Koranic Schools

This article tackles the organization of religious teaching, from ethnographic field work. For the analyze of religious teachings to remain objective, it is necessary to compare France’s sociopolitical context – with the law on secular state of 1905 and the historicity of North-African immigration- and Bulgaria’s – with the Ottoman conquest and the communist system. That comparison also allows us to understand the organization of the Koranic schools, in relation to state education, in the teaching methods they use as well as in the training of their teachers. Thus one can notice that the institutional Islamic education appears as insufficient and that this education must be achieved along with an interaction with domestic education ; it is then necessary to link these two agents of education. The comparative analyze concerning the organization of the institutional religious learning shows that the expected aim of teaching is the Islamization of each individual, through his acquiring dogmatic knowledge, religious practice and a behaviour guided by religious values. What’s more, the positive finalization of that religious education is to learn how one should express one’s faith.

This paper attempts to answer the question: what accounts for the persistence of Koranic schools as separate schools operating at cross-purposes with the Nigerian state in the provision of education to millions of Muslim children officially reported ‘out of school’? To answer this question, the paper traces the long years of mutual isolation between the state and Islamic institutions, particularly in northern Nigeria, that was at first a product of colonisation, but subsequently a reflection of state failure to meet its obligations towards a people struggling to come to terms with the loss of their cultural/religious values as western influences became pervasive. The paper submits that by remaining faithful to those values, ideas and practices that hold together the cultural/religious essence of life, Koranic schools and their owners fill a void neither the new religious elite nor the post-colonial Nigerian state has been able to recognise. The paper however worries that although culturally-relevant, this bond between Koranic schools and their communities further isolates young generations of Nigerian Muslims from constructively engaging with state. An inclusive state policy on education based on constructive engagements with the hidden clients of Nigeria’s submerged Koranic schools is what the country needs if these schools are to play any future positive role in education.

In the modern age, the conflict between science and religion manifests itself in the debate between evolution and creation. If we adopt a creationist's reading of the Qur'an, we discover an interesting anomaly. Reading the Qur'an literally does not necessarily provide the foundation of creationism. Creationists usually have in mind the concept of creatio ex nihilo, or 'creation out of nothing'. However, in the Qur'an, one of the words used for creation, khalaqna, has the root khlq, which means 'to split' or 'to divide'. This root word may even apply to the biological process of cell division. Therefore, from a scientific perspective, using the word khlq to describe this physical process is not problematic. In addition, with close textual analysis of the Qur'an, we realize that the word for creation 'be' (kun) does not truly describe the moment of creation, but rather that of 'being'. The Qur'an separates the notion of creation from being, which poses the question as to what the text constitutes as the ontological nature of the human being and the universe. Therefore, even if we do adopt a literal reading of the Qur'an, we find that it does not necessarily support a worldview that endorses creatio ex nihilo.

In Islam, the Talim of Muwas’at is emphasized which is one of the best ways to help others. A welfare society can never acquire success and happiness by remaining aloof from others. As a matter of fact, Muwas’at with one another in good deeds ensures the progress of society — in accomplishing good tasks, like helping the downtrodden, building schools and dispensaries etc. Muslims are encouraged to get acquainted with the needs and difficulties of one another, and help alleviate the difficulties of fellow Muslims through spending their wealth. Another meaning of Muwas’at is sympathy which is the perception, understanding, and reaction to the distress or need of another life form. According to the meanings, this sympathetic concern is driven by a switch in viewpoint from a personal perspective to the perspective of another group or individual who is in need.

La scolarisation des enfants des ménages ruraux guinéens n’est pas un processus homogène, contrairement aux idées reçues. Les démarches de scolarisation semblent correspondre à des projets volontaires qui s’appuient sur la représentation collective du type de réussite valorisé par chaque groupe ethnique. Dans le cas de la sous-préfecture de Kanfarandé, les dynamiques de scolarisation à l’œuvre doivent être reliées aux stratégies économiques. C’est pourquoi la scolarisation des enfants pourrait être appréhendée différemment par les familles selon l’ethnie à laquelle elles appartiennent. Les données recueillies auprès des familles montrent que la scolarisation des enfants se déroule selon trois stratégies : une scolarisation courte et tardive ; le maintien à la maison des aînés comme main-d’œuvre et la scolarisation précoce des puînés et dans une optique à long terme ; le maintien des enfants à la maison où ils reçoivent une éducation traditionnelle, le temps de migrer. L’article met en évidence la complexité des mécanismes à l’œuvre dans les processus de définition des rapports aux savoirs.

This paper attempts to answer the question: what accounts for the persistence of Koranic schools as separate schools operating at cross-purposes with the Nigerian state in the provision of education to millions of Muslim children officially reported ‘out of school’? To answer this question, the paper traces the long years of mutual isolation between the state and Islamic institutions, particularly in northern Nigeria, that was at first a product of colonisation, but subsequently a reflection of state failure to meet its obligations towards a people struggling to come to terms with the loss of their cultural/religious values as western influences became pervasive. The paper submits that by remaining faithful to those values, ideas and practices that hold together the cultural/religious essence of life, Koranic schools and their owners fill a void neither the new religious elite nor the post-colonial Nigerian state has been able to recognise. The paper however worries that although cu...

Contrary to popular belief, the education of children of rural households in Guinea is not a homogeneous process. Schooling approaches seem to correspond to voluntary “personal” projects that are built on collective representations of various types of success, as valued by each ethnic group. In the case of the Sub-prefecture of Kanfarandé, schooling dynamics are linked to economic strategies. Therefore, the schooling of children may be seen differently by families, depending on the ethnic group to which they belong. Data collected among families show that the schooling of children fall under three type of strategies : (1) Short and late schooling. (2) Older children are kept at home to help with housework while younger siblings will benefit from early and long term schooling (3). Children are kept at home where they receive a traditional form of education until they migrate. The article will highlight the complexity of the mechanisms involved in the process of knowledge representati...

يعتبر القرآن منذ العصر الأول لتنزلاته إلى العصر الحديث؛ من أهم النصوص التي جلبت أنظار المفسرين المسلمين و غيرهم من المفكرين و الباحثين،لأنه يتوفر على أرضية خصبة تصلح – على حسب اعتقادهم - لتطبيق المناهج و الآليات الحديثة و المعارف الإنسانية.. وأيضا لما يتوفر عليه النص من قوة ذاتية تجعل طرحه لتصوراته و محاججاته؛ صلبة ومتماسكة وموضوعية، حتى مع ألد خصومه خصوم الحق، والنص القرآني طرح رؤيته لموضوعات مختلفة؛ أهمها قضية المرأة .. فما الفرق بين نظرة القرآن و نظرة المفسرين لهذه القضية على وجه الخصوص..؟ وما هي نقطة الاتفاق والافتراق بين نظرة القارئ وتصورات النص..؟

التراث التفسيري ونظرته للمرأة من خلال الآية الكريمة: " ربي إني وضعتها أنثى" محاولة للبحث والفهم:
إن الإنسان مهما بلغ من العلم وحصد أرقى المعارف؛ لا يكون إلا صورة عن مجتمعه وبيئته، وهذا يتجلى فيما نحن بصدده، فمدى تأثر عقل المفسر بالبيئة والثقافة الاجتماعية عموما يتمظهر في تفسيراته للنص القرآني، وخصوصاً في قضايا حساسة مثل قضية المرأة ...، وتعبر الباحثة رقية طه جابر العلواني عن ذلك؛ بأنه لا ينكر بحال تأثر المجتهد بعصره وبيئته ومعطياتها، بيد أن ذلك التأثر قد يصل حد منازلة نصوص القرآن الكريم والسنة الصحيحة المطلقة المفارقة للزمان و المكان والأعراف،وهذا أمر يقتضي الوقوف عنده ودراسة أبعاده.