Article Citation: Muhammad Sani Mukhtar (Goni) & Tijjani Alhaji Sani (2019). Revitalization of the Muslim Ummah in Northern Nigeria: An Islamic Education Paradigm. DEGEL: The Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies, Vol. 17, No. 2. ISSN 0794-9316
REVITALIZATION
OF THE MUSLIM UMMAH IN NORTHERN NIGERIA: AN ISLAMIC EDUCATION PARADIGM
By
Muhammad Sani Mukhtar (Goni)
&
Tijjani Alhaji Sani
Abstract
Muslims have upheld a position of excellence and
perfection for centuries. Setting the pace for the attainment of social justice
and a model for just community. The Muslim Ummah is expected to be the best
community ever evolved, well organized and coordinated. Islam has accorded the
Muslim Ummah all the wherewithal for the building of vibrant community. Yet,
the condition of the Muslim Ummah across the world is seemingly pathetic,
facing myriads of challenges amidst promising opportunities. The Muslim world
is faced with series of challenges such as disunity, conflict, insecurity and
underdevelopment. These problems have belittled the values and honors possess
by the Muslims Ummah of nowadays. The ample opportunities and platforms
provided by Qur’an and Sunnah which form the basis of Islamic teachings is more
of theoretical than practical implementation of knowledge which had failed to
produce an ideal Muslim community. It was on this premise that the paper,
revitalization of the Muslim ummah in northern Nigeria: An Islamic education
paradigm was coined. The paper used qualitative method, published articles in
journals, books and internet. Other sources include texts from the scriptures.
The paper examines features of Islamic education paradigm, Muslim ummah and the
need for revival through Islamic education. The paper recommends that Muslims
should be reoriented to learn how to implement practical Islamic teachings in
creating a focused united and coordinated society
Background
Over the years, history has shown the influential role
Islam played in changing the mind sets of people towards building a holistic
and united society. Islam has portrayed its enormous power in instigating
people for a desired social change towards the achievement of common goals. The
Muslim Ummah of those days achieved tremendously in building a wholesome and
ordered society, united and focused.
Qadri (2013) laments that by mere looking at the
Muslims across the world today from east to west, one can clearly see a picture
of a disorganized ummah, despite the fact that, there are many factors that
supposed to bind or establish a strong bond among Muslims. Yet, the Muslim
ummah remain a society that appears confused and rudderless. He further asserts
that the Muslim world is faced with grave, political, socio-economic, cultural,
scientific and educational challenges with implication for its unity, peace,
security and development. These myriads of problems have deprecated many values
and honors possess by the Muslim ummah nowadays.
Islamic teaching is fundamentally focused on teaching
an individual on how to conduct his/her religious and socio-economic and
political affairs on earth as means to realizing the purpose of his creation in
accordance with the absolute will of the Creator (Yasin & Jami', 2013), as
revealed in the Qur’an:
{وَمَاخَلَقْتُ
الْجِنّ َوَالْإِنْسَ إِلَّ الِيَعْبُدُونِ (56) } [الذاريات: 56]
“And I did not create the jinn and
mankind except to worship me”. Qur’an: 51:56
This worship cannot be properly done except with
knowledge. It is on this basis that Qur’an chapter 96 verses 1-5 stressed the
paramount importance of education, to such an extent that the first five verses
revealed in the Holy Qur’an emphasise the importance of knowledge seeking. Isah
(2013) proclaims that the fact that the first revelation upon the prophet Peace
and Blessings be Upon him (PBUH) contained the commandments to “read” or
“recite” display how greatly Islam lays emphasis on education. All the three
basic and fundamental elements in education were mentioned in the chapter;
reading, writing and learning. This demonstrates that learning (knowledge
seeking) is the way to approach the Creator of everything that exists. As it is
explicitly stated in Qur’an 96:1-5
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ (1) خَلَقَ الْإِنْسَانَ
مِنْ عَلَقٍ (2) اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ (3) الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ
(4) عَلَّمَ الْإِنْسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ (5) } [العلق: 1 – [5
“Read! In the name of your Lord who
created (all that exists). He has created man from a dot (a piece of thick
coagulated blood) Read! And your lord is the most generous, who has taught (the
writing) by the pen. Taught man that which he knew not”
The aim of education in Islam was equally emphasized
in the first World Conference on Muslim Education held in Jeddah, in 1977,
which aimed at a "balanced growth of the total personality of man through
the training of man's spirit, intellect, the rational self, feelings and bodily
senses (Sarwar, 1996:23). Even the International community has emphasized the
importance of education for humanity through many declarations and conventions.
The right to education is paramount and part of the inherent dignity of all
humans; it is a tool to facilitate communicate and about to bring cooperation
among societies. It’s also a means of bringing peace, stability and more mutual
understanding between communities and nations. (Abuarqub, 2009).
In essence, the nucleus of Islamic education growth
and development in all ramifications of human life including spiritual,
intellectual, imaginative, physical, scientific, linguistic both individually
and collectively. It enshrined all these in a holistic system of education
towards goodness and the attainment of perfection (Al-Attas 1980)
It is equally important to understand that Islamic
education is not just central to possession of intellectual knowledge but
rather a way of moulding the nature and character of individuals in such a
manner that they can jointly and collectively stand for Islamic values,
exhibiting the true and refine culture of Islam.
The only means through which Islamic core values can
be achieved is through education; imparting the desired knowledge while taking
into cognizance the concrete methods and the objectives vis-à-vis Islamic
principles and philosophy in order to reawaken the Muslims to understand and
appreciate their collective power to enable them strive towards revitalizing
the Ummah by restructuring and rearranging the curriculum and mode of teaching
Islamic education in schools and colleges. This is because Islamic education
has its peculiar perspective different from other educational system. Islamic
education aims to educate human beings with knowledge and positive skills, to
impart good ethical values approved by the Shari'ah, which can be further
strengthened and fortified towards building a united, coordinated, focused and
dynamic society.
Islamic Education Paradigm
In view of the apparent gap which the Islamic
education system fails to fill, and obvious domination by the Western
civilization (in all aspects) on the Muslim world, has clearly indicated how
backward and far the Muslims are from their intellectual heritage. According to
Shehu (2014), the misconception and propaganda that misconstrued Islam and
education, makes it necessary to clearly delineate on the concept of Islamic
education paradigm. The Islamic world view on the education is not purely
religious as opined by Alzeera (2001). She further pointed out that the
uniqueness of Islam is apparently seen in its profound and challenging belief
in both material and spiritual worlds. This therefore shows that the knowledge
acquired through education and actions which the Muslim spent their entire
lives cultivating are to take them higher on the ladder of humanity and
perfection and bring them closer to Allah and that is the eternal life.
In line with this, Al-Attas (1980) describes education
as a process of instilling something into human beings. He further explains
that it’s "a process of instilling.” This refers to the method and the
system by which what is called 'education' is gradually imparted.
"Something" refers to the content of what is instilled, and
"human beings" refers to the recipient of both the process and the
content.
Education in Islam, according to Syed (1979), is a
process which trains the sensibility of an individual, in such a manner that
their attitude towards life, their actions, decisions and approaches to all
kinds of knowledge are governed by the spiritual and deeply felt ethical values
of Islam (cf. Yasin and Jaml 2013). Sarwar (1996) further elaborates that it
prepares human beings for holistic life with no separation of this temporary
life which ends with death, and the eternal life that begins after death.
The general goals of Islamic education as viewed by
Yusuf & Yusuf (2016) are drawn from the Qur’an which is to create an ideal
society that would be composed of ideal Muslims who are obedient and
subservient to Allah. Such people are expected to create an ideal environment
where people can worship their creator and become virtuous and be able to live
in peace, harmony, prosperity and dignity. The society is characterized by the
freedom of conscience, security, equity, social justice, equal opportunity and
economic prosperity. They further elaborate that the framework of such society
is expected to be built on the principle of welfare and brotherhood. The
society is expected to work towards fostering hayatan-tayyibah (good
life) based on the philosophy of hasanatul-duniya wal akhira: that is
the harmonization of the mundane and the spiritual. (Yusuf & Yusuf,
2013:10)
In fact, Islam offers a platform for building a
healthy community as buttressed by Maiwada (2006) and Alao (1993) that the kind
of healthy living offered by Islam through its educational system is best
summed up thus:
Islamic education, apart from
serving the central purpose of assisting in the perfection of an individual, it
insists on the training of the hand, the mind and soul and the intuitive
faculty… that produces pious and cultured men of high esteem by both dignitaries
…. They astounded the most learned of men by their education and erudite…p.12
Therefore, Islamic education has an entirely different
goal and different dimension from the western view on education. Any education
in Muslim society should be focused on moulding human beings as integrated
whole body, mind and soul. Human beings are the foundations and building block
of any society. If they are fragmented and disorganized, any construction on
the foundation will collapse. Therefore, what integrates the body and the soul
is the mind as demonstrated in one of the prophetic traditions. The prophet
(SAW) reiterates that:
ألا وإن في الجسد مضغة إذا صلحت صلح
الجسد كله، وإذا فسدت فسد الجسد كله: ألا وهى القلب” ((سنن الكبرى
للبيهقي))
Verily, there is a piece of flesh in the body, if it is healthy, the
whole body is healthy, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Verily,
it is the heart."[al- Baihaqi: Sunan al-Kubura: 433].
The soundness of the mind is crucial in the
integration of the body and soul, as well as in the integration and development
of a prosperous community. It represents the central point of thinking and
reflection in Islam. Thinking and reflection does not occur in a vacuum,
something has to be instilled into human faculty to ignite the thinking and the
reflection, hence the relevance of Islamic education in the process of the
Muslim Ummah’s revitalization.
History has recorded how the Muslim Ummah at a certain
point in time had a flourished civilization, a well-coordinated and organized
community. The Qur'an referred to the Muslims as the best community ever
evolved for mankind.
كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ
تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ}
[آلعمران: 110[
You are the best nation produced (as
an example) for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and
believe in Allah… (Qur’an 3:110).
The Muslims contributed tremendously
to the development of modern civilization in several ways, which remain
indelible in the world’s history. Yet all these have gradually waned with
history and has thrown the Muslim Ummah to the state of abase.
Alzeera (2001) laments how the Muslim countries have
suffered for many years high degree of degeneration and disintegration of their
knowledge and action. Disharmony, continual inconsistency, redundancy and
distortion have characterized Muslim societies. She further asserts that
despite modernization and westernization, Muslim societies are still religious
and traditional. Majority of Muslims still believe in Allah, the Prophets, the
sacred texts, the angel, the day of Judgement and the hereafter, yet one can
notice the split and discord between the political and economic system and the
social system.
The reasons for these ills cannot be unconnected with
the fact that the societal vertebral structure of the Muslims society is broken,
by introducing an educational structure that is alien to the people. Shehu
(2014) describes education as the only agent that imparts meaning to world
views of a people and ensures their survival and the flourishing of their
civilization. Shehu further revealed that the fundamental education crisis that
has continued to bedevil the Muslim Ummah was brought about by the perpetual
domination and promotion of a system of education that is diametrically opposed
to their value system. The havoc caused by this secular education to the
Muslims is succinctly presented by Shehu (2014) thus:
…that this system of education is
perpetually undoing our goals and aspirations, that it continues to destroy our
collective ideals and values, that it our faith and worldview, obliterating our
identity, destroying our civilization, and worst still debilitating our
psychological and intellectual resourcefulness, as well as our political and
economic assertiveness.
These are indications of a serious fall out which
calls for radical resurgence. The Muslims Ummah needs to be retracted and
redirected to the basis upon which early Muslims communities relied upon for
their success. Contrary to this era, when Islam has merely become an inherited
religion as viewed by Carvalho (2009). He noted that Islam has become merely an
inherited culture rather than a source of practical guidance for a large part
of the educated elite in Muslim societies. They were living largely outside the
bounds of the Sharia.
State of the Muslim Ummah in
Northern Nigeria
A cursory look at the Muslim communities in various
countries across the world, particularly in northern Nigeria, clearly manifest
the disorganized and shattered condition of the Muslim Ummah. Despite the
preponderance of Islamic schools and scholars, several majaalis al ilm,
madrasahs, makaranto allo (the slate school) where Islamic knowledge is
imparted, yet one cannot deny the eminent loopholes and shortcomings in
transactions and social interaction among the Muslims. The beautiful teachings
of Islam on cleanliness, economic transaction, love for humanity, trust, a
well-organized and coordinated society is hardly noticed in the practical life
of the Muslims. This has widened the gap of that spirit of unity and
brotherhood characterized by Islamic teachings.
This calls for an urgent need for change, and of
course, a radical and aggressive change as proclaimed by Shehu (2014). He urged
that the desired change cannot be achieved by means of cosmetic approach to the
problem, what is required is a radical overhauling, reorientation and
restructuring of the ideological conception and philosophical bases of the
educational system.
It is quite obvious that the Islamic society is
founded on the principles of belief and righteous conduct. The connection
between values and practice is at the very heart of the Islamic way of life.
Being a Muslim requires that one's faith be reflected in one's practice and
daily moral conduct with other people. Unfortunately, Islamic instruction in
the recent times has been derailed from a body of practical knowledge, full of
experience to a mere body of information particularly the Islamic education
offered in the formal school system. The general syndrome affecting education
in the country where much emphasis is accorded to the certification rather than
the knowledge might have overtaken even the Islamic education.
Therefore, it becomes highly expedient to review the
aims/goals of Islamic education and apply it practically towards reviving the
mindsets of the Muslim Ummah in northern Nigeria. This is the only way through
which the influence of the secular education on Islamic education can be
denigrated. As observed by Yasin and Jaml (2013), the concept of education in
Islam has been influenced by secularism since the time of colonization and the
collapse of the Ottoman Empire which consequently resulted in the failure of
the Muslim Ummah in its quest for nation building and development according to
Islamic perspective. They further assert that the purpose of Islamic education
is to educate human being with the source of knowledge i.e. the divine
revelation (the Qur'an & Sunnah) and aimed at producing a good human being,
capable of delivering his/her duties as a servant of Allah and His vicegerent
(Khalifah) on earth.
Conclusion
No doubt that the condition of the Muslim Ummah is
that of despicable and rudderless one. It is a society devoid of focus and
achievable goals because the tract that could be followed towards that end is
utterly missing. The foundation has been weakened by negligence and
complacency, there by breeding a generation of people that remain disunited and
unorganized.
Recommendations:
1. Rigorous and thorough restructuring of
the contents and methods of teaching Islamic education in schools and colleges
such that students imbibe, assimilate and exhibits practical Islamic attitudes
in all their dealings.
2.
The Muslims should be reoriented to learn how to
implement practical Islamic teachings in creating a focused, united and
coordinated society
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