A review of Muhammad Ya`qub Aligan’s Islamic studies for primary schools (books 1-6)

Book Review presented during the Formal Launch and Presentation of  Muhammad Ya`qub Aligan’s Islamic Studies for Primary Schools, at Islamic Centre Hall, UNILAG Mosque , Lagos on August 25, 2022.

 

The Background

Appraising the state of Islamic Studies instruction at all levels of education in Nigeria, should be an appropriate starting point for this review.  Among other objectives, Islamic Studies is meant to present to learners:

1. the practical application of Islamic teachings to life.
2. the spiritual, moral, socio-economic and intellectual roles of Islam in society
3. the historical and contemporary development of Islam as well as the lessons learnt from them.

From the objectives highlighted above it is obvious that Islamic Studies is expected to significantly assist in building the character of learners in a way that society benefits from its moral and spiritual resources. The moral crises confronting human societies at the local and international levels raises the issue of effectiveness of religious education as a preventive mechanism against the proliferation of social maladies. Scholars and researchers have identified the factors responsible for the ineffectiveness of Islamic Studies within the context of its teaching in Nigeria. Prominent among these are the issues of negative government policies which had subjugated the status of the subject at different times under Moral Instruction or Religion and National Values. It is presently accorded the status of an inconsequential elective subject. The treatment of the subject as a low-priority subject is manifested in the low and in some cases non-recruitment of teachers to teach the subject in schools. In spite of the periodic review of the Islamic Studies curriculum, there is no corresponding availability of high quality textbooks that adequately interpret the philosophy of the curriculum and the range of content and activities that pupils should learn.

This latter problem brings to the fore the significance of Alhaj Ya`qub Aligan’s intervention through the publication of this set of six books titled: Islamic Studies for Primary Schools Books1 -6.

The daring challenges facing Islamic Studies in our locale had awakened the consciousness of experts in the field in coming to the rescue of the discipline through the publication of books. Today, there is need to sustain more than ever before. Islamic Studies in the early 1960s did not enjoy the compliment of the availability of curriculum-referenced textbooks written in the English Language.   Busari (2018) has rightly submitted that:

In the case of ISS, there were little or no textbooks written in English until about 1968-1970. The teachers were mostly traditional Mallams and Alfas (Muslim Scholars) who passed through the local and earlier modern Arabic Teachers Colleges, but mainly used Arabic books, from which they would translate the needed lessons into acceptable local dialects for their students. However, with the production of ISS books in English written to the syllabus, the subject became much easier to teach and learn (Busari, J.M. 2018).

The pioneer efforts and salient contributions of authors of Islamic Studies textbooks such as Abdurahman Doi, M.O.A. Abdul, Muhammad Rauf, Bashir Sambo, Aisha Lemu and numerous others deserve commendation. The point of emphasis here is that if the education authorities fail in their mandate to provide essential resources for teaching and learning in a particular field, experts who are the custodians of knowledge must not fail to address challenges facing their area of specialisation. They feel obligated to utilise their professional and intellectual resources to safeguard the interest of the discipline…

Nigeria is yet to have in place a textbook policy and an appropriate legislation that specify details of the quality required of books that serve play mediating roles between what the curriculum guidelines specify and actual classroom circumstances. A textbook as opposed to any other book is:

any teaching tool or combination of teaching tools which contains a systematisation of knowledge and information on a particular subject matter and which is didactically designed for a specific educational level and student age group in order to fulfil a developmental and formative role in students’ construction of knowledge (Ivić, Pešikan & Antić, 2018).

From the concept of a textbook enunciated above and in view of current best practices in textbook development as well as the peculiarities of teaching Islam at the lower basic education level we are interested here in find out the extent to which Aliagan’s Islamic Studies for Primary Schools has addressed the current needs of Islamic Studies pedagogy?

 

Book structure and content

A careful perusal of the six volumes revealed the interconnected presentation of six major themes of Islamic Studies following curriculum specifications.. The themes are the Qur’ān, Hadith, Tawḥīd, Fiqh, Sīrah and Tahdhīb The main content is structured into 26 to 50 topics in various volumes of the work with the total number of pages per volume ranging from 40 to 65.

Each book begins with the congregational activity tagged “Morning Devotion”. The text contains moderate length supplications meant to commence the day’s activities seeking divine support. All the volumes emphasise the fundamental position of Īmān especially its main component, Tawhīd (Islamic monotheism) through the presentation of the attributes of Allah and His role in human life. In each of the volumes, this aspect appears before the presentation of any other theme.

The indispensability of the acquisition of Arabic literacy skills is demonstrated through the strategic presentation of Qur’ānic Arabic as a basic tool for the effective study of the texts of the Qur’ān and Hadith. The concepts taught in Qur’ānic Arabic spans the first three volumes. It is noteworthy that romanisation or transliteration of the Arabic Script is used as a temporary medium of presenting Arabic texts to the learner while at the upper primary school level, the use of transliteration is strategically discontinued in favour of the use of the Arabic script in reciting Qur’ān. The various dimensions of the study of the suwar selected for study are gradually presented taking cognizance of the cognitive abilities of the learner.

Hadith texts generally support Islamic etiquette selected for study in Books 1 and 2 while the theoretical background to the study of hadith is presented in Book 4. The Islamic ethics relevant to the nurturing of younger members of the Ummah are extensively presented in all the books. Following the didactic approach of the Qur’ān in relating historical accounts, the author presents the Sīrah (the Prophet’s Biography), the biographies of selected Prophets of Allah and the Rightly Guided Caliphs, The approach is not just a chronicle of the antecedents of personalities, but the lessons embedded in their biographies are identified to serve value-building purposes. The Qur’ān presents historical data from a religo-moral standpoint in a way that biographies evoke deep reflection and introspection. The Qur’ān states:

فاقصص القصص لعلهم يتفكرون

“So relate the stories that all may reflect” (Qur’ān 7:176)

The five pillars of Islam and other ancillary topics in Islamic jurisprudence related to the primary level of education are discussed in each volume.  The presentation of the topics on Islamic ethics follows a pragmatic approach designed to educate the mind.The method of presentation of the author has the potential of creating a lasting psycho-social impact on the reader.

Evaluation of learning features in all the volumes as an indispensable component of each chapter. Text boxes are consistently utilised to demarcate the main content from the evaluation segment. Various question types such as short answer, matching, completion, true or false items, oral and writing drills are variously deployed depending on the nature of specific concepts.

 

Concerns and proposals

The author may be interested in addressing the following concerns in subsequent editions:

1. Morning Devotion: Only one text of supplications is repeated in all the volumes, An enrichment of this useful initiative is proposed. For instance, the author may be interested in widening the scope of Morning Devotions through additional supplications at the upper level of the primary school.
2. Song: this is also limited to Volume I. is there a good justification for not extending this to the other volumes?

iii. Hadith: The attention accorded hadith can be spread throughout all the volumes instead of limiting it to particular volumes.

1. Use of terms: the author should revisit the technical terms used throughout the book for accuracy. For instance, the term Madd appears as Madi. The same word is translated as “Prolongation Vowels” instead of “Long Vowel” or “Prolongation”.
2. Transliteration: No specific standard is followed in the romanisation of Arabic terms and the Qur’ānic texts. The word “Al-Duau” may be better transliterated as Al-Ducā’.
3. Proof-reading: there are various editorial issues which a good content and language editing should address. For instance, in Line 3 of the Preface, the word “According” ought to be “according”. In Line 2 of the second paragraph, the word “pupil” is more appropriate than “people”.

 

Merits

This publication has interpreted the curriculum in a brilliant fashion. The volumes have translated the abstractions of the curriculum into an easily teachable and learnable units. Authors adopt different textbook models that may be teacher-centred, student-centred or textbook-centred. Alhaj Aliagan’s model is first of all God-centred. The goal of accessing divine guidance and adhering to it feature prominently in every topic. There is a conscious effort to simplify complex concepts in a way that teaching and learning become pleasurable experiences. The language is simple, lucid and coherent.

The sequence in the arrangement of information, the age-appropriate method of presentation, the strategic use of pictures to support mastery of content and knowledge recall are features that distinguish the books from many previous efforts. The size of the fonts used, the use of learner-friendly colour combinations, effective deployment of text-boxes and the use of illustrations as a supplemental medium of learning make the book extremely resourceful.

Without reservation, I recommend these revised editions to stakeholders in the formal and informal education sectors. Although the books are basically written with pupils in mind, it is also a good introductory text for adults who intend advance their knowledge of Islam beyond that of the layman. Parents who wish to teach Islam to their wards should find the book very helpful. This means that the books a relevant to all age- groups.

On this note, I congratulate the author and sincerely commend his effort in undertaking this intellectual project. May Allah reward your efforts abundantly? Brothers and sisters, I thank you all for your attention. Was-salāmu alaykum wa rahmatullāh wa barakātuh…

 

• MUSA is of the department of Religious Studies, University of Lagos, Akoka.

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