THE CONFLICT BETWEEN ISLAM, TRADITION AND MODERNITY:

A REFLECTION ON NORTHERN NIGERIAN CRISIS AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

ON GIRL CHILD EDUCATION

Salisu Garba

School of Education

Federal College of Education, Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria

E-mail: murigar@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: Islam is an ideology per excellence and as a universal revolutionary movement, is all out to topple and replace local and international tradition which are obnoxious, retrogressive, anti-humanity and are opposed to it development. However, only local or international tradition which does not contrast the Shariah as enshrined in Qur’an and hadith is tolerated but also welcomed and sanctioned. Similarly no matter how conservative and reactionary, a tradition may be considered once it found to be in conformity with the teaching of Islam, it will not only be tolerated by Islam, but it will be seriously defended and supported. Islam is not as many people have wrongly conceived it to be. It is not anti-science and technology. Islam is not opposed to the pursuit of knowledge from whatever quarter it may be, what Islam is seriously against and will never compromise on that, is the pollution of faith and even out right de-islamization, associated with the Western (Boko) system of education, if evidence found beyond any reasonable doubt then such knowledge will be rejected Islam and the Muslim respect science and technology and any field of knowledge which is beneficial to mankind. The historical truth of the matter is that Islam and Muslim owned science and technology and were the first to make some positive and fundamental contribution to science and technology which formed the basis of development in such areas like Algebra by Jabeer in mathematics, Ibn Khaltum the master of politics and Abisina of Botany in Medicine and many field of human endevours etc.