved through a few

disintegrated pieces of religious information to be learnt by

heart and tested at the end of the school year, especially if

one’s concepts, attitudes, morals and modes of behaviour are

all non- or anti- Islamic.20

A curriculum becomes Islamized when its programmes of studies,

activities and guidance in a school are enriched and vitalised with Islamic

teachings and principles. So, by Islamization of curriculum, we mean the

practice of intellectual activity and other planned and unplanned

activities in the school based on the Islamic concept of the universe, life

and man, which a child is exposed to under the control of the school. In

this regard, the agenda of Islamizing the curriculum involves the

following:

(a) Reformulation of aims and objectives of Nursery Education:

The secular nature of western education has been a major

concern for the Muslim intellectuals. The mundane and profane

nature of western education takes care of the terrestrial world with

no consideration at all for the celestial world. Thus a

comprehensive Islamic philosophy of education was defined in the

First World Conference on Muslim Education in 1977 that:

Education should aim at the balanced growth of the

total personality of Man through the training of Man’s

spirit, intellect, rational self, feelings and bodily senses.

Education should cater therefore for the growth of Man

in all its aspects: spiritual, intellectual, imaginative,

physical, scientific, linguistic, both individually and

collectively and motivate all aspects towards goodness

and the attainment of perfection. The ultimate aim of

Muslim education lies in the realisation of complete

11

submission to Allah on the level of the individual, the

community and humanity at large.21

The above aim of education shows a balanced interaction

between the belief system, the knowledge system and the value

system, which does not exist in the western education system. As

such, we want to uphold the aims and objectives for setting up an

Islamic nursery school as itemized by a scholar thus:

(i) To prepare and train the future generation to work as agents of

Allah on earth.

(ii) To inculcate in the child the sense of love, care, affection; humility,

equity, honesty, integrity, justice and other values based on Islamic

ethics.

(iii) To develop in the child a spirit of enquiry and creativity through the

exploration of nature and local environment so that he becomes

conscious of his responsibility to develop himself and his

environment for the benefit of human race and his consequent

accountability in the next world.

(iv) To teach the child the basic academic skills based on Islamic

epistemology.

(v) To produce a conducive Islamic environment for the proper

upbringing of the child and the development of his faculties to

realise the full potential of people.

(vi) To put in place amenities both human and material for all round

development of the child, spiritually, morally, mentally, culturally

and materially in preparation for the adult life.22

(b) Reconstruction of Programmes of Studies:

For any Islamic nursery school to function effectively in

contemporary modern life and for its products to interact

meaningfully with their immediate environment, adoption of the

12

western curriculum is very essential. However such curriculum

needs to be adapted to suit Islamic taste. In other words, it needs

to be enriched with Islamic ethics and values in such a way that the

aims and objectives of Islamic education will be realised in the

realm of western curriculum. Through this its profane and secular

nature will be substituted with divine and spiritual values. It is our

considered opinion that the following subjects are expected to be

taught from Islamic perspective in Islamic nursery schools:

(i) Mathematical Skills:

The knowledge of mathematics becomes imperative in any

Islamic school curriculum considering its indispensability in

religious rituals and practices like salat, zakat, hajj and other

religious ceremonies that require scientific understanding of the

lunar calendar. The laws of inheritance as well as waqf requires

proper knowledge of mathematics too.

Counting and recognizing number symbols as well as shapes

and colours will be of immense assistance for nursery school

children to identify objects, colours of vehicles, car numbers and

home addresses. Proper handling of the subject by competent

teachers will assist the pupils to recognise the mighty power of

Allah in creating natural objects in various sizes and colours. As

the Qur’an encourages finding solutions to problems, pupils are

also exposed to solving mathematical problems using counting

sticks, bottle top, stones, seeds matchsticks and some other

materials. With this they are able to count and make simple

calculations with numbers. Though the mathematics curriculum of

the western education system seems neutral, we feel it can be

coloured ‘Islamic’ by infusing Islamic values, concepts and beliefs

and by using Islamic terminology wherever appropriate.

(ii) English Language:

13

English is a medium of instruction in Nigeria through which

effective instruction with others outside the child’s environment

could take place. Any attempt to downgrade the teaching of

English in any Islamic school is like an attempt to create a wide gap

between the Muslims and the English speaking people in the fields

of science, economics, military and cultural achievements.

It was the concession of the Muslim scholars that attended

the Sixth International Islamic Education Conference held in the

Republic of South Africa that the goals of teaching English language

in Islamic schools are ‘to enable learners to develop to the full their

potential, to understand and use the language so that they may

become better practicing Muslims who will enjoin that which is right

and eschew evil. The spiritual, moral, intellectual, emotional and

cultural development of the learner will also be targeted via the

teaching and learning of the language.’23 The rationale behind

teaching the language in Islamic schools is summed up in the

following statement as contained in the report:

The mastery of the spoken and written form of English will

equip the present and future generations not only to

withstand the universal barrage of propaganda and

misinformation about Islam, but also to use the language for

the purpose of Da‘wah as well as for the upliftment (sic) of

the Ummah.24

In Islamic schools, the teachers teaching English as a school

subject must be well equipped with Islamic knowledge so that they

will be able to correct some mistakes about their religion as

contained in some English texts. Such spelling mistakes as

Moslem, instead of Muslim, Mecca instead of Makkah, Mohammed

instead of Muhammad are to be corrected by them following the

14

common transliteration style used by the Library of Congress. It is

equally asserted by Al-Faruqi that attempts by some scholars to

translate untranslatable Arabic words into English had resorted to

distortion of the original meanings of such words. In this wise, the

actual words must be applied while their meanings are explained.25

Closely related to this is that some dictionary meanings of Islamic

terminologies have been distorted or wrongly interpreted.

‘Mohammed’, for instance, is interpreted as “the prophet who

formed the Muslim religion”, while “Muslim” is defined as “a person

of the religion started by Mohammed.” Gwong-Wad has rightly

observed that the opportunity of the flexibility and richness of the

English language coupled with the receptive nature of its nouns to

the new entries of lexical terms, has been used as a weapon in the

hands of non-Muslim users to discredit and disrepute Islam.26 To

drive home his point, he cited the Longman Dictionary of

Contemporary English which makes the entry of “Mecca” in small

letter “m”, violating the language rule of proper nouns. It thus

becomes the responsibility of an English teacher to be conscious of

these and avoid teaching his pupils such wrong concepts, while he

gives an approved Islamic concepts in their proper forms.

It has to be noted that some steps have been taken to

discourage the learning of English alphabets based on the

conventional secular “A for Apple, B for Ball” method; and this has

been substituted for learning Allah’s attributes through an English

alphabetical rhyme. A professor has put forward the following:

A is for ALLAH, Yes ALLAH is our only True God

B is for ALLAH, The Beneficent (Ar-Rahman)

C is for ALLAH, The Compassionate (Ar-Rahim)

D is for ALLAH, The Dominant (Al-Qahhar)

E is for ALLAH, The Everlasting (Al-Baqqi)

15

F is for ALLAH, The Forgiver (Al-Gafur)

G is for ALLAH, The Guide (Al-Hadi)

H is for ALLAH, The Holy (Al-Quddus)

I is for ALLAH, The Inheritor (Al-Warith)

J is for ALLAH, The Judge (Al-Hakam)

K is for ALLAH, The King (Al-Malik)

L is for ALLAH, The Light of Heavens and Earth (An-

Nur)

M is for ALLAH, The Mighty (Al-Aziz)

N is for ALLAH, The Noble (Al-Majid)

O is for ALLAH, The Opener (Al-Fattah)

P is for ALLAH, The Patron (Al-Waliyy)

Q is for ALLAH, The Quickner (Al-Muhyi)

R is for ALLAH, The Reproducer (Al-Muid)

S is for ALLAH, The Sustainer (Ar-Razzaq)

T is for ALLAH, The True and The Truth (Al-Haqq)

U is for ALLAH, The Ultimate (Al-Akhir)

V is for ALLAH, The Vast (Al-Wasic)

W is for ALLAH, TheWise (Al-Hakim)

X is for ALLAH, The Xylographer (Al-Muqit)

Y is for ALLAH, The Yield (An-Nafic)

Z is for ALLAH, The Zenith (Al-cAliyy)27

Although the rhyme above can hardly be taught with relevant

instructional materials to facilitate effective teaching and learning,

learning it by rote will sharpen the brain of the pupils and it will equally

avail them the opportunity of memorizing the attributes of Allah without

much tears.

(iii) Social Norms:

16

Under this subject, pupils are exposed to learning social habits like

correct greetings, respect for others, obeying simple instructions, toilet

habits, proper dressing habits, knowing self and one’s family, learning to

use socially accepted expressions for requests and appreciation and

knowing about the neighbourhood. Through the study of man and his

environment in general, pupils’ hearts are opened to the fear and love of

Allah, their Creator.

Pupils must also be exposed to correct Islamic greetings and

responses. They must be taught to say ‘al-hamdu lillah (praise be to

Allah) whenever they sneeze instead of “Excuse me”. The expression

yar-hamka Allah (May Allah’s Blessings be upon you) must be said by a

second person instead of ‘sorry’ by him while the corresponding reply

‘Yahdikumu Ilah’ (May Allah guide you) be said by the person who

sneezed to the second person.

(iv) Scientific and Reflective Thinking:

The objective of teaching science in any Islamic nursery school is

for the child to observe nature and to reflect on the beauty and wonder

of nature and be aware of Allah as the Provider of everything.

For proper integration of scientific and Reflective Thinking into the

Islamic school curriculum, we strongly suggest a practical approach

whereby pupils, for instance, are practically involved in planting of seeds,

watching and observing their growth. Pupils must be taken to flower

gardens, river; poultry and animal farms for them to see the wonders of

Allah. They should be shown such natural endowments as sky, sun, rain,

stars and many others while relevant examples must be drawn from

them as well. This, to a large extent, will assist them to ponder and

realise the oneness of Allah, their Creator.

17

(v) Islamic Studies:

In order to foster the spiritual, emotional and intellectual

consciousness of Islam among the pupils and to inculcate and develop

Iman, taqwa , love for Islam, Islamic identity and noble characters in the

pupils, Islamic Studies is paramount among the subjects to be taught in

any viable Islamic nursery school. To start with, a conducive Islamic

atmosphere needs to be ensured. Simple Islamic etiquettes, and such

topics as the pillars of Islam, Iman and its attributes, the primary sources

of Islamic Law, names of some prophets, the Attributes of Allah and other

rudiments of Islamic Studies are expected to be taught.

Morality is another aspect of Islamic education a child should be

exposed to. It is generally admitted that religious education has a crucial

role to play in any effective moral education programme. While

discussing this particular issue, Orebanjo concludes:

To think of introducing moral education into schools without

any connection with religion is to ask all schools to wait for a

couple of years before the new breed of teacher is ready.28

The above claim buttresses the stand of Islam on inseparability of

religion and morality from Quranic perspective. In short, such virtues as

goodness to parents, obedience to authority, friendliness, honesty,

kindness are expected to be inculcated in the pupils in Islamic schools.

Morality can be injected into the pupils through telling stories of different

personalities in Islam as well as living by practical examples of the

teachers.

(vi) Quranic Arabic:-

Arabic is the universal language of Islam. It is the language of the

Qur’an and the language of the formal worship in Islam. As no one can

18

study Islam effectively without having the knowledge of Arabic, it

becomes incumbent upon any Islamic nursery school to introduce Arabic

and Qur’an into its curriculum. Through this, the pre-primary Islamic

school is able to function properly as an Islamic nursery school with

provision of a solid foundation in Islamic education including the ability to

read the Qur’an in Arabic. It is when this is achieved that the problems of

producing half-baked Islamists and graduates in Islamic Studies who

could not read the Qur’an in its original language will be checked right

from the grassroot.

A child of nursery age must be able to recognise and identify letters

of the Arabic alphabets and vowels. He should be able to recite some

Arabic rhymes and poems and mention some objects in Arabic.

Memorization of short chapters of the Qur’an should also be introduced to

train the child’s memory. The use of audio-visual aids could be of

immense importance for the teachers to arouse the interest of the pupils

in the memorization exercise.

(c) Reshaping the Programme of Activities

As a matter of fact, all academic programmes in any Islamic

nursery school must be accompanied by programmes of activities, which

promote incidental learning through play. Play is as important to children

as food. It is the major pre-occupation of every child before he is old

enough to go to school. Through play, he learns how to handle the

objects around him, develops physically and socially, and through his

interactions with others, he develops morally. As such, play should be

constructively monitored for learning to take place informally. Enough

play materials and educative toys must be made available for the pupils

to boost their learning. Since a corrupt environment can corrupt the best

of natures, while a good environment can encourage and sustain the best

that is within the pupils, it becomes imperative to provide an

19

environment conducive for the pupils to play and interact with others,

while they must be given enough time to play, for learning to take place

unconsciously.

Games, music, drama and other scholastic activities in the school

must be adequately reshaped to portray Islamic teachings. Separate

avenues must be prepared for boys and girls during sports, while a

befitting sports outfit that would not expose their bodies should be

prepared too.

In order to encourage and strengthen the Iman, as well as to enrich

their commitment to Islam, pupils must also be exposed to Islamic

centers, mosques, bookshops, libraries and prominent Muslim

personalities like Shaykhs, Muslim Obas, Emirs and others. Excursions to

important Islamic historical places will equally assist in broadening them

intellectually and spiritually.

It is equally important that such societies as Literary and Debating,

Farmers Club, Arabic Club, Junior Engineers and Technologists Society

(JETS), and others be given Islamic touch, both in their conduct and

organization.

(d) Revitalizing the Programme of Guidance:

Another major agenda in the line of action of Islamic nursery school is

to vitalise its programme of guidance in the perspective of Islam. The

school is expected to render guidance services not only to the pupils but

also to the parents. Through the school’s programme of guidance, pupils

are assisted to effect smooth transition from home to school, develop

learning skills and values and participate meaningfully in the

opportunities provided by the school in curricula and co-curricular

activities. On the part of the parents, they have the opportunity of

20

understanding their children’s educational progress as well as developing

realistic perception of their children’s development in relation to their

potentials. The guidance role of the schools calls for appointment of

trained, capable and knowledgeable staff that will be of good example for

the pupils.

The Holy Qur’an as well as the hadith of the Prophet serves as the

major guide for the pupils. In other words, whatever guide or counsel a

teacher gives the pupils must be in consonance with the dictates of

Islam. Any theory that goes contrary to this is not allowed, as the school

could not afford training the young ones contrary to the worldview of

their religion.

(e). Designing a programme for exceptional children

The inequality of human beings has different forms. We categorise

exceptional children on the basis of their peculiar natural characteristics.

These include intellectual, communication, sensory, physical and

behavioural characteristics. A child also becomes exceptional by virtue

of the fact that he loses his father at tender age. A Muslim should not be

denied his right to education because of certain physical defect in him. As

such there is the need for private Islamic nursery schools to design a

programme for exceptional children in their environment. This can take

the form of organising special schools where all the pupils who have the

same disability are gathered together. It is not too much to have Muslim

nursery school for the blind or the deaf for instance. In such special

schools, teachers specially trained to teach children with particular types

of disabilities are employed while special equipment designed for such

kind of disabilities are equally made available. Where it is too

cumbersome to have special schools, the schools should accommodate

the disabled ones in their regular schools at least to interact with their

non-disabled counterparts.

21

It needs to be mentioned that in Nigeria, the Christians have been

taking a leading role in the education of the disabled pupils. As far back

as 1914, the Iberekodo Leprosy Settlement in Abeokuta was founded by

the Church Missionary Society {CMS}. The society was equally

responsible for the establishment of the Oji River Rehabilitation Centre in

1960. The Sudan Interior Mission established the first school for the blind

in 1940 on experimental basis while the Sudan United Mission

established the Gindiri School for the Blind in Barikin Ladi near Jos in

1953. In 1962, the Catholic Mission with the assistance of the Irish

sisters of Charity established the Pacelli School for blind children at

Surulere Lagos. Also, the Wesley School for the Deaf, Yaba; and the

Ibadan Mission for the Deaf and others are the handiwork of Christian

missionaries.29 It was later that some state Governments saw the need to

complement the efforts of the missions in this laudable and highly

rewarding undertaking. It thus becomes imperative for Muslim

proprietors of private schools to stand to the task of educating the

exceptional children to check the menace of street begging. The purpose

of designing special education programme as contained in the National

Policy on Education is:

i. to give concrete meaning to the idea of equalizing

educational opportunities for their physical, mental,

emotional disabilities not withstanding,

ii. to provide adequate education for all handicapped children

and adults in order that they may fully play their roles in the

development of the nation, and

iii. to provide opportunities for exceptionally gifted children to

develop at their own pace in the interest of the nation’s

economic and technological development .30

22

In order to provide opportunity for orphans to have easy access to

education and to become useful Muslim citizens, there is the need for a

model Islamic nursery school to design a programme that will take care

of the orphans. This can be in form of providing free education for them

so that they can be brought up and trained in Islamic manner. Kind

treatment of orphans is a responsibility imposed on capable Muslims by

Allah and the prophet and its reward in the hereafter is unquantifiable. As

such, Muslim proprietors of nursery schools must see the need to have an

agenda for orphan education as a matter of religious duty.

CONCLUSION

Considering the fact that Islamic nursery schools have dual roles to

play, it becomes essential to marry and mend both Islamic and western

systems of education for fruitful result. Islamizing the curriculum of

Islamic nursery schools becomes imperative for them to function well in

the two realms. Through this, all the learning experiences the pupils are

exposed to in the school become God-centered as against Western

curriculum which is tailored along achieving material wealth of this life

alone with no consideration for the here-after. Also, the programmes of

activities, studies and guidance in the school system if Islamized prepare

and train the pupils to work as agents of Allah on earth, as against

western curriculum which has led to social degeneration, misuse of

authority and wealth and other socio-political and economic ills in the

society.

The big task ahead achieving this agenda in our educational set up

is the training of teachers to implement the Islamized curriculum. Or

how can the western-trained teachers cope with this new development?

Further still, the so-called secular texts which are inimical to Islam but

which are being used in Muslim schools serve as another cog in the

wheel of the progress of this new agenda. Thus, there is the serious and

urgent need for Muslim intellectuals and academics from various

23

disciplines to collectively and individually rise to the task of writing texts

on their areas of specialization from the perspective of their religion.

This demands combined efforts of scholars of Islamics and Muslim

scholars in other areas of disciplines. On the other hand, our schools

need to be employing competent Muslim teachers to take care of the

young ones. These teachers must be sponsored to attend various

workshops, seminars and lectures on Islamization of knowledge for them

to be well- equipped and face the challenges before them.

24

Endnotes

1. Federal Republic of Nigeria, The National Policy on Education (3rd

Edition) 1998. P. 10.

2. N. Hans, Comparative Education, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul,

1982, pp. 254-320.

3. A.A. Adeyinka et.al “African Philosophy of Education with Particular

Reference to Nigeria” in Adekunle Akinyemi (Ed), Book of Readings in

Educational Theory and Practice, vol. 1, University of Ilorin, Institute

of Education, 1992, pp. 111-112.

4. See, The National Policy on Education, (Revised) 1981. P.10; and also

the 1998 Revised Edition, p. 11.

5. Zakarya Kandhlwi, The Teachings of Islam, London, n.p. n.d. P.205.

6. Albert Ozigi and Lawrence Ocho, Education in Northern Nigeria,

London, George Allen & Unwin, 1981. P.7.

7. M.A. Orebanjo, “The Nigeria Nursery / Primary School – The Way

Forward.” West African Journal of Education, vol. xxi No. 1. 1980. P.

13.

8. Badmos Yusuf, “An Examination of the Tradition of Qur’anic Learning

in the Ilorin Emirate of Nigeria.” Journal of Arabic and Religious

Studies (JARS), Vol. 12, University of Ilorin, Department of Religions.

Dec. 1995. Pp. 61-64.

9. Edward Wilkins, Education in Practice. London, Evans Brothers. 1976.

P. 60.

10. Nigerian Educational Research Council (NERC), Curriculum Guidelines

for Nigerian Pre- Primary (Nursery) Schools. Ibadan, Evans Brothers.

1988. Pp. 8-9.

11. Farhan Ishaq. (1989) “Islamization of the Discipline of Education”.

American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, Vol. 6 No 2. Herndon,

IIIT/AMSS, 1989. Pp. 309-314.

12. N.E.R.C., Curriculum Guideline, p. 10-27.

25

13. Ayatullah Murtaza Mutahheri, Islam, Man and Universe. Karachi, The

Islamic Seminary Publications. 1990. P. 29.

14. Salaudeen Yusuf.(1991) “Islamization of Knowledge: A Workplan for

Islamic Nursery Education.” Muslim Education Quarterly .

Cambridge, The Islamic Academy, vol. 9. No. 1. 1991. P. 35.

15. See The National Policy on Education, 3rd Edition. P.9.

16. A. Babs Fawunwa, Education in the Mother tongue: A Nigeria

Experience. (The Six-year (Yoruba) medium, Primary Education

Project at the University of Ife). West African Journal of Education,

Vol. 19,No. 2. 1975. Pp. 213 – 227.

17. Salisu Sheu, “Islamizing the Education System: Toward an

Alternative Education Theory and Agenda for the Muslim Ummah in

Nigeria.” A Paper Presented at a Two-Day National Workshop in

Islamization of Knowledge jointly organized by IIIT Nigeria office and

UDUS Sokoto, 15th – 16th May 2000. P. 5.

18. B.O. Ukeje, “Schooling : The Politics, Premise, Process, Practice and

Product “ in B. Ipaye (ed): Research on Schooling in Nigeria .

Introductory Readings. Ondo, Centre for Research on Schooling,

Adeyemi College of Education . 1995. PP. 146 – 147.

19. Salisu Sheu, “Islamizing the Education System…,” p. 18.

20. Muhammad Qutb, “Religion, Knowledge and Education” in Al-Attas

(Ed.) Aims and Objectives of Islamic Education, Jeddah, King Abdul-

Aziz University & Hodder and Stoughton, 1979. P. 55.

21. Syed Ali Ashraf, New Horizons in Muslim Education, Cambridge,

Hodder and Stoughton and the Islamic Academy. 1985. P. 4.

22. Ghulam Sarwar. (1996) “Islamic Education : Its Meaning, Problems

and Prospects.” Issues in Islamic Education , London, The Muslim

Educational Trust. 1996. Pp. 13-14.

23. Interim Report on 6th International Islamic Education Conference

(First International Workshop) 20-25 September 1996, Islamic

College, Cape Town, South Africa. P. 21.

26

24. Interim Report, p. 21.

25. Ismail Raji Al-Faruqi, Toward Islamic English, U. S. A. IIIT. 1988. PP.

11-14.

26. Aliyu Umar Gwong-Wad, “Islamization of English Language and Its

Teaching in a Secular State”, Al-Ijtihad – The Journal of

Islamization of Knowledge and Contemporary Issues, Vol. 1, No. 2,

Kano, IIIT Nigeria Office, July 2000. Pp. 78-79.

27. Hussain Akande Abdul-Kareem, “What Makes an Islamic School Truly

Islamic.” A Key Note Address presented at the Annual National

Conference of the Nigerian Association of Model Islamic Schools

(NAMIS) held at Government College Apata-Ganga, Ibadan between

3rd and 5th April 2003. Pp. 7 – 8.

28. M.A. Orebanjo, “The Relationship Between Religious and Moral

Education.” West African Journal of Education, Vol. xviii No. 7.1974.

P. 444.

29. S.O. Oladipo, Elements of Special Education for Certificate Students,

Oyo, Odumatt Press and Publishers. 2000. PP. 11 – 14.

30. The National Policy on Education, 1998. P. 39.

27