TEACHINGS OF ISLAMIC EDUCATION

By
Professor. Salako,Taofiki Ajani
(B.A ED., M.ED. University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos)
(PhD. Islamic Science University of Malaysia, Nilai,Negeri Sembilan,Malaysia)
Specialization: Islamic Studies, Curriculum Studies & Islamic finance
&
ABIODUN AMIDU IDOWU

INTRODUCTION
Education in Islam cannot be overemphasized because through Islamic education, a person
can be identify their purpose in this world. This pepper covers the definition of Islamic
education with the concept of education in Quran, Aims of Islamic education, emergency and
development of Islamic education in brief, the prophet’s guidance on education, contributions
of early Muslims to education, Islamic educational system from Qur’anic school to higher
education, Islamic and integration of knowledge project in Nigeria.

COURSE OUTLINE / CONTENT

1 Definition of Islamic Education
2 Aims of Islamic Education
3 Concept of Education in the Quran
4 Emergency and development of Islamic Education in brief
5 The prophet’s guidance on Education
6 Contributions of early Muslims to Islamic Education
7 Islamic Educational system from Qur’anic school to higher (tertiary) education
8 Islamic education in Nigeria
9 Integration of knowledge project in Nigeria

DEFINITION OF ISLAMIC EDUCATION

Islamic Education is educational system that gives a person the ability to lead his life in
accordance with the Ideal and values of Islam that have inspired and coloured his personality.

Islamic Education is an educational system that includes all aspect of life by selfness of Allah
as Islam became great for all aspect of human life both worldly and here after.
Education from the Islamic point of view is divided into two namely, the spiritual or religious
aspect of education and the material or secular aspect of education. (Bidmos 1991). The
spiritual aspect of education will regulate the relationship of man to his Creator, other
creatures of Allah and to himself. This will teach man the consciousness of Allah, the
purpose of his creation which is not accidental but to serve God, to obey His commands, do
good to others and to prepare for the life after death.

Although certain aspect of Islamic education can be described as religious education because
it considers nothingness but religion. Whereas Islam is more than religion, rather, it is a way
of life.

AIMS OF ISLAMIC EDUCATION

1 Aware of their responsibility as Muslims.
2 Develop Spiritual Knowledge
3 Critical thinking and Problem Solving Skills
4 Prepare a life of purity and sincerity
5 Five pillars of Islam.

THE CONCEPT OF EDUCATION IN THE QUR’AN

Islam has laid much stress on attaining education. In fact, the first revelation is about
education in Islam;
Transliteration:
Iqra’ bismi rabbika lladhi khalaq
Khalaqal insana min ‘alaqin
Iqra’ warabbukal akram
Alladhi allama bilqalam
Allamal insana ma lam ya’lam (Alaq 1-5)

Translation:
Read in the name of your lord who created
He created man from a cloth of blood
Read and your lord is the Most Generous
Who taught by the pen
He taught man what he did not know. (Qur’an Chapter 96 verses 1-5)
Through education, human being can identify their purpose in life and also understand where
he’s coming from and where he is heading to.

According to another Qur’anic verse on education goes thus:

Transliteration:
“Hal yastawiy lladhina ya’lamuna walladhina la ya’lamuna” (Zumar, 39:9).

Translation:
“Can those who have the knowledge and those who do not know be deemed
equal?”(Qur’an Chapter 39 verse 9)
Knowledge provides advancement in life. When a person is self-aware, he begins to
understand his purpose and also believes that the world is not just about life and death alone.

Education can also be understood through a verse emphasizing on education even in the most
critical times of war.
In Surah Tawba, verse 122, Allah states thus:
Transliteration:
“Wama kanal muminuna liyanfiruu kaafatan falaolaa nafara min kulli firqatin
minhum taaifatun liyatafaqqahu fiddini waliyundhiru qaomahum idha raja’u ilayhim
la’llahum yahdharun”
Translation:
“With all this, it is not desirable that all of the believers take the field (in time of
war). From within every group in their midst, some shall refrain from going to war and
shall devote themselves (instead) to acquiring a deeper knowledge of the Faith, and
(thus be able to) teach their home-coming brethren, so that these (too) might guard
themselves against evil”. (Quran chapter 9 verse 122)

Knowledge means power. Education is not only important for an individual but it also has a
profound impact on the whole of the nation.
Thus, according to Islam, a nation needs to have people willing to gain knowledge and
educate others about it.
EMERGENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAMIC EDUCATION
For the first few centuries of Islam, educational settings were entirely informal, but
beginning in the 11th and 12th centuries, the ruling elites began to establish institutions of
higher religious learning known as madrasa in an effort to secure support and cooperation of
the ‘Ulamah (religious scholars). Most historians believe that Islam originated in Mecca and
Medina at the start of the 7th century CE. Muslims regard Islam as a return to the original
faith of the Abrahamic prophets, such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon,
and Jesus, with the submission (Islām) to the will of God.
Islam has, from its inception, placed a high premium on education and has enjoyed a
long and rich intellectual tradition. Knowledge (‘ilm) occupies a significant position within
Islam, as evidenced by the more than 800 references to it in Islam’s most revered book, the
Koran. The importance of education is repeatedly emphasized in the Koran with frequent
injunctions, such as “God will exalt those of you who believe and those who have knowledge
to high degrees” (58:11) “O my Lord! Increase me in knowledge” (20:114), and “As God has
taught him, so let him write” (2:282). Such verses provide a forceful stimulus for the Islamic
community to strive for education and learning.
Islamic education is uniquely different from other types of educational theory and
practice largely because of the all-encompassing influence of the Qur’an. The Qur’an serves
as a comprehensive blueprint for both the individual and society and as the primary source of
knowledge. The advent of the Qur’an in the seventh century was quite revolutionary for the
predominantly illiterate Arabian society. Arab society had enjoyed a rich oral tradition, but
the Koran was considered the word of God and needed to be organically interacted with by
means of reading and reciting its words. Hence, reading and writing for the purpose of
accessing the full blessings of the Qur’an was an aspiration for most Muslims. Thus,
education in Islam unequivocally derived its origins from a symbiotic relationship with
religious instruction.
Thus, in this way, Islamic education began. Pious and learned Muslims
(Ma’allim or mudarris), dedicated to making the teachings of the Qur’an more accessible to
the Islamic community, taught the faithful in what came to be known as
the kuttāb (plural, katātīb).The kuttāb could be located in a variety of venues: mosques,
private homes, shops, tents, or even out in the open. Historians are uncertain as to when
the katātīb were first established, but with the widespread desire of the faithful to study the
Qur’an, katātīb could be found in virtually every part of the Islamic empire by the middle of
the eighth century. The kuttāb served a vital social function as the only vehicle for formal
public instruction for primary-age children and continued so until Western models of
education were introduced in the modern period. Even at present, it has exhibited remarkable
durability and continues to be an important means of religious instruction in many Islamic
countries.
The curriculum of the kuttāb was primarily directed to young male children, beginning
as early as age four, and was centered on Koranic studies and on religious obligations such as
ritual ablutions, fasting, and prayer. The focus during the early history of Islam on the
education of youth reflected the belief that raising children with correct principles was a holy
obligation for parents and society. As Abdul Tibawi wrote in 1972, the mind of the child was
believed to be “like a white clean paper, once anything is written on it, right or wrong, it will
be difficult to erase it or superimpose new writing upon it” (p. 38). The approach to teaching
children was strict, and the conditions in which young students learned could be quite harsh.
Corporal punishment was often used to correct laziness or imprecision.
Memorization of the Qur’an was central to the curriculum of the kuttāb, but little or no
attempt was made to analyze and discuss the meaning of the text. Once students had
memorized the greater part of the Qur’an, they could advance to higher stages of education,
with increased complexity of instruction. Western analysts of the kuttāb system usually
criticize two areas of its pedagogy: the limited range of subjects taught and the exclusive
reliance on memorization. The contemporary kuttāb system still emphasizes memorization
and recitation as important means of learning. The value placed on memorization during
students early religious training directly influences their approaches to learning when they
enter formal education offered by the modern state. A common frustration of modern
educators in the Islamic world is that while their students can memorize copious volumes of
notes and textbook pages, they often lack competence in critical analysis and independent
thinking.
During the golden age of the Islamic empire (usually defined as a period between the
tenth and thirteenth centuries), when western Europe was intellectually backward and
stagnant, Islamic scholarship flourished with an impressive openness to the rational sciences,
art, and even literature. It was during this period that the Islamic world made most of its
contributions to the scientific and artistic world. Ironically, Islamic scholars preserved much
of the knowledge of the Greeks that had been prohibited by the Christian world. Other
outstanding contributions were made in areas of chemistry, botany, physics, mineralogy,
mathematics, and astronomy, as many Muslim thinkers regarded scientific truths as tools for
accessing religious truth.
 Gradually the open and vigorous spirit of enquiry and individual judgment (ijtihād) that
characterized the golden age gave way to a more insular, unquestioning acceptance (taqlīd) of
the traditional corpus of authoritative knowledge. By the thirteenth century, according to Aziz
Talbani, the ‘ulama (religious scholars) had become “self-appointed interpreters and
guardians of religious knowledge.… learning was confined to the transmission of traditions
and dogma, and [was] hostile to research and scientific inquiry”. The mentality
of taqlīd reigned supreme in all matters, and religious scholars condemned all other forms of
inquiry and research. Exemplifying the taqlīd mentality, Burhän al-Din al-Zarnüji wrote
during the thirteenth century “Stick to ancient things while avoiding new things” and
“Beware of becoming engrossed in those disputes which come about after one has cut loose
from the ancient authorities”. Much of what was written after the thirteenth century lacked
originality, and it consisted mostly of commentaries on existing canonical works without
adding any substantive new ideas. The lethal combination of taqlīd and foreign invasion
beginning in the thirteenth century served to dim Islam’s pre-eminence in both the artistic and
scientific worlds.
Despite its glorious legacy of earlier periods, the Islamic world seemed unable to
respond either culturally or educationally to the onslaught of Western advancement by the
eighteenth century. One of the most damaging aspects of European colonialism was the
deterioration of indigenous cultural norms through secularism. With its veneration of human
reason over divine revelation and its insistence on separation of religion and state, secularism
is anathema to Islam, in which all aspects of life, spiritual or temporal, are interrelated as a
harmonious whole. At the same time, Western institutions of education, with their
pronounced secular/religious dichotomy, were infused into Islamic countries in order to
produce functionaries to feed the bureaucratic and administrative needs of the state. The early
modernizers did not fully realize the extent to which secularized education fundamentally
conflicted with Islamic thought and traditional lifestyle. Religious education was to remain a
separate and personal responsibility, having no place in public education. If Muslim students
desired religious training, they could supplement their existing education with moral
instruction in traditional religious schools–the kuttāb. As a consequence, the two differing
education systems evolved independently with little or no official interface.
THE PROPHETS’ GUIDANCE ON EDUCATION
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was a perfect teacher and instructor. As
wonderful people like Abu Bakr and `Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) were all
his students, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) enjoyed brilliant teaching
methods. No wonder, Allah, Glory be to Him, has decreed the Prophet Muhammad (peace
and blessings be upon him) to be an ideal example for all Muslims to follow. In this context,
Allah Almighty says, “Verily in the Messenger of Allah ye have a beautiful pattern (of
conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and final Day, and who engages much in the
Praise of Allah”. (Al-Ahzab: 21)
The Prophet (S.A.W.W) has deemed education as a necessity for both men and women,
irrespective of colour and creed. Because those who seek knowledge will only gain the truth
about this world.
As a messenger of Allah, the Prophet Mohammad (S.A.W.W) has also emphasized the
importance of education in Islam. It was through his teaching and education that the people
came to know the truth and embraced Islam as their religion. In bringing up his Companions,
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) adopted various educational methods.
Following are some of them.
1. Using illustrative parables:
Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings be upon him) saying, ‘Behold! Can anything of his dirt remain on the
body of any one of you if there were a river at his door in which he washes himself five times
daily?’ They said, ‘Nothing of his dirt will remain (on his body).’ He said, ‘That is like the
Five Prayers.
2. Drawing the addressee’s attention by means of making oaths:
Abu Shurayh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) said, “By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe!
By Allah, he does not believe!” It was said, “Who is that person, O Allah’s Messenger?” He
said,“That person is he whose neighbour does not feel safe from his evil.” (Reported by Al-
Bukhari)
3. Being joyful in advice so that his Companions would not get bored:
In this context, we recall the incident when a man came to the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) and said, “O Messenger of Allah! Give me a mount.” The Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon him) said, “We shall give you a she-camel’s child to ride on.”
He said, “What shall I do with a she-camel’s child?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be
upon him) replied, “Do any others than she-camels give birth to camels?” (Reported by Abu
Dawud)
4- Considering the state of the addressee:
Abu Wa’il reported that `Abdur-Rahman used to give a religious talk to the people on
every Thursday. Once a man said, “O Abu `Abdur-Rahman! (By Allah) I wish if you could
preach to us daily.” He replied, “The only thing which prevents me from doing so, is that I
hate to bore you. No doubt, I consider your state in preaching by selecting a suitable time just
as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do with us, for fear of making us
bored.”(Reported by al-Bukhari)
5- Narrating stories:
An-Nu`man ibn Bashir reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
said, “Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His believing slave-servant than that of a
person who set out on a journey with a provision of food and drink on the back of his camel.
He went on until he came to a waterless desert and he felt like sleeping. So he got down
under the shade of a tree and was overcome by sleep, and his camel ran away. As he got up
he tried to see it (the camel) standing upon a mound, but did not find it. He then got upon the
other mound, but could not see anything. He then climbed upon the third mound, but did not
see anything until he came back to the place where he had been sleeping previously. And as
he was sitting (in utter disappointment) there came to him his camel, till that (camel) placed
its nose string in his hand. Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave-servant
than the person who found (his lost camel) in this very state.” (Reported by Muslim) Bearing
the above in mind, teachers and instructors should study the Prophet’s methods of education
and make use of them in bringing up the Muslim generations so that they would benefit
themselves, their societies and the all humanity.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF EARLY MUSLIMS TO ISLAMIC EDUCATION
Islam placed a high value on education, and, as the faith spread among diverse
peoples, education became an important channel through which to create a universal and
cohesive social order. By the middle of the 9th century, knowledge was divided into three
categories: the Islamic sciences, the philosophical and natural sciences (Greek knowledge),
and the literary arts. The Islamic sciences, which emphasized the study of the Qurʾān (the
Islamic scripture) and the Ḥadīth (the sayings and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad )
and their interpretation by leading scholars and theologians, were valued the most highly, but
Greek scholarship was considered equally important, albeit less virtuous.
Early Muslim education emphasized practical studies, such as the application of
technological expertise to the development of irrigation systems, architectural innovations,
textiles, iron and steel products, earthenware, and leather products; the manufacture of paper
and gunpowder; the advancement of commerce; and the maintenance of a merchant marine.
After the 11th century, however, denominational interests dominated higher learning, and the
Islamic sciences achieved pre-eminence. Greek knowledge was studied in private, if at all,
and the literary arts diminished in significance as educational policies encouraging academic
freedom and new learning were replaced by a closed system characterized by an intolerance
toward scientific innovations, secular subjects, and creative scholarship. This denominational
system spread throughout eastern Islam from Transoxania (roughly, modern-day Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan, and southwest Kazakhstan) to Egypt, with some 75 schools in existence between
about 1050 and 1250.
ISLAMIC EDUCATION SYSTEM FROM QUR’ANIC SCHOOL TO HIGHER
(TERTIARY) EDUCATION
The system of education in the Muslim world was un-integrated and undifferentiated.
Learning took place in a variety of institutions, among them the ḥalqah, or study circle;
the maktab (kuttab), or elementary school; the palace schools; bookshops and literary salons;
and the various types of colleges, the meshed, the masjid, and the madrasa . All the schools
taught essentially the same subjects.
The simplest type of early Muslim education was offered in the mosques, where
scholars who had congregated to discuss the Qurʾān began before long to teach the religious
sciences to interested adults. Mosques increased in number under the caliphs, particularly the
ʿAbbāsids 3,000 of them were reported in Baghdad alone in the first decades of the 10th
century; as many as 12,000 were reported in Alexandria in the 14th century, most of them
with schools attached. Some mosques—such as that of al-Manṣūr, built during the reign
of Hārūn al-Rashīd in Baghdad, or those in Isfahan, Mashhad, Ghom, Damascus, Cairo, and
the Alhambra (Granada)—became centres of learning for students from all over the Muslim
world. Each mosque usually contained several study circles (ḥalqah), so named because the
teacher was, as a rule, seated on a dais or cushion with the pupils gathered in a semicircle
before him. The more advanced a student, the closer he was seated to the teacher. The
mosque circles varied in approach, course content, size, and quality of teaching, but the
method of instruction usually emphasized lectures and memorization. Teachers were, as a
rule, looked upon as masters of scholarship, and their lectures were meticulously recorded in
notebooks. Students often made long journeys to join the circle of a great teacher. Some
circles, especially those in which the Ḥadīth was studied, were so large that it was necessary
for assistants to repeat the lecture so that every student could hear and record it.
 Elementary schools (maktab or kuttab), in which pupils learned to read and write, date
to the pre-Islamic period in the Arab world. After the advent of Islam, these schools
developed into centers for instruction in elementary Islamic subjects. Students were expected
to memorize the Qurʾān as perfectly as possible. Some schools also included in their
curriculum the study of poetry, elementary arithmetic, penmanship, ethics (manners), and
elementary grammar. Maktabs were quite common in almost every town or village in
the Middle East, Africa, Sicily, and Spain. Schools conducted in royal palaces taught not only
the curriculum of the maktabs but also social and cultural studies designed to prepare the
pupil for higher education, for service in the government of the caliphs, or for polite society.
The instructors were called muʾaddibs, or instructors in good manners. The exact content of
the curriculum was specified by the ruler, but oratory, history, tradition, formal ethics, poetry,
and the art of good conversation were often included. Instruction usually continued long after
the pupils had passed elementary age.
The high degree of learning and scholarship in Islam, particularly during the ʿAbbāsid
period in eastern Islam and the later Umayyads in western Islam, encouraged the
development of bookshops, copyists, and book dealers in large, important Islamic cities such
as Damascus, Baghdad, and Córdoba. Scholars and students spent many hours in these
bookshop schools browsing, examining, and studying available books or purchasing favourite
selections for their private libraries. Book dealers travelled to famous bookstores in search of
rare manuscripts for purchase and resale to collectors and scholars and thus contributed to the
spread of learning. Many such manuscripts found their way to private libraries of famous
Muslim scholars such as Avicenna, al-Ghazālī , and al-Fārābī , who in turn made their homes
centers of scholarly pursuits for their favourite students.
Fundamental to Muslim education through the circle schools, the maktabs, and the
palace schools were embodied definite educational limitations. Their curricula were limited;
they could not always attract well-trained teachers; physical facilities were not
always conducive to a congenial educational environment; and conflicts between religious
and secular aims in these schools were almost irreconcilable. Most importantly, these schools
could not meet the growing need for trained personnel or provide sufficient educational
opportunities for those who wished to continue their studies. These pressures led to the
creation of a new type of school, the madrasa,which became the crown and glory
of medieval Muslim education. The madras was an outgrowth of the masjid, a type of
mosque college dating to the 8th century. The differences between these two institutions are
still being studied, but most scholars believe that the masjid was also a place of worship and
that, unlike the madrasa, its endowment supported only the faculty and not the students as
well. A third type of college, the meshed (shrine college), was usually a madrasa built next to
a pilgrimage centre. Whatever their particularities, all three types of college specialized
in legal instruction, each turning out experts in one of the four schools of Sunni , or
orthodox, Islamic law .
Madrasas may have existed as early as the 9th century, but the most famous one was
founded in 1057 by the vizier Niẓām al-Mulk in Baghdad. The Niẓāmīyah, devoted to Sunni
learning, served as a model for the establishment of an extensive network of such institutions
throughout the eastern Islamic world, especially in Cairo, which had 75 madrasas; in
Damascus, which had 51; and in Aleppo, where the number of madrasas rose from 6 to 44
between 1155 and 1260.
Important institutions also developed in western Islam, under the Umayyads, in the
Spanish cities of Córdoba, Sevilla (Seville), Toledo, Granada, Murcia, Almería, Valencia,
and Cádiz. The madrasas had no standard curriculum; the founder of each school determined
the specific courses that would be taught, but they generally offered instruction in both the
religious sciences and the physical sciences.
The contribution of these institutions to the advancement of knowledge was vast.
Muslim scholars calculated the angle of the ecliptic; measured the size of the Earth;
calculated the precession of the equinoxes; explained, in the field of optics and physics, such
phenomena as refraction of light, gravity, capillary attraction, and twilight; and developed
observatories for the empirical study of heavenly bodies. They made advances in the uses of
drugs, herbs, and foods for medication; established hospitals with a system of interns and
externs; discovered causes of certain diseases and developed correct diagnoses for them;
proposed new concepts of hygiene; made use of anesthetics in surgery with newly innovated
surgical tools; and introduced the science of dissection in anatomy. They furthered the
scientific breeding of horses and cattle; found new ways of grafting to produce new types of
flowers and fruits; introduced new concepts of irrigation, fertilization, and soil cultivation;
and improved upon the science of navigation. In the area of chemistry, Muslim scholarship
led to the discovery of such substances as potash, alcohol, nitrate of silver, nitric
acid, sulfuric acid, and mercury chloride. It also developed to a high degree of perfection the
arts of textiles, ceramics, and metallurgy.
ISLAMIC EDUCATION IN NIGERIA
Islam came into Nigeria in the 9th century and this was the time Islamic education
began in the country. Islamic domination and Islamic education began in the Bornu Empire;
that is, in the northern part of Nigeria; this was during the time of Mai Idris Alooma, who
reigned till 1603. Islamic Education in Nigeria: How It All Began. Aside Islamic schools, the
king also furthered the establishment of Islamic pilgrimage, building of mosques, Islamic
courts and the likes.
Islamic education spread further from the Borno Empire to other parts of Nigeria in the
years that followed. By the 16th century, many of the cities in northern Nigeria were already
practicing Islam and the Islamic education system was already established in them. Islamic
system of education later moved to the middle Beltan part of Nigeria.
Islamic religion and Islamic education came into the southwestern part of Nigeria during
the reign of Mansa Musa of the Mali Empire. This was during the reign of the Abbasi
Dynasty.
Movement to southwestern part of Nigeria and the establishment of Islamic education was
due to incursion of Arab traders from North Africa down the northern region, across the river
Niger into the southwestern part of Nigeria.
There are evidences however that Islamic education came to the southwest from Mali,
hence the name “Esin Imale” given to it by the Yoruba people. “Esin Imale” means religion
of the Malians.
The Malian traders that brought the religion into Yoruba land were called the Wangara
Traders and they were the ones that established the first set of Islamic schools in the region.
The first sets of Islamic schools were established in the southwestern part of Nigeria between
the 14th and 15th century. The education system further took root between the 18th and 19th
century.
The above means Islamic education came into Nigeria long before Christian education.
The very first mosque to be built in Yoruba land was built in 1550 AD in Oyo-Ile. This also
served as the venue for Islamic education.

Truth is no Yoruba kid was attending the Islamic schools as at that time; the mosques were
built to meet the spiritual and education needs of the foreigners coming in from Mali and
other parts of Nigeria into the southwest. Soon, mosques were built in other towns in Yoruba
land, like Ede, Ikirun, Ijebu-ode, Abeokuta, Ibadan and Oyo. This incursion happened in the
18th century and the mosques also served as centers for Islamic schools in these towns.
The destruction of Oyo led to the scattering of Muslims in the town to other towns around
and this further led to the spread of Islam and the Islamic education system.
The inter tribal war in Yorubaland further led to the spread of Islamic teachers across
Yorubaland, since these Islamic teachers were acting as amulet makers and spiritual guides to
the Yoruba soldiers.
The first form of Islamic school was established as Qur’anic Centers and purpose was to
teach people about the Qur’an. These Qur’anic centers also taught Islamic studies. Later, the
Muslims started establishing formal schools, where they expose new converts to other forms
of education.
INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE PROJECT IN NIGERIA
One of the current trends in contemporary Islamic term Islamization and Islamicization.
Islamization has been thought is the Islamization of knowledge (IOK). Interpreted differently
by Muslim scholars. Danjuma A. Islamization is quickly becoming a common intellectual.
Maiwada defined it as “the transformation of an entire pursuit and expectation among
Muslim intellectuals and world view from a crooked or “Jahiliyya” basis to an academia in
the Muslim world.
Before discussing the process of Islamization in Nigeria there is need to understand the
term Islamization and Islamicization. Islamization has been interpreted differently by Muslim
scholars. Danjuma A. Maiwada defined it as “the transformation of an entire world view from
a crooked or “Jahiliyya” basis to an Islamic one”.
[1]. Islamization means including Islamic disciplines in the curriculum, providing an
Islamic perspective on issues in the syllabi and locating, where possible, secularized
disciplines within the Islamic weltanschauung
[2]. Islamization is the liberation of man first from magical, mythological, animistic,
national-cultural tradition opposed to Islam and then from secular control over his reason and
his language
[3]. Some scholars prefer to use ‘Islamicisation’; to them it conforms to the idea of
rendering human knowledge in-line with Islamic epistemology, ontology and ethics.
The early proponents of Islamization of knowledge describes Islamization of
knowledge in the sense of rescuing knowledge from secular interpretations and ideologies.
Al-Faruqi on the other hand, described it as a form of “recasting knowledge as Islam relates
to it”; “to overcome the dichotomy between modern secular and traditional Islamic systems
of education”; “to recast the whole legacy of human knowledge from the point of view of
Islam”; and “to redefine and re-order the data, to rethink the reasoning, to re-project the goals
and serve the cause of Islam”. The world conferences on Muslim education played a
significant role in drawing the attention of Muslims to problems with their educational
system. Adebayo maintained that the conferences “opened the eyes of the world”.
Education should aim at the balanced growth of the total personality of man through the
training of man’s spirit, intellect, the rational self, feelings and bodily senses. Education
should therefore cater for the growth of man in all its aspects: spiritual, both individually and
collectively and motivate all these aspects towards goodness and the attainment of perfection.

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