Al-Azhar University’s Role in Educating Nigerians: A Case Study of the Ilorin Al-Azhar Institute

Abstract

Al-Azhar University (est. 970), one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the world, has played a leading role in disseminating knowledge across Africa and Asia for centuries. Bringing together the study of a number of subjects in the same place, it was one of the first universities in the world, and the only one to survive as a modern university by including secular subjects in the curriculum. Today it is the chief center for the study of Arabic literature and the Islamic sciences in the world. One can hardly find a country in Africa where Al-Azhar has not contributed to the training of youth, either directly or indirectly. Al-Azhar’s impact on the youth is not restricted to disseminating knowledge; the institution also raises their hopes of achieving success in life. This chapter focuses on the impact that Al-Azhar had on Ma’had Ilorin Al-Azhary, a private Muslim institute, and the first branch of the Al-Azhar institutes to have been set up in sub-Saharan Africa during the last 50 years.