Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has called for development of a framework for reinvention of Islamic education to align with global dynamics in equipping youth with life skills.
He made the call while addressing a three-day conference on Islamic Learning and Scholarship in Africa organized by Arewa House in conjunction with the Organisation of Islamic Conference OIC and International Research Center for Islamic History Culture and Arts IRCICA Turkey held in Kaduna.
Senator Sani who described conference, as timely and apt in projecting the contribution of the Muslims in the world to the global knowledge, said Sokoto Caliphate holds the distinction of being a leading contributor of knowledge in Africa.
He stated that, the famous Islamic reformer, Sheikh Usman Bin Fodio and his brother Sheikh Abdullahi Fodio have made enduring contributions in areas of moral leadership, spiritual knowledge, agriculture and commerce.
Governor Uba Sani also emphasized that, it was important to equip young people with skills that will enable them compete globally and contribute meaningfully to the society.
Also speaking, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar revealed that, over 3.2 million books from 200 works of Islamic scholars from the Sokoto Caliphate have been edited, published and distributed across Nigeria.
The Sultan said the books were published in English, Arabic and Hausa languages, stressing that, the exposure of African heritage will help restore the identity of Africans, their worth and prepare them for the future.
“The Caliphate leaders alone wrote over 300 works considered the works of the daughter of Usman Danfodio Nana Asma’u and some of his students like AbdulKadir zul Mustapha. These works covered wide range of subjects from well known Islamic scientists of tafsir Qur’an, sociology, economy, political science and medicine”
“We have so far edited and published over 3.2 million books of 200 works of these great leaders and they have gone round the country and libraries of individuals and schools across the world”
The Chairman of the Conference, a professor of history and former Vice Chancellor of Adamawa State University, Professor Al Kasum Abba stressed the need for the Sultan of Sokoto and Shehu of Borno to help in establishing fund to study the 19th century jihad, because it took different dimensions for the jihads in Sokoto and Borno.
He said they equally need funds to translate all the writings of 19th century so that to understand the history of the previous Islamic Scholars.
The conference was attended by Islamic scholars, researchers, and experts from various parts of Africa and the world.
AMINU DALHATU
