Central and Southern Africa: Islamic Education Variations

Abstract

Though this chapter retained “Islamic Education” in the subtitle, the author like Farid Panjwani (2004) and others are of the view that one should replace the phrase with “Muslim Education.” The primary reason for this is based on the argument that “Islamic” implies that the educational system that is in place is nothing else but “Islamic”; now this understanding is somewhat problematic and debatable to say the least. The descriptive word “Muslim” is considered a better word since it conveys the idea that Muslims differ in terms of the definitions, methodologies, and understandings; as a result, one encounters various systems. This chapter demonstrates these complexities as it considers the Qur’anic schools that were created in Central Africa (e.g., Chad) and compares them to related schools in Southern Africa (e.g., Botswana). One will observe that these types of schools are unique to Central/West Africa and that they are absent in Southern Africa. The factors that contributed to this vary and are discussed as they relate to the various schools, for example, the dominance of different schools within different areas. This chapter seeks to expand on the complexity and specificity by ethnicity or region to the accuracy of “Islamic,” “Muslim,” or other labels, such “Islamic religious” or “Arab-Islamic Education” and how these schools are uniquely contextualized within ethnic, nation-state, and regional realities.

Though the researcher retained the essay’s subtitle as “Islamic education,” he, like Farid Panjwani and others, is of the view that one should replace the phrase with “Muslim education”. The basic reason for this is based on the argument that “Islamic” implies that the educational system that is in place is nothing else but “Islamic”; now this understanding is somewhat problematic and debatable to say the least. The descriptive word “Muslim” is considered to be a better word since it conveys the idea that Muslims differ in terms of the definitions, methodologies, and understandings; and as a result, one encounters various systems. If one considers the Qur’anic schools that have been created in Central Africa (e.g., Chad) and compares them to related schools in Southern Africa (e.g., Botswana), one will observe that these types of schools are unique to Central/West Africa and that they are absent in Southern Africa. The factors that contributed to this vary too: One factor is the jurisprudential school that has been dominant in a particular region and another is the ethnic group that adhered to it; for example, in Central Africa the Maliki school is widespread among the Central Africans whereas the Hanafi school is prevalent among most Southern Africans whose roots are from South Asia where this school remains dominant. On another related note, one observed that some authors deliberately chose to use other compound terms such as “Islamic religious education” see: Che Noraini Hashim, and Hasan Langgulung. 2008. “Islamic Religious Curriculum in Muslim Countries: The Experiences of Indonesia and Malaysia,” Bulletin of Education & Research 30, no. 1: 1–19. For “Arab-Islamic Education” see: Rohen D’Aiglepierre, Hamidou Dia and Clothilde Hugon, 2018, “Can Arabo-Islamic Education Be Ignored?” A Question of Development: Syntheses of AFD and Research 36 (January). Others question these nomenclatures and argue against their use on another occasion, see: Farid Panjwani, 2004, “The ‘Islamic’ in Islamic Education: Assessing the Discourse,” Current Issues in Comparative Education 7 (1): 19–29; Sayyid Naquib Al-Attas, 1977, Aims and Objectives of Islamic Education, London: Hodder & Stoughton; Yusef Waghid, 2016, “Islamic Education and Contemporary Ethical Dilemmas,” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education, http://education.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-11?print=pdf, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.11; Amjad Hussein, 2004, “Islamic Education: Is There a Need for It?” Journal of Beliefs and Values 25 (3): 217–323. The latter argues for a shift from exclusivity within the UK context to an inter-cultural-oriented Islamic education.