Politics in the Arabic Literary Writings in Nigeria

Article Citation: AbdulRazaq Mohammed Katibi (2021). Politics in the Arabic Literary Writings in Nigeria. DEGEL: The Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies, Vol. 19, No. 1. ISSN 0794-9316

POLITICS IN THE ARABIC LITERARY WRITINGS IN NIGERIA

By

AbdulRazaq Mohammed Katibi

Introduction

Scholars of political science differ sharply on the term politics. This is due to different backgrounds, concepts, contents, methods and applications of approaching it. The reason is not far-fetched because human, social, economics and religious thoughts are changing (dynamic) from time to time. There are many factors that are responsible for these changes. But one thing is principal and central in politics that is, power. Therefore, Scholars of Politics so defined politics in that direction. According to Dahl, politics is “any persistent pattern of human relationships that involves to a significant extent power, rule or authority”.⁽¹⁾ In the same vain, it is also defined by Max Weber as “striving to influence the distribution of power either among states or among groups within a state”.⁽²⁾ In the beginning, one may ask what is the relationship between Politics and Arabic, bearing in mind that politics is about State, Governance, Democracy, Election, Freedom, opposition, legitimacy etc while Arabic is first of all a language that is highly connected with religion(Islam), economic and international politics. Language is an essential tool in which human can express himself to the outside world and thereby making human being free to demand for his right. But the reality is, according to the political scientists human being are political in nature majorly because their activities are strongly influenced by interest and struggle for power or in defense of common interest in the society. Therefore, the study of Arabic language in Nigeria derives its sources from social, cultural and political environments in the society. For instance, all educational activities all over the world without exception are guided by the National Policy on Education. All principles, ideology and educational goal of education of each country are contained in the document. For example, the National policy on education of Nigeria states that unity, democracy, and freedom among its philosophical and educational goal that control all academic activities in Nigeria. It is from this platform that academicians and all education stakeholders derive their power to present, defend support of an idea or thoughts for the interest of peace and national coercion. It is this academic freedom that makes writers to express himself freely their mind either in support or against an interest viz-a-vis ideology, personality or current issue of national interest etc which are expressed in all academic materials eg. text –books, journals and others across all disciplines and course of studies e.g economics, political science, sciences, religion studies, language and literature. It must be noted that selection of reading materials, choice of personalities to be studied and place of assignment may have political under-tone during any serious academic exercise. This situation leads students, researchers, and scholars to be politically conscious before they undertake any serious academic endeavor.

In another development, literature has played a major role in African Politics especially during the European colonization of Africa. The literary artist during the period contributed in their own ways to fight and free the people of Africa from the colonial bondage and they were successful as confirmed by G.A. Ajadi,⁽³⁾ Arabic literature is one of the vibrant and highly developed literature in the World. Since its inception in the seventh century up till date. it has witnessed a lot of formation, reformations and inventions due to internal and external factors.

The most prominent of these factors is politics and political influence displayed by the scholars, critics and the lovers of Arabic literature in the world over. Among the major issues that affect Arabic literature is the periodization of Arabic literature namely Pre-Islamic, Islamic, Umayyad, Abbasid, Turkish and Modern literature. They were all named after political development of Arabs and Islam generally. Apart from this, some of Arabic literature books sometimes connote political influence either in content, choice of topic, personalities and context. Like their counterparts in Europe and in Africa Sub-Sahara. They are involved in political thoughts, personalities and environments either in prose or poetry.⁽⁴⁾

In Nigeria, Arabic literature is one of the leading literature that express the Nigerian Cultural, social and political experiences. Because of its acceptability and relevance to the Nigerian society, these have led to the active involvement of Arabic literary critics and writers spread across the country. They write on issues that affect Arabic literature in Nigeria. Their works are respected both in academic and in public domains within and outside Nigeria. Some of the selected scholars and their works are as follows: Adam Abdullahi Al-Ilory (d.1992) “Misbahu Dirasaat Adabiyyat fi Diyar Naijiriyah”, Aliy Abubakar, “Al-thaqafatul Arabiyyah fi Najiriyah Min 1750 ila 1960 (1972), Shehu Ahmad Said Galadanci, “Harakatul llugat Arabiyyah wa Adabia fi Naijiriya”(1993).

            These books are mostly read and referred to when it comes to Arabic literary Studies and research in Nigeria. A careful study of these books indicates that politics directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously is noted in the content, context and the choice of title of these books. Politics also affects the arrangement of some critical topics like classification of literary period, choice of scholars and choice of materials that are cited or used by the scholars. Therefore, this study intends to identify the areas where the writers have been influenced by politics directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously in the course of writing the books and probably states some major reason behind it. The import of this present work is to guide the readers, researchers and on-coming scholars appropriately and to make them be aware of some facts of fictions that are made from political affluence. The work shall also reveal how politics or (game of interest) has influenced Arabic literature books in Nigeria. Subsequently, the work is divided into sub-topics as follows: Introduction, Arabic in the World Politics, Arabic Literary Writings in Nigeria, Political Elements in selected Literary Works and Conclusions. The paper shall depend on literary materials written in Arabic or English that deal essentially on Arabic literary writings in Nigeria and Arabic worlds.

Arabic in the World Politics

Since politics is a keyword in this paper, it is pertinent to have a very brief discussion on the status of Arabic in the world today. Doing so, we reveal how important the Arabs, Arabic language and its literature could be used to have impact in the world of economic, social, cultural and Academic arena.

The new trend of globalization that intends to make every citizen in the world today as one entity, one people, one culture will not neglect the importance of Arab and Arabic. Arabic language started playing a major role in the world affair since 7^th century when Qur’an was revealed in Arabic language and was meant for mankind globally. It was further strengthened during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods when the language was used as language of administration, politics, business, education and of course the religion. Thus, the language has spread beyond Arabian peninsula up to Turkey, Spain, North-African Countries by the West and China, Indonesia and Iran in the South.⁽⁵⁾

In the present world political dispensation, there are many Arab and Arabic speaking countries spread across Asian and African Countries. In Africa, Arabic language is most populous and widely spoken language in the continent. In Asia, the Arab countries are major players in the Asian economic and commercial sectors. Globally, the Arab oils constitute a large percentage of World economy. Apart from this, the united nation approves Arabic as one of their official languages acceptable during its plenary sessions. the language is also used officially in the African union official deliberations. The organization of petroleum exporting countries (OPEC) which regulate oil production in the world today also allows Arabic as an official language in the meeting.Furthermore, the Arab League is an umbrella organization that represent the Arab interest in all world politics today. Trade and commerce play a major role in the recognition of Arabic language in the Global Political Economy. Some of the Arabian countries now become economically important to the West. These countries include United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia etc. This has made many non-Arabic speaking countries to regard Arabic Language not only as a Language of Religion, Politics but as a Language for Economic development. Apart from the fact that Arabic Language is the most fast-spread Language in the World today. It is widely studied in some major universities in the West including the United State of America at different educational level.

In the Nigerian context, Arabic language is an integral part of the Nigerian culture and society. In the era of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1804, Arabic language was the language of administration, international relation and also for commercial purposes. There are documents that indicated that the Nigerian governments during Borno and Sokoto empires had some of exchange of diplomatic relations with Morroco and Egypt⁽⁶⁾. ⁽⁷⁾With the strong presence and acceptance of Arabic in Northern Nigeria, it was a great task for British colony to down- play Arabic language in Northern Nigeria education system. The colonial government was forced to establish School of Arabic Studies in 1943 in Kano when the Northern Emirs, scholars and people engaged the government over the British policy on Arabic Education. The issue was dragged up to the national assembly when Arabic Studies was discussed and approved in the Nigerian education system ⁽⁸⁾. Today, Arabic language is studied in all strata of the Nigeria education system. In the same vein, because of the political status of Arabic in the Nigeria society, scholars of Arabic are either elected or selected for public and political offices. They have been elected/selected as Senators, Deputy Governor, Ambassadors, Central Bank Governor, Minister, Commissioners, Vice-Chancellors, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Professors, Deans, Provosts and Principals ⁽⁹⁾.

Furthermore, the establishment of Arabic department in some Universities has political under tone where some prominent people have to show their political strength in making sure that Arabic language is taught in their universities. Example of this include the establishment of Arabic department in the University of Jos, Lagos, Nassarawa, Kogi, Ibrahim Babangida and Kwara State Universities. Even where Arabic is established, political interest has to be considered as to where it can strive and to be well protected among the various available academic units. Some Universities prefer it to be along with Islamic Studies as in the case of University of Ibadan, Kogi State University or under the department of Foreign Languages as in LASU or in Languages and Literary Studies as in Kwara State University. However, some universities give it a full autonomy as in Usmanu Dan fodiyo, Bayero University, University of Maiduguri and University of Ilorin.

From the above discussion, we are able to highlight the relevance and symbiotic relationship between politics and academic especially Arabic at the national and international levels. It must be stated categorically that politics is an essential tool that is used to develop human society which of-course Arabic has benefited immensely just as Islam has contributed to its development.

Arabic Literary Writings in Nigeria

It is very difficult to ascertain when Arabic language came to Nigeria because of lack of historical document. It is also difficult to establish whether Islam pre-dated Arabic in Nigeria. But looking at historical account of some Nigerian tribes, e.g Yoruba and Hausa⁽¹⁰⁾. They claimed that they originated and migrated from Arabian peninsula. This of-course lead to the presence of sizeable number of old Arabic words in these languages. Moreover, the early Yoruba settlers were not Muslims. This assertion makes us to believe that Arabic was in existence before the advent of Islam in Nigeria. Nevertheless, Arabic language has a great influence on many Nigeria languages namely: Hausa, Fulfude, Yoruba, Kanuri, e.t.c.

However, scholars are able to trace the date of emergence of Arabic literature to 19^th century especially during the renaissance of Sokoto Caliphate⁽¹¹⁾. In this period, many literary works were written for different occasion and theme and of-course they were of different quality. Nevertheless, these literary works gave an account of true picture of the level of literary expertise of the scholars of the period. In his study, Al-Ilory was able to defend the low quality of Arabic poetry of the period by tracing it to many factors, including the developmental stage and the language ability of ulamah among others ⁽¹²⁾. Out of the major literary genres, poetry was very popular and has received a lot of attention by the students, scholars and universities all over the world⁽¹³⁾. On the contrary, prose aspect of Arabic literature didn’t receive much notice until recent when some scholars started to encouraged their students to study them for Academic Degrees. For examples: A.H. Amin 1998 wrote his Ph.D thesis on Epistolography and its functions in the nineteenth-century of Arabic literature in Northern Nigeria⁽¹⁴⁾ while A.S.K. Ibrahim researched on “Arabic Oratory in Nigeria”⁽¹⁵⁾. The art of story writing recently became prominent among literary works in Nigeria today when Isaac Ogunbiyi translated “Popular Yoruba Folk lore on Tortoise to Arabic”⁽¹⁶⁾. This was followed by Olalere Adigun who translated Cyprian Ekwensi’s “African Night Entertainment” to Arabic⁽¹⁷⁾. Also A.S. AbdulSalam translated to Arabic the popular Yoruba novel: “Ireke Onibudo” originally written by D.O. Fagunwa⁽¹⁸⁾. In 1997, another book written by Cyprian Ekwensi, “The Burning Grass”, was translated by M.G.A. Raji from English to Arabic⁽¹⁹⁾. In the same vain Z.I. Oseni collected some popular fables in Afemai language in Edo State and brought to Arabic readership in 1999. The work is titled “The Stories From Equatorial Line”⁽²⁰⁾. These efforts continue by introducing another D.O Fagunwa Yoruba novel “Ogboju Ode ninu Igbo Irunmole” which was translated to Arabic language in 2002 by M.M Jimba⁽²¹⁾. The earliest of these translated literary works was that of Olu Owolabi’s “Igbo Ote” which was translated by I.A Lawal in 2009⁽²²⁾.

The current developmental stage, progressive imagination and yarning of the Nigerians for Arabic literature led some highly qualified Arabist to produce an Arabic short stories for the readers of Arabic. Some of which have been accepted and recommended for studies both at the secondary and tertiary levels. Some of the short story books that are originally written in Arabic and are competing favourably with other literatures in Nigerian market are:- “Limadha Yakrahunana” (Why Do They Hate Us) by Salisu mai Unguwar, “Khadimul watan” (Youth Corper) by Hamid Mahmood Ibrahim (2008). “As-Sannah” (The year) by Murtadoh Abdulsalam Al-Haqiqi (2006), “Rai Al-Ghanam” (The Shepherd) by A’adam Yahaya Al-fulaniy, Min Ilorin ila Timbuktu (From Ilorin to Timbuktu) by M.M. Jimba (2009) etc. Among the major issues emanated from these literary works include; local names, Nigerian environments, social, cultural problems. These issues are gradually being studied at the various level of Academic degrees in the Nigerian Universities.

Pitty-Sayings (Maqamah) is one of the fast growing Arabic literary genres in Nigeria. It is defined by Z.I. Oseni as “An aspect of art prose which is a collection of short, often rhyming sentences with very strong rhetorical contents”⁽²³⁾. It is one of the popular literary genres which was much encouraged by Islamic rulers during the Abasid period. Its impact could still be felt in the modern day Arabic literature. The Maqamah which was firstly introduced by Hamdhaniy developed by Harirey and Zamakhshariy is also known in Nigeria.

Many scholars have dwelt into it and made their impacts felt to reflect the socio-cultural, political and religious aspects of the Nigerian environment. Some of the scholars are Adam Naibi Wali Sulayman Kano, “An-Nur al-Dallal fi Tarshid al-Atfal” (Indicative Light by which the youths are Guided), Z.I. Oseni, “Abwaq adh-dhahab” (Trumphet of Gold), AbdulBari’l Adetunji “A’raq adh-dhahab” (The Golden veins), Maqamaatul Al-Ilory by Muhammadul Awwal Abdul Salam. These Maqamahs are highly appreciated by the Makondoro scholars who are spread in Ilorin and South Western Nigeria. Like the Maqamas of the Arab worlds, the Nigerian types also consider Nigerian names, environment or issues as the major features.

Arabic drama was practically introduced in Egypt in the 20^th century as an important part of literature in Egypt in the last quarter of nineteenth century. There were classical evidences that Arabs knew about drama through translated documents from Europe. The early Arab playwright took the style of the European in content and context. They were able to express the major plots in Arabic. The most prolific of these playwrights is Tawfiq Al-Hakim. In Nigeria, Arabic drama was introduced by Islamic scholars who usually arrange pupils/students to perform in the public/private schools. Most of the performances are to display Islamic historical values especially during Islamic festivals. Unfortunately, most if not all of these plays were not documented. However, there are some prominent scholars who have written some plays and published them for Nigerian readers. Some of which have been recommended for studies in the Nigerian universities. Notable among them are: Professor Z.I. Oseni who wrote “Al’Amid Al-mubajjal” (The Honourable Dean) and “At-tabaqatul ‘Ulya” (The Upper Class), Bari Adetunji (Destined to Survive), AbdulGaniy Adebayo “Gharat Al- nujum”, Ahmad Rufa’I “Al ‘Ajeeb wa Najeeb”. Efforts are still on in order to produce more Arabic plays in the Nigerian Arabic literary markets like many Arabic prose writings in Nigeria. Issues that concern Nigeria and Nigerians are major themes that occupy the Nigerian Arabic plays.

Arabic literary criticism is an integral part of an Arabic literature of any language and culture. It guides and guards literature and the literary artists from going astray among other functions. In the Arab world, scholars like Shukry Faisal, AbdulQadri Maziniy, Toha Hussain, Mahmood ‘Aqad, Muhammad Ghunaim Hilal and many others have made their impacts in

the development of modern Arabic criticism. Their comments on issues on Arabic literature have been well conceived and considered by students and scholars alike. In Nigeria, writing on Arabic Literary Criticism was initially slow because of the delay in the establishment of printing press

and wrong believe on the concept of the word “criticism” by the Nigerian populace. Nevertheless, some scholars have written on some major issues bordering Arabic literature in Nigeria. They discussed Arabic literature in Nigeria; the Nigerian Arabic literature, modern trends in Arabic literature in Nigeria, classification of Arabic literary periods in Nigeria e.t.c. Among the major Arabic critics are Alli Abubakar, Al-Ilory, Galadanchi, Z.I. Oseni, Hamidu Sanni, M.G.A. Raji, Awwal Abubakar, Naibi Suwedi and many others. Their works are mainly in books, journals and lectures while their views are highly respected⁽²⁴⁾.

Political Elements in the Selected Literary Works

We have indicated in the early part of this paper that Arabic Scholars who write on Arabic literature may have motive for doing so which include to impact knowledge into others. He is at liberty to give title to his book, select materials, select personality of his choice. And he is also at liberty to direct his view toward a particular ideology or school of thought(s). These choices may be consciously or unconsciously, directly or indirectly have political interest. By political interest, we mean a situation where a writer tries to defend an interest or by trying to ally himself with a particular political entity or group of people or ideology in the course of writing his work for the purpose of gaining support or create awareness for himself, his local environment and or for national or international interest. We therefore intend to look carefully into selected Arabic literary works written in Nigerian and by Nigerians and see how politics reflects in their works. In the course of studying the selected works, we shall find out how some political factors, such as National, regional, religion and personal interest reflect on the selected scholars and works. We have carefully selected some literary works written by the Nigerian scholars in the major parts of the country. The works are very popular and attested to both at the public and academic arena and they serve as source for the study of literature in Nigeria at all Academic Levels. The selected works are:-

(1) “Athaqofatul ‘Arabiyyah fi Naijiriyyah” ((الثقافة العربية فى نيجيرية, written by Dr. Alliy Abubakar, 1972.

(2) “Misbahu Diraasatul Adabiyyah fi Diyari Naijiriyyah” (مصباج الدراسات الأدبية فى الديار النيجيرية)written by Adam Abdullahi Al-Ilory, 1992.

(3) "Harakatul luqatil Arabiyyah wa Aadabi’a fiy Naijiriyyah" (حركة اللغة العربية وآدآبها فى نيجيريا) written by Dr. Sheikh Ahmad Said Galandaci (1993). 

 (1) “Athaqofatul ‘Arabiyyah fi Naijiriyyah” min 1750 ila 1960 ^cam Al-istiqlal. (Arabic culture in Nigeria between 1750 to 1960 CE).

The book was written by Dr. Alli Abubakar and was first published in 1972. The book was initially a Ph.D thesis submitted to University of Cairo, Egypt in November, 1967. The writer was a lecturer in the Department of Arabic at Abdullahi Bayero University, Kano. His father was an Islamic magistrate (Al Qadi) in Jos and Bauchi.

The work was the first of its kind to showcase Arabic culture which comprises the history, the people, the culture and social aspects of Nigeria and how they have been influenced by Arabic culture. Though, some scholars had written on Nigeria, people, culture and history, but the problem is not only that they were mainly in English Language, but also they were not comprehensive enough. Some of the early writers include; Burns, Barth, Page, More Niven, Hoghen and Hodgton ⁽²⁵⁾.

The work is divided into six chapters. The first chapter is Islam in Nigeria. The second chapter is on social, political and religious life from nineteenth century to independence. The third chapter is on Arabic education in Nigeria and religious life in the nineteenth century. Chapter four discusses Arabic literary works in the Nineteenth century. Chapter five is on prose and verse in the 19^th century. And the last chapter, six dwell on the influence of Arabic language on Hausa and Fulfulde languages.

Looking deeply into the content of the work, it reflected some political element in some areas which include the following:

(a) National Interest: The title of the work promotes National Interest and displays allegiance to the his Father Land (Nigeria). Apart from the fact that the writer was sponsored by his University (Bayero University, Kano) to undertake his Doctoral study, his thesis was the first work to be done by any Nigerian on Arabic culture in Nigeria. Those who have written on the similar work were not Nigerians. Therefore, patriotism clearly show in his choice of title which he gallantly defended among his supervisors in 1968 in Egypt.

(b) Utilization of The Nigerian Political Development for Classification: In his effort to breakdown the literary development in Nigeria, Alli Abubakar used the Political development of the Nigeria History to classify Arabic Literary Periods in Nigeria. This was reflected in his the last part of his Ph.d "من 1750 إلى 1960 عام الإستقلال" (From 1750 to 1960 Year of Independence). As we can see, Nationalism is reflective in the writer’s thought and action by allying himself with the Year of Independence. The Date Nigeria gained her freedom from the British Colony.

(c) Political Integration: Alli Abubakar was a true Nigerian and he was conscious of the political environment of the country. The author did not allow intra-religion sentiment in carrying out his assignment as he was able to discuss scholars without prejudice or bias to a particular group, tribe or region. He did not allowed intra- religion sentiments to over ride his Academic Work. He balanced up between the Sufi and the non-Sufi scholars while giving example on some issue in his work. This attitude displayed by the author was quite commendable as he did not want to create political bigotry or disaffection among Nigerians and of-course causing injury to the Academic World.

(d) Territorial Integrity: In furtherance to his urge to promote National unity and geographical integration, the author did not allow the Civil War (Biafra 1967 to 1970) going on while writing his Ph.d thesis in Cairo to distract him academically and politically, his work covered the major part of Nigeria where Islam and Arabic are prevalent (North and South). He listed scholars, Arabic schools and societies in the North and south west Nigeria as it shows from the following statement:

 "فقد حملنى هذا البحث على السفر فى القاهرة إلى نيجيريا حيث قضيت ما يربو عن سنة قطعت خلالها أكثر من خمسة عشر ألفا ميل. جبت فى أنحائها بين مدنها وقراها. فلم أبق عالما سنيا أو غيره, قادريا كان أو تجانيا, سنوسيا أو مهديا إلا وقد اتصلت به وسألت عن تاريخه وتاريخ معهده ومؤسسه".⁽²⁶⁾

Translation

(This Thesis had taken me to travel from Cairo to Nigeria which I spent close to a Year. I covered more than 15,000 miles. I came across towns and villages. I didn’t leave any scholar being conservative or otherwise, Qodiriyyah or Tijaniyyah, Sanusiya or Mahdi (sects) without consulting him and asking him about his biography, history of his school and its founder…”)

No wonder the work is highly respected in the field of Arabic literature and its criticism in Nigeria today⁽²⁷⁾.

 (2) “Misba’hu Diraasat Al-Adabiyyah fi Diyari Najiriyyah”(The Lamb of Literary Studies in Nigeria).

The book was firstly written in 1967 by Adam Abdullahi Al-Ilory (Died 1992) with the aim of compiling scholars who have contributed into the development of Arabic literature in their own time in Nigeria. This work (Misbahu Dirasaat) is one of the several works written by the author in different field covering geography, sociology, History, Islamic Studies, Arabic language, philosophy, e.t.c. The book is very important in history of Arabic criticism in Nigeria. The author was the first Nigerian to classify Arabic literary period which other writers either adopt or modify later on. The book is one of the major references in Arabic literature not only in Nigeria but in Arab world.

A careful study of the book revealed some direct or indirect display of political interests which are stated below:

(a) National Interest: This is perceived from the title of the work which reflects the political consciousness of the writer. He intended to bring the Nigerian scholars and their contributions in Arabic literature into the lime light in departure from the common trend when Nigerians read only literature from the Arab words. His visit to some Arab countries (Egypt and Sudan in 1946) encouraged him to do so.

(b) Utilization of The Nigerian Political Development for Classification: Another reflection of politics in this work is the authors’ classification of Arabic literary periods. He used the Nigerian Political Development to classify Arabic Literary Development into five stages. The periods are Borno, Wangara, Maghili, Fulani and English (colonial periods). These periods as stated by this scholar were periods which had political influence not only in religion but on the social cultural aspect of Nigeria ⁽²⁸⁾. The scholar (Al-Ilory) is at Liberty to use his discretion to propound the Arabic Literary Periods in Nigeria by using another method but for his political consciousness and National Interest in particular made him to prefer the former. Even though, the idea of using the political term to classify the Arabic Literary Period in Nigeria was conceived from the experience they gathered from a Tunnisian Arabic Literature book written by Hussein Husni Abdulwahab as confirmed by Al-Ilory himself;

"والجدير بالذكر هنا أنى وجدت كتابا فى محل تأريخ الأدب التونسي لمؤلفه حسن حسنى عبد الوهاب. قد جرى على تقسيم الأدب التونسي إلى أربعة أدوار على النحو الذى يماثل حالتنا الأدبية. تشجعنى على تقسيم أدوار أدبنا فى ما يأتى..."⁽²⁹⁾.

Translation

(It worth mentioning that I saw a book in “Majmal Tarikh Al-Adab A-Tunnisiy”: (Summary of The History of Tunisian Literature) written by Hassan Husni Abdulwahab which divided Tunisian Literature into four stages which is comparable to our Literary (Nigeria) situation. This encouraged me to classify (Developmental) stages of our Literature into the following…).

As we can see, his love for his country has made him to adapt and experience from another country to his native environment (Nigeria) to further promote National Integration and Development.

(c) Promotion of Community Interest: Despite the fact that Al-Ilory was a nationalist, he also had interest to promote his immediate environment or region where he was based (South-Western Nigeria). He gave reason that some scholars in the North like Ali Abubakar and Galandanci had concentrated much on the northern scholars ⁽³⁰⁾. He confirmed by saying;

"وفى تلك الآونة-ولعل ذلك من توارد الخاطر- ظهر عدد ممن كتبوا عن الثقافة العربية فى شمال نيجيريا امثال الدكتور علي ³¹⁾⁾أبى بكر ثم الدكتور أحمد غلادنثي وآخرون, فكفونى مؤونة تلك الناحية الشمالية.

Furthermore, in order to accomplish the regional interest and to display Arabic experience by the Yoruba Arabic scholars, the author narrated the literary rivalry between Sheikh Labib and Ibadan scholars. The situation showcases the literary ability and linguistic mastery between the scholars from Ilorin and scholars from the South-Western Nigeria ⁽³²⁾. This is to explain to the World that Arabic Language and Literature have gained ground not only in the North but also among the Yoruba people.

(3) Harakatul luqatil Arabiyyah wa Aadabi’a fi Naijiriyyah: (The Development of Arabic Language and Its Literatures in Nigeria);

The book was authored by Dr. Sheu Ahmad Said Galandanci, a retired professor of Usmanu Dan fodio University formerly University of Sokoto, Sokoto. Indeed, he was the first vice chancellor of the University and also a former ambassador to the Kingdom Saudi Arabia. The book was initially a Ph.D. thesis submitted to department of Arabic Darul Uloom College, Cairo in 1972. The book discusses the development of Arabic language and its literature in Nigeria. It also gives another dimension to the classification of development of Arabic literature at different stages. Considering its importance and relevance to Arabic studies in Nigeria, the book is recommended widely for reference in the discourse of Arabic literature in Nigeria.

A careful study of the book reveals that there are elements of polities either in the choice of the title, presentation of ideas and choice of personality etc. Some of them are as follow;

(a) National Interest: Like his predecessors, Galadanci upheld the national interest by concentrating on the Development of Arabic and its literature in Nigeria. It exposes the literary works of Nigerian to Arab worlds. This has reflected in the choice of the title and the content of the book. Most of the scholars and the work cited emanated from Nigeria and by The Nigerians. He was proud to discuss the works of these Nigerian scholars and bring them to the lime light as quoted from the book;

"وفى تواضع, أزعم أن دراستى هي الأولى فى هذا المجال, ومن هنا آثرت أن أعطي صورة كاملة للجوانب المختلفة للأدب العربى فى نيجيريا, برغم اقتناعى بأن عددا من الظواهر يمكن أن يكون وحده دراسة مستقلة فى المستقبل مثل شعر الحرب أو شعر المديح أو شعر الصوفية..."⁽³³⁾.

Translation

(With (sense of) humility, I think that my study is the first in this field. Therefore, I chose to give a complete picture of different aspect of Arabic Literature in Nigeria. Despite my conviction that some phenomenon can be studied separately in the future. For example, War poem, Elegy poem, Mystic poem…).

(b) Utilization of The Nigerian Political Development for Classification: Another political interest that emanated from the book, was the classification of Arabic literary stages using major political era of Nigeria to propound the theory ⁽³⁴⁾. Even though he built his theory on the past experience of his predecessor (Al-Ilory) either by renaming some of the period or by breaking them into parts or by including some missing part or unavailable parts.

(c) Promotion of Community (Regional) Development: Despite the fact that the book carries the title “The development of Arabic Language and Its Literatures in Nigeria” it is evident that the content is confined to the Northern Region. Even with that, some parts of Northern Region were not captured in the study. It is not clear if the writer of the book intended to protect a regional interest in the development of Arabic literature.

(d) Choice of scholars: Discussion on the major personality in the book did not in any way reflect political bias neither reflect intra religion difference. He gave examples from Sufi and non-Sufi scholars and also from Hausa, Fulani and the Borno Arabic scholars. However, as early noticed many scholars and literary works from the South-Western part of Nigerian are excluded. It is not clear whether the author was totally ignorant or intentionally ignored their works. Nevertheless, Galandanci work still remains one of the major Arabic literary sources in Nigeria.

 

 

Conclusion

In the last few pages, in an effort to highlight the elements of politics in Arabic literary works of selected Nigerian scholars, we are able to conclude on the following point; that most Arabic writers are conscious of their political environment, and that they uphold the flag of Nationalism as it reflected on the choice of the title of their works. They also protect the interest and respect the mental ability and intellectual capability of Nigerians and their works are extensively cited without much of prejudice or geographical bias. Politics also plays a greater role in the classification of literary periods in Nigeria as the scholars used socio-political development freely as criteria to classify the periods. The study also revealed that community development (regional politics) played an important role in the selection of materials and choice of personalities in some cases. Likewise, religion sentiments were not excluded in the writings of some of the scholars. Some of them protect the interest of their religion (Islam) and region in the choice of area of coverage, personality and reference materials which we think are not good in academia. We would like to state categorically that Arabic literary writers need to be political conscious and not political sentiment in order to further protect and promote the overall interest of humanities and society in general. For this, the literary writers generally should abhor unguided localization and over protection of some literary issues so that they will be able to develop Arabic writings beyond this level.

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