Abstract:
Writing about Qur'anic Arabic Schools in Yorubaland before the nineteenth century provides a
peculiar challenge as there was no Yorubaland until the nineteenth century when Islam had been
established in different towns that would be collectively referred to as Yorubaland. Nevertheless,
it is generally accepted that Yoruba is a Hausa name of Arabic origin which applied to the Oyo
people but in the 1840s, the Church Missionary Society adopted the name to describe peoples and
towns with geographical proximity, cultural affinity,identical religious belief and similar language
to the Oyo.The name has since been used conveniently with wide acceptance to describe these
peoples. Osogbo, the capital city of Osun State, is one of the towns in Yorubaland which enjoy a
strong presence of Quranic/Arabic Schools and Islamic influences. It is no gainsaying that
Quranic Schools are firmly established in Osogbo. The town is a custodian of a considerable
number of Quranic Schools also known as Kutaab and many Arabic institutes. The kutaaab are
usually established in Yorubaland as the first stage of Arabic learning and they play a significant
note in disseminating Quranic knowledge to Muslim Children. In any community where Islam is
being introduced, Quranic knowledge and Islamic teaching are taught simultaneously. A visit to
Osogbo and the view of a gigantic and well renovated Central Mosque beside the Ataoja’s palace
says it all that a significant number of Osogbo indigene and inhabitants of the town are Muslims.
In contemporary Osogbo, there are Quranic/Arabic Schools sited at the centre and in the nook
and cranny of the town. In fact, to say that Osogbo is fully populated by Muslims and that Islam is
firmly established in the town will be an understatement. This paper utilizes a qualitative research
methodology, data are mostly drawn from oral interviews, scholarly articles, Journals, archival
materials, dictionaries and relevant books.
