There are two group of people who insist on defending the bastardised Almajiri and or Tsangaya system despite its shortcomings. These group of people want the continuation of the system due to their personal gains and or benefits and not because of its gains and or benefits to the Almajiri child.
The Hausa land and or Northern Nigeria is not the only Muslim dominated society in the world, but it is now the only society where children are subjected to servitude in the name of learning. There are millions of Muslim children in several other Muslim dominated countries who learned and or are still learning the Holy Qur’an without going through the difficulties the Almajiri child goes through in Northern Nigeria. The Glorious Qur’an has indeed been made easy for us to learn.
The present Almajiri system of learning the Holy Qur’an is quite different from the ancient times Almajiri system which is why I refer to the present system as the bastardised Almajiri system. The Almajiri system in the olden days did not depend on begging for its sustenance and or survival, but unfortunately the present bastardised Almajiri system of education heavily relies on begging for its sustenance and or survival.
In the ancient Almajiri or Tsangaya system of Qur’anic education unlike in the present times virtually all the Qur’anic tutors (Arammas) were not located in the cities. Virtually all the Arammas (tutors) were farmers in their spacious houses located close to their farmlands not in the cities in a single tiny rented room with hundreds of Almajirai. The logic the Arammas (tutors) and their Almajiris (students) stayed close to their farms away from the town and cities was to enable them cultivate what they and the Almajirai (students) would eat.
In those days no matter their ages, the Almajirai were meant to help their Arammas in the farms for the cultivation of food for their collective upkeep. The youngest among the Almajirai who could not farm often served water to the adults Almajirai in the farms. In addition, at the initial stages of the practice the parents of the Almajirai who were virtually all farmers after their annual harvest often sent grains, gifts of grains and Zakkat of grains to the Arammas for the upkeep of their children. It is sad to note that this practice has all stopped and begging has since taken more time of the boys for survival than learning the Holy Qur’an.
The Arammas of the Almajirai now unlike in the past are no longer farmers and they are not traders either. They too struggle to survive much less the Almajirai. They are neither being sponsored by the government nor by the philanthropists in the society. It is sad to note that the practice is now a way of abdicating basic parental responsibilities of feeding, clothing, and sheltering, etc., by the parents of the Almajirai. It baffles me to note that many commentators are now afraid to discuss this very important topic for fear of being termed as anti Qur’anic studies which is the usual false argument put forward by the beneficiaries of the system.
In my discovery, there are two categories of people who are still working very hard to defend the bastardised Almajiri system of Qur’anic education despite its shortcomings for their personal gains and not the Almajiri child’s gains or welfare. This group of people are always quick to call those who seek reform as anti Qur’anic studies all in their selfish attempt to perpetuate their exploitation of the Almajiri child.
The first category of the people who insist on the continuation of the bastardised Almajiri system are the middle class dwellers of our towns and cities where the Almajirai are now located. Ironically these people do not send their children to the same Almajiri schools, but their only reason for defending the system is that they find the Almajirai as source of cheap labour for their domestic chores instead of hiring adults for higher payments.
The middle class dwellers of our towns and cities often use the Almajiri child for laundry services in return for just food instead of hiring adults for payments. They use the Almajiri child as gardners for food instead hiring adults. They use the Almajiri child for fetching or drawing water from the well or tap for food instead of hiring adults. They use the Almajiri child for refuse dump for food instead of hiring adults. Anytime the issue of the inhuman conditions the Almajiri child is subjected to is raised these exploiters often raise louder voices in defence of the bastardised Almajiri system for their continuous exploitation of the Almajiri child.
Secondly, there are some Islamic scholars too who still insist on the bastardised Almajiri system for their personal gains. These scholars ironically too do not believe in sending their children to Almajiri schools for Qur’anic education, but they often send their children to Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, Iraq , and some Nigerian universities, etc., for Islamic studies and Shari’a knowledge. It is apt to state that most of the people who send their children to Almajiri schools are the rural poor who see it as an avenue for abdicating their basic parental responsibilities of feeding , clothing and sheltering at the very tender age of five or six years.
These Islamic scholars who defend the bastardised Almajiri system enjoy massive followership of the rural poor as their socio-economic capital as such they see nothing wrong in the present bastardised Almajiri system. These Islamic scholars who defend the bastardised Almajiri system are often afraid to tell the parents of the Almajirai to live up to their basic parental responsibilities for fear of losing their massive followership which they use as their socio-economic capital.
These scholars often deploy all manners of arguments and even blackmail in order to silence those who seek reform of the bastardised Almajiri system for their personal survival not for the good of the Almajiri child. The glorious Qur’an must be learnt and it will continue to be learnt. It our responsibility as Muslims to teach our children the Holy Qur’an and it is equally our responsibility to feed, clothe, and shelter our children while learning the glorious Qur’an.
The most realistic way of reforming the bastardised Almajiri system of education is for the operators of the Almajiri schools to set up standard schools with all the required facilities or for the government to help the Arammas to set up standard schools with modern boarding facilities as in the conventional boarding schools and charge the parents of the Almajirai tuition and feeding fees. In addition, Arammas who cannot afford to set up a standard boarding Almajiri schools should set up standard day Almajiri schools and or the government should help to set up day Almajiri schools with enough classrooms in form of Islamiyya schools where the issues of feeding and accommodation of the Almajirai will not arise.
In conclusion, we must not fail in telling parents to take full responsibilities of their children just as the parents who send their children to Islamiyya schools from their homes and or those who send their children to boarding schools do. Similarly, it is high time we told ourselves the bitter truth that, children are responsibilities placed upon every parent, as such, we must encourage each parent to take full responsibilities of his child and not to shift it to someone else and or to the entire world.
May the Almighty Allah bless us!
Nurudeen Dauda,
Kaduna, Kaduna state
