DINAMIKA ILMU - Vol. 21 No. 1, 2021 - Scientific Education among Muslims in Northern Nigeria: The Influence of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Scholarship

Oct 15, 2026

The study examines how scientific and medical education in Islamic learning became separated from conventional scientific research during earlier periods, and how this neglect affected Muslim societies in later centuries. It traces the intellectual and cultural connectivity among Muslims and how Middle Eastern and Mediterranean scholarship shaped nineteenth-century scientific and medical thinking in Northern Nigeria. The paper analyzes influences on perception, motivation, and research practices, giving special attention to writings by Sultan Muhammad Bello (d. 1837) and Sheikh Abdullahi Fodiyo (d. 1829), and also considers reciprocal impacts of Northern Nigerian educational works on wider curricula beyond Nigeria.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

A. Introduction

Islamic education and the unity of knowledge

Historical centers and knowledge transmission

Northern Nigeria as a hub of Islamic scholarship

Mediterranean and Middle Eastern origins of studied literature

DINAMIKA ILMU Vol. 21 No. 1, 2021 P-ISSN: 1411-3031; E-ISSN: 2442-9651 doi: [http://doi.org/10.21093/di.v21i1.2554](http://doi.org/10.21093/di.v21i1.2554) Scientific Education among Muslims in Northern Nigeria: The Influence of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Scholarship Mukhtar Umar Bunza Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria e-mail: [cf398@cornell.edu](cf398@cornell.edu) Lawal Abdulkarim Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria [e-mail: cf398@cornell.edu](e-mail: cf398@cornell.edu) Abstract In the study of Islamic education, the scientific and medical contributions of Muslims globally are incongruously positioned. In most cases, Islamic education is completely divorced from its conventional scientific research and experimentation known and appreciated in its early and classical periods. Science and medicine are not alien in Islamic epistemology, though, have suffered gross neglect in the Muslim World in recent centuries. However, the universality and connectivity among the Muslims in the world since the beginning of the Islamic mission has been one of the gluing and cementing factors in the Muslim world intellectually and culturally, which made spread and diffusion of literature and scholarship across Muslim communities reciprocally. It is thus, not a surprise to find that, not only on the spiritual and educational facets but also in scientific and medical spheres the classical writers of the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean regions got their ways and significantly impacted the Muslim scholars of the nineteenth century northern Nigeria. The paper, therefore, aims at tracing and analyzing the extent of influence of those (Middle Eastern and Mediterranean regions) scientific literatures on the perception, motivation, as well as research, documentation, and experimentation in fields of sciences and medicine in Muslim Northern Nigeria. Special consideration will be given to the works by Sultan Muhammad Bello, d. 1837, who wrote quite a number of treatises on different aspects of sciences, followed by Sheikh Abdullahi Fodiyo d. 1829, and others who followed after them. The research will also explore how in turn, Dinamika Ilmu, Volume 21(1), 2021 1 Mukhtar Umar Bunza & Lawal Abdulkarim their educational works on scientific and medical research also impacted on the Muslim societies in Nigeria and beyond, especially in the codification and enlistment of the scientific resource materials on the wider educational spheres and the curricular of the Muslim societies of the area, since the last two centuries. Keywords: Mediterranean World, Middle East, Northern Nigeria, Scientific Education A. Introduction Education in Islam knows no bounds; any useful knowledge that helps in improving and advancing human survival and wherewithal on earth, whether attained through revelation or acquired process, is practically and essentially part and parcel of religion. Thereis, therefore, no distinction between‘spiritual’ and ‘conventional’ knowledge in Islam. That was the reason why early Muslim scientists were concurrently versatile in religious, natural sciences, and philosophy. Thus, one of the greatest contributions of Islamic civilization inmost communities globally is the awakening of literary pursuit and knowledge acquisition. That was due to the fact that the entire rites and practices in the religion revolve round reading, recitation, and liturgy. The first and foremost is to be able to understand and read the Qur’an, Hadith of the Prophet as well as other related literature on law and history of the early period of the religion- Sira. Consequently, there was institutionalization and incorporation of book culture as well the emergence of libraries, reading, and research centers, which had become synonymous with the presence of Islamic influence in the society. That was the history of educational cum scientific advancement in the DamascusSyria, Baghdad-Iraq, Al-Azhar-Egypt, Qairawan-Morocco, Timbu

FAQs

Why does the paper connect Islamic education with scientific and medical contributions?

It argues that science and medicine are part of Islamic epistemology, but Islamic education became disconnected from scientific research and experimentation in later centuries.

What is the main aim of the research?

To trace and analyze the extent of influence of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean scientific literatures on scientific and medical education, motivation, documentation, and experimentation in Muslim Northern Nigeria.

Which historical scholars receive special consideration?

The paper gives special attention to Sultan Muhammad Bello (d. 1837) and Sheikh Abdullahi Fodiyo (d. 1829), along with other writers who followed.

Oct 15, 2026

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