Between Tradition and the Academy: Islamic Studies in African Universities

This paper examines how Islamic Studies is taught in African universities through a comparative analysis of Bayero University Kano and the University of Jos. It argues that university Islamic Studies programs occupy an epistemologically liminal space between the transmission of classical Islamic sciences — including fiqh, tafsīr, ḥadīth, and kalām — and the methodological demands of the modern academy. Drawing on curricular analysis, interviews, and madrasa comparisons, the study analyzes pedagogical design, language of instruction, and structures of scholarly authority. It highlights a linguistic and epistemological divide in which madrasa graduates often develop encyclopedic mastery of Arabic textual traditions, while university curricula are structured to provide training in critical historiography, research methodology, and interdisciplinary approaches to the academic study of Islam, though preliminary findings suggest uneven implementation. By placing these institutional formations in dialogue, the paper interrogates the future of Islamic Studies in African higher education.