Role of Qur’anic Recitation Competition in Promoting the Study of Qur’anic Sciences in Nigeria: Reflections on Bauchi Metropolis

Abstract

Qur’anic recitation competition is one of the new trends in the field of Qur’anic studies in Nigeria and beyond. It is one of the recent features which dominate the curriculum of Muslim education in most parts of Nigeria today. With about three decades of existence, the competition has impacted so much on the development of Qur’anic studies in particular and Islamic education in general. It also brought to the system some changes in the entire curriculum; the syllabus, the methodology of teaching, the outcome and objectives of the discipline as well as the learning environment itself. One of the apparent areas of changes brought is the student orientation and teacher-student orientation in the learning process. The competition also brought about rapid development in the study of other aspects of Qur’anic sciences which were hitherto neglected or unknown to most of the Qur’anic scholars and students. Aspects of Qur’anic sciences, such as tajwīd, the science of qira’āt, exegesis of the Qur’an etc. received robust attention by many of the scholars and students today. Bauchi metropolis in Bauchi Local Government Area of Bauchi State is one of the areas that witness the popularity and influence of Qur’anic recitation competition in its Qur’anic school system. This paper aimed at studying the phenomenon of Qur’anic Recitation Competition and its impact on the promotion / development of the study of various aspects of Qur’anic sciences in the area, from the inception of the competition in 1986 up to 2015. The methodology adopted in the research was analytical and comparative as data that were collected through observation, interviews and survey from selected Qur’anic centres within the metropolitan city of Bauchi was analysed and compared.