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Abstract
Just like the angels, who, in their one-sidedness saw only the mischief of mankind and so
remonstrated about the creation of Adam, many scholars seem to have emphasised numerous
illegal activities and vulnerability of the new cyber-technologies. As the matter was brought
home to them when the actual capacities of man were shown to the angels, the need to
address the benefits inherent in the modern Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) becomes imperative as well. The knowledge of Islam which commenced in the
Prophet‘s mosque and was transmitted to recipients in Africa under the shade of trees is later
received in schools, colleges and libraries. In the 21 st century a rapid means of reaching the
world and an effective means of information dissemination is through the Information and
Communication Technology. The big questions then are what are the challenges of ICT to
Islamic Studies? What are the new opportunities offered by the ICT in the field of Qur‘an,
Hadith, Fiqh, and Sirah? To what extent are Islamic Studies teachers availing themselves
with these opportunities? How are they going to face the challenges posed by this new
development? An exploration into this paper will proffer solution to these research questions.
Useful suggestions will be offered on how best the opportunities could be maximally utilised
to facilitate effective teaching of Islamic Studies in our educational institutions.
Introduction
The susceptibility of the ICT to all sorts of evils and unwanted information is as a
result of its democratic nature which makes all Dick and Harry to upload and download
whatever they wish into and from it. The problem is compounded by its not being censored
before making such available to the world. The presence of obnoxious websites where nude
and sex pictures are displayed and users have unlimited access to them with a mere click of
the mouse and keyboard of the computer confirms this assertion. The ICT has therefore
become an instrument of pornography, obscenity, homosexuality and lewdness. Some
teenagers have gone to the extent of downloading such pictures in to their handset to have
unrestricted access to them at any point in time. Web Dating is another phenomenon of ICT
usage among youths. This is done by public display of pictures and profiles of prospective
males and females on the website for easy access of prospective daters. This relationship at
times leads to disappointment, deceit, illicit sexual affairs and divorce. Oloyede (2007) has
equally asserted that the use of telephone text messages, programmable calculators, opaque
jottings, Bluetooth computer facilities and the like, has made ICT a facility for advance
cheating in examinations. There was also an instance where Diann Baecker, an Assistant
Professor at Virginia State University in Petersburg discovered a student to have taken a
picture of his neighbour‘s essay with his camera-equipped phone and then copied the answer
onto his own tests using the image on the phone‘s screen (Marlon, 2004).
The vulnerability of ICT as it affects Islam and Islamic Studies could not be over
emphasised as well. It has become a good source of distortion of facts about Islam and so a
Conceptual Clarification
Cyber-Space
Space is described as the region beyond the earth‘s atmosphere or beyond the solar
system. Siddiqui (2008:30) considers the complexity of the space phenomena as being
―permeated by gravitational field and wide spectrum of electromagnetic fields of unknown
intensities and distributions.‖ Apart from the fact that the Qur‘an enjoins man to penetrate the
Islamic Studies
In view of the fact that the tools for information and communication technologies are
inexhaustible, we restrict ourselves to the following for proper attention and prompt
reference:
i. Internet:- for its dynamism, constant review of information contained therein,
easy accessibility and provision of Internet Search Engines (ISEs) which can
be used to find useful information. In spite of these opportunities offered by
Preservation of divine and prophetic messages has been the concern of the Muslims right
form the time of the Prophet. He (the Prophet) was a prominent figure in the work of
preservation of the Qur‘an. The Rightly-Guided caliphs also did their best in preserving the
Holy Scripture. Abubakr was credited for guarding the Qur‘an against the interpolation of the
semi-prophets like Musaylimah who claimed to have received his own shallow and fake
message from one angel Rahman. The task of preserving the sayings and deeds of the Prophet
was carried out during the tenure of Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz.
In the contemporary period, ICT is a veritable instrument of preserving the message of
Islam. Some software on Qur‘an and hadith such as ‗Alim for Windows containing the
Arabic texts, translation and commentary of the Qur‘an; the Sahih Bukhari and other Islamic
books are preserved and made available for scholars to access. The Mausucat kutubi Tiscah is
also a CD plate where nine works of Hadith literature are stored.
O company of jinn and mankind, if you are able to pass beyond the
regions of the heavens and the earth, then pass. You will not pass
except by authority (from Allah). So which of the favours of your Lord
would you deny? (Q55:33-34)
The above Qur‘anic verses do not only confirm the limitless opportunity given to man
to harness and explore the space, but also a strong indication that the discovery of Allah‘s
creation and making use of this for the development of humankind as a religious duty. In
essence, the discovery of ICT is no doubt a commendable effort which deserves
acknowledgement just like the angels acknowledged the erudition of Adam. If Allah has
clearly mentioned it that He had subjected all that is in the heavens and on the earth to
mankind, (Q45:13; 31:20), then seeking scientific and technological knowledge for the
purpose of understanding this better becomes a pertinent challenge for every Muslim.
It is interesting to note that the Qur‘an gives a clear demonstration of how the space
was subjected to the use of man in its narration of the story of Prophet Sulayman. Apart from
the fact that the Qur‘anic story of Prophet‘s Sulayman‘s hoopoe demonstrated a means of
communication, Sulayman was endowed with the shortening of geographical distance and the
power to subject the wind and to flow gently to his order. Adebayo (2005:124) has equally
asserted that the consequent acceptance of Islam by Balqis and her recognition of Sulayman‘s
supremacy as a king were instances of the homogenization and hegemonization syndrome of
globalization. Therefore, it becomes a challenge for scholars of Islamic Studies to acquire
scientific knowledge so as to pave way for their better understanding of the verses of the
Qur‘an. We therefore concur with the suggestion of Oloyede (2004: 26-28) that many
fundamental adjustments needed to be effected in the content and methodology of the
discipline of Islamic Studies in the light of constant changing challenges posed by
materialism, secularism and exploitation which are the irresistible instrument for the
domination of the contemporary world. In the light of this, teachers of Islamic Studies are
expected to be abreast of the modern technological advancement so that their methods of
teaching are improved upon. On this basis, some challenges of Islamic Studies in the
contemporary Information and Communication Technology are hereby considered.
Another serious challenge of ICT is the opportunities it offers to some whose only
intention is to paint Islam black to the world using the instrumentality of ICT. There is no
doubt that information from this source could be taken to be authentic by researchers who are
not well grounded in Islam. It therefore becomes imperative to censor information retrieved
from the internet in the perspective of Islam. Websites which carry wrong information about
Islam should be detected on time, and such should be exposed to the world through the
internet as well.
Another challenge is the fact that not all ICT experts are learned in Islam. Some who
are not expert in any field of Islamic Studies rely on their little knowledge of Islam and use
the opportunity of their knowledge in ICT to develop software to post on the net what they
feel is adequate. The democratic nature of this medium which allows for all Dick and Harry
to develop or upload information on the internet makes it dangerous to rely on information
from this source.
There is no denying the fact that cyber crime is a major threat to the contemporary
information and communication technology as it is being used for serious socio-economic
and religious crimes. Apart from the fact that it has become a forum through which numerous
crimes are committed, it has become a stumbling block for observance of the daily obligatory
prayers at the right time, as many are grossly involved in it at the expense of the time of
prayers. Night browsing on the net has also come to replace the Prophetic recommended
Qiyam layl or tahajjud. It therefore becomes a challenge for every Muslim to inculcate the
spirit of Islam in adhering strictly to the principle of Islamic ethical values to guard against
cyber crime, and to uphold the Islamic teaching on timely observance of salat and other
Prophetic teachings.
The problem of Muslims in the whole world is their late acceptance of what they
believe was not practiced by the Prophet and his early companions regardless of the
imperative of such to their religion. They thus stress the negative aspects of such a thing
closing their eyes at the positive aspects. The inadequacy of instructional technologists
among Muslims both in the realms of hardware and software might be due to their lateness in
accepting the contemporary Information and Communication Technology. To check this, a
paradigm shift from traditional to information revolution systemic thinking becomes
imperative for the Muslim world. Numerous Islamic websites in vogue should also endeavour
to update information on them so that they don‘t live in the past. Series of workshops on
Information technologies from a broader Islamic perspective will also assist in improving the
performance of Muslims in this field. Finally, we recommend that series of collaborative
works between Muslim jurists and Technologists and between Departments of Islamic
Studies and Information and Communication Technology will help much in bridging the gaps
between the two groups. Private Islamic universities and other institutions should mount
diploma courses in Islamic Studies for Information and Communication technologists to
undertake, while diploma courses in ICT are also undertaken by specialists in Islamic Studies
for them to obtain necessary knowledge in the field. Upon all, it will be a thing of joy if one
day Nigeria should have a private Islamic University of Technology where courses offered
will be properly given Islamic touch and students would be exposed to the rigours of ICT. In
conclusion, we strongly opine that a complete overhauling of the curriculum of modern
Islamic schools and madrasah to incorporate the modern ICT becomes highly imperative to
allow their products to compete favourably with modern day development.
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