ABSTRACT
PORTRAIT OF THE ALMAJIRI: A STUDY OF THEIR DAILY ACTIVITIES
IN PAINTING is aimed at bringing to people’s knowledge the correct use of the
word ‘Almajiri’ its origin, development and the present destitute state of the
Almajiri. The study was motivated by the ongoing events of destitution, poor
living conditions and their abuse by both social miscreants and the Mallams who
abuse them. The Almajiri is a boy-scholar who goes to a town outside his
hometown against the backdrop of the primary aim of learning the Qur’an. The
intention of the research is to raise awareness on the societal ills the Almajiri cause
and the ones they suffer. The survey for the research was based on actual visits
paid to the various places, which negates the primary aim that has brought them to
their town of Quranic study. In the methodology, sketches were made from poses
assumed by the Almajiri. The other sketches were based on imaginative
composition and photographs taken of the Almajiri. The research was not
undergone to condemn anyone, but rather to create awareness for a unilateral
structure that will aid the proper organization of the Traditional Quranic School
for the Almajiri. The paintings produced are shown in various plates and
exhibited as a result of the study carried out. It is observed that for as long as the
destitute situation and abuse of the Almajiri persists, the paintings made and
exhibited regularly might aid a reversion to the initial ideal of the Traditional
Quranic School.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE … … … … …i
DECLARATION … … … … …ii
CERTIFICATION … … … … …iii
DEDICATION … … … … …iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT … … … …v
ABSTRACT … … … … …vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS … … … …vii
LIST OF PLATES … … … … …ix
LIST OF PLATES … … … … …x
LIST OF FIGURES … … … … …xi
LIST OF PLATES … … … … …xii
LIST OF TABLES … … … … …xiv
CHAPTER ONE
1.1. Introduction and Background of the Study … … … 1
1.1.1. Objective of the Almajiranci … … … 3
1.1.2. The Almajiri … … … 6
1.1.3. The Quranic School … … … … … 7
1.2 Statement of the Problem … … … … 14
1.3 Objectives of the Study … … … … 15
1.4 Significance of the Study … … … … 15
1.5 Delimitation … … … … … 16
1.6 Justification of the Study … … … … 16
1.7 Definition of Terms … … … … 16
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Introduction … … … … … 18
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2.1.2 Societal opinion and attitude to the Almajiri system … … … 18
2.1.3 The Mallam training pattern … … … 26
2.1.4 The Almajiri’s life in the Mallam’s household … … 28
2.2 Reviewed Works of Artists … … … … 31
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction … … … … … 48
3.2 Collection of data … … … … 49
3.2.1 Procedure for the production of works … … … 50
3.2.2 Procedure for the production of works … … … 54
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF PAINTINGS AND DATA
4.1 Introduction … … … … … 66
4.2 Presentation and analysis of paintings … … … 66
4.3.1 Data in respect of the Almajiri’s background … … 106
4.3.2 Responses of interview Mallams who operate Quranic schools … 109
4.3.3 Opinions of educational administrators, Muslim scholars and Muslim
Umma in respect to the Almajiri life in the society … … … 109
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Introduction … … … … … 111
5.2 Problems encountered in the course of the study … … 111
5.3 Summary of findings … … … …113
5.4 Conclusion … … … … …114
5.5 Recommendations … … … …115
REFERENCES 116-119
APPENDIX 120-122
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CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Introduction and Background of the Study
In an interview with Mohammed in August 2000 he explained that the
Prophet Mohammed (PBH) got inspiration from God and the conviction that he
was a prophet, sent to spread Islam started receiving revelations from God (Allah)
in Mecca. The pagans did not make it a conducive place to preach and teach, in
that his disciples; few as they were at the onset were attacked and killed. He fled
to Medina with his disciples and continued teaching. At the time such gatherings
took place, those who sat round the Prophet Mohammed (PBH) to learn were
called ‘Almuhajjir’ which means an emigrant. These were people that went to
Medina because of the persecutions in Mecca. In this regard, there are two
categories of the Almuhajjir and they are the Dalibi, the self-dependant wealthy
traders and the Sahaba that depended on alms, while seeking Quranic knowledge.
Sani (2003) states ‘… male children were taken to areas other than their
birth places and they stayed for years under the social care of a prominent scholar
who fed and clothed them as they acquired Koranic knowledge. By implication the
almajiri institution was a boarding school system.’ This antecedence gives
credence to the fact that there was a properly organized setup in the past that
differs from what currently obtains today, in which the Almajiri has to sleep on the
bare floor of the mallam’s anteroom. The Almajiri is not properly fed and clothed
as it ones was but he is seen engaged in various odd jobs such as washing clothes,
carrying load in market places and even selling black market petrol.
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In an interview with Usman in June 2004, he said that Usman Dan Fodio in
1834 started the traditional quranic school in Sokoto after a jihad of that period,
and Arab travellers were also involved in the introduction of the traditional
quranic school. He said he had attended the traditional quranic school at home and
there were about sixty students in attendance. He blames both parents and the
government as the groups responsible for the state of destitution of the Almajiri.
He explained that jobless youths are to be held responsible for carrying out
sectarian violence and not the Almajiri. In an interview with Haruna in May 2004,
who had also attended a traditional school, explained that parents, government and
the Muslim Umma should be held responsible for the destitute state of the
Almajiri. To this end, he said these three should involve themselves in the
financing and control of the traditional quranic school. On the question of
violence, he however opined that the jobless youths are the ones used during
sectarian violence and not the Almajirai.
Most of the people that come to the northern part of Nigeria for the first
time say, “An Almajiri is a beggar”. They are given to this misconstrued use of
word because they have never even taken it upon themselves to know what the
word Almajiri means. The word is from the Arabic word ‘Almuhajjir’ which in the
Hausa language is pronounced ‘Almajiri’ and means disciple. But in spite of the
slight difference in the pronunciation, the Arabic word means emigrant. The word
follower could also be used, in this regard, one that is subjected to the study of the
Qur’an.
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Most of the time, people coming to the north for the first time, on hearing
the word Almajiri have invariably become the culprits to the mis-use of the word
Almajiri. Just as much as they have seen those who are called by the name, they
are quick to join in calling such boys, Almajiri without trying to find out the
meaning of the word. As far as they are concerned, any boy of about age 6 to 15
or 16 in tattered cloths with or without a bowl in his hand is an Almajiri. On this,
Mohammed in the August interview of 2000 stated that “the girls cannot be
allowed to go far from home like the boys because of the obvious risk being raped
and misled into prostitution.” Nevertheless, the Islamiyya School makes it
possible for both the boys and the girls to attend a quranic school that is not far
from their houses. It is pertinent to note at this juncture that the Islamiyya school is
one in which the boys and girls that attend are those that live within their parents
and only trek to the Mallam’s house for the lessons. Each child also pays a fee of
between 200 to 400 Naira monthly.
1.1.1 Objective of the Almajiranci
According to the National Council for the Welfare of the Destitute (2001) it
explained that the traditional Quranic school has two objectives, which are, to
impart intellectual and moral training through the domestic enrolment, in which he
attends the school daily from home, and the boarding enrolment that completely
exposes the Almajiri to the dual opportunity of becoming a Mallam on completion
of his study and even learn any trade of his choice. The syllabus of the Almajiri is
split into two stages, namely, the lower and advanced studies. When a pupil is
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enrolled, he is expected to start from the beginning but can stop at the end of the
first three levels. The following are the levels in this order of precedence:
Level one: Babbaku is the one in which the Almajiri learns to identify the
different Arabic alphabets and learn the pronunciation, written on a wooden
slate.
Level two: Farfaru is the level that enables the Almajiri learn the Arabic
vowels, this is said to take a longer period since it is more difficult.
Level three: Zube is said to be easier and faster to learn as it entails
learning, reading and writing of the Qur’an. The Almajiri is made to write
the whole of the Qur’an in parts from beginning to the end. This marks the
end of the elementary level. This is also called Sauka, meaning graduation.
This is always marked by a public recitation of a portion of the Qur’an after
which a feast is held for the graduated Almajiri. After these three levels, an
Almajiri may decide to proceed to the higher level of becoming well versed
in the Qur’an and even become a Mallam.
Level four: Haddatu is the level in which the Almajiri is expected to
memorise the whole of the one hundred and fourteen chapters of the
Qur’an. He is then made to revise the Haddatu in a special class called
Tishe/Tilwa.
Level five: Satu is the final stage in which the Almajiri is made to write
portions of the Qur’an from memory until he completes this task flawlessly
on sheets of paper. There will be a musabbah reading before his write up is
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accepted and such an Almajiri is hence called a Hafiz. This level marks the
end of the Almajiri’s study of the Qur’an and may decide to go and
specialize in any area of his choice.
The second objective of the Almajiranci is to engender moral development
in the Almajiri. The Almajiri is taught the significance of Islamic culture and
discipline, to understand the Quranic values system and live by them, the essence
of communal belonging and the unity of the Muslim Umma. The Almajirai are
taught the virtues of habits such as dressing and eating habits. These are lessons
taught by both the Mallam and the Almajirai that have reached the fifth level of
there study.
Though the traditional Quranic school does not have the type of
organisationl set-up the western form of education has, it still has its own laid
down precepts strictly adhered to by Mallams that firmly follow these laid down
precepts. This aids discipline in the rank and file in both age, between the
Almajirai, and the Mallams in their knowledge of the Qur’an. According to the
National Council for the Welfare of the Destitute (ibid) it explained that on the
basis of age, the Almajirai starts with the lowest age group called the Kolo. These
are aged between four to eleven years old. The Titibiri are the adolescent age
group ranging from twelve to about sixteen. The Gardi are aged from seventeen to
young adults.
The Kolo and Titibiri are the ones found studying in the first three levels of
Quranic studies, and after graduating can either leave the school or continue. The
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Gardi are those that have attained the teacher-in training status and assist the
Mallams in giving lessons in the first two levels of the Almajiri syllabus.
However, the Gardi do not go about to beg for money and food, which they are
expected to bring and is shared by the Gardi. Apart from begging, they engage in
other industries to eke-out a leaving such as laundry, manicures, sewing caps and a
host of other noble engagements.
Among the Mallams is a categorisation that is only recognized through the
Quranic knowledge attained. These are the Mallams, Alaramma and the Gwani.
The Mallam is the lowest ranked person in the knowledge of the Qur’an and is a
word generally used to mean teacher, and only has students learning under him.
The Alaramma has both Almajirai and Mallams learning under him. The Gwani is
the most respected person in the knowledge of the Qur’an and has only the
Mallams and the Alarammai that come to seek deeper knowledge of the Qur’an.
1.1.2 The Almajiri
The Almajiri is a boy who is born into a family, just like every one else.
He has a father, a mother, sisters, brothers and every other member of the
extended family. He has friends. He is a human being. He has, just like every
other human being, dreams, taste, aspirations and hopes, among others. He is not
a myth. But it will be pertinent to mention without the intent of committing any
act of sacrilege that he has become a victim to the religious tradition that has been
passed down over the years to impart into him, the knowledge of the Qur’an
through several years of Arabic lessons.
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The phenomenology, therefore, of the Almajiri is that he does not visit
home on a set date, like a holiday, as he seldom gets any visit from his home. This
is not to insinuate rejection, but perhaps to aid him concentrate on his studies, he is
left to ‘himself’, to discover his God (Allah) on the pages of the Qur’an.
Invariably, he is no less than any one or better, but deserves a fair treatment, or a
better one, as his future which is plagued by the state of destitution, begging and
abuse, by some of the Mallams under who he is learn the Qur’an and also has him
abused.
1.1.3 The Quranic School
The Quranic school system have no organized boarding facilities, even
though it has in the past boarded the Almajiri with a much better boarding
condition that it is now. The payment of school fees, scholars say was done, based
on the individual Mallams discretion, in that, he either depends on some bountiful
givers of alms in the form of clothes, food and money, for both the Mallam and the
Almajiri. This money is given almost as regular as once in two months. There
was a Quranic recitation to also ‘graduate’ those who have proven themselves to
be ‘men’ among the Muslims. To this end, they graduate into the waiting arms of
either going back to their homes permanently or stay back in their ‘new found
homes’ to trade.
Macleod (2001) stated that
the King (Fahd) also poured cash into
scores of new Islamic Universities, which
began to turn out thousands of fresh
religions activists’.” But something
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unexpected happened”, he quoted a former
Western diplomat as saying in Riyadh,
that, “instead of this wonderful utopia,
where young men were attracted to
academia to learn about Islam, you got
thousands of religious graduates who
couldn’t find jobs.
Just as important or paramount as religious education is, there is a great
need for the Almajiri to acquire formal education by drawing a time-table for the
Traditional Quranic School or some form of vocational education such as trading,
be taught to them, to enable them get self employed, preventing them from
roaming the streets and being abused or manipulated after the completion of their
Quranic education.
According to Mohammed, still from the August interview in 2000,
explained that in the social context the Almajiri is expected to have a proper
knowledge of the one hundred and fourteen chapters of the Qur’an. Religion is
primarily designed to guide the conduct of ones life as it affects every aspect of
living. This in turn will make the society a better place to live if everyone adheres
to the teaching taught to him or her as an individual.
While in the traditional context, the Almajiranci is one handed down from
one generation to the other to propagate the teachings of the Qur’an in order to
have it reflective in the lives of every Muslim, old and young, male and female.
The ‘Makarantan Allo’, a Hausa phrase that translates literally to ‘The slate
school’ and is also called as the Traditional Quranic School by some other
Muslims, exists till today.
Long before now, the Traditional Quranic Schools had been run with ease
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some years after 1097 A.D. By this, an Almajiri leaves his home state to another to
learn the one hundred and fourteen chapters of the Qur’an without having to roam
the streets begging for alms as the situation is now, with the Almajiri Shehu
explained in a July interview. Sule-Kano (1998) stated that “the Nigerian political
economy being over-whelmingly a neo-colonial one, in which the national
economy was created as that of a capitalist economy, it has inherently some
internal dynamics that never work in the interest of the oppressed majority.” This
he posits to be borne out of the one sidedness of the nations economy, in which the
welfare of the general populace is seldom taken into consideration. This in turn
has prompted the parents of the Almajiri to see the situation as a vista to ease them
selves of the financial burden of fending for their children.
The portrait the researcher has painted is not bent on painting the
Traditional Quranic School bad, but is intent on drawing a line of challenge that
calls for change, a change on the conduct that guides the running of these schools
that will prevent these Almajirai from their present state of poor livelihood. In
Saudi Arabia and its neighbouring countries teachings continued until about
1000A.D. when little children, boys and girls began to be made to learn the Qur’an
under a Mallam, the teacher.
Thakur and Ezenne (1980) explain that
he sits with volumes of the Qur’an on a stool or
chair with the pupils sitting in a semicircle
round him. As they grew, those who displayed
an exemplary knowledge and understanding of
the Qur’an through the recitation were made to
travel to other Arab Nations to learn and teach.
This is against the backdrop of the Prophet’s
xxiv
(PBH) teachings that they should ‘Seek
knowledge even if it can take you the distance
between here (Medina) and Sin (China).
This necessitated the traders to also take it upon themselves to spread Islam to
other parts of the world, such as Africa. This has since made it possible for parents
to send their children far from home to literarily seek Quranic knowledge. The
success of these was made possible by the gifts given to the Mallams to cater for
the Almajiri.
Thakur and Ezenne (1980) further stated that ‘As far as Nigeria is
concerned a Muslim scholar named Hamed Mohammed Mani and a Kanem ruler
who ruled between 1085 and 1097AD’, stand as the pioneers of the spread of Islam
in Northern Nigeria. Umme Jilmi’s acceptance of Islam made him have his
children taught as early as possible.” This act of having children gather round a
Mallam soon spread throughout Nigeria. Suffice to say that Donovan (1999) said
that in a little village in neighbouring Niger, a place called Fachi, a man named
Kader, the oldest spiritual leader and keeper of the Qur’an in Fachi explained that
he has eleven boys that come from a nearby town to learn. In his interview with
Kadir he said that he teaches the boys to write and memorize the one hundred and
fourteen chapters of the Qur’an. He said further that by reciting the obligatory
prayers, they are being brought to religious adulthood. An annual Quranic
recitation takes place for the boys to prove their right of passage. In this a boy on
successfully reciting the passage given to him to recite by heart also becomes a
Hafiz in the eyes of Muslim leaders.
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In an interview with Isyaku in February 2001 he explained that the
traditional Quranic School was originally designed to be a boarding school. The
very poor parents send their wards far in recent times, as they could no longer
afford to fend for their children. But when it originally started as a boarding
school, Muslims gave money, food and clothing to the Mallams to feed the boys
they had with them. Elaborating on the Almajirai, Isyaku said that it was not a
burden on many of the Mallams to take care of the welfare of his family and the
Almajiri. Such Mallams had farms where they grow beans, maize and other crops,
where the Almajirai under such Mallams work and are fed. The situations of
having them go around begging for alms did not exist. But this did not rule out the
fact that they went to the farm to help the Mallam, who they also helped joyfully.
He was also an Almajiri, but as a result of his parents’ education an elderly
man was called upon to come to the house to teach him daily. His parents have six
children, three boys and three girls. The Mallam did not come on Thursdays and
Fridays. For hundreds of years, the Traditional Quranic School had spread
throughout the northern states of Nigeria. It will raise, from boys to men, Quranic
literates both as scholars and Muslims in general. The tradition of having to leave
your town to another place to acquire knowledge has been adhered to by many
parents. In the last twenty years, eyebrows have been raised about the physical,
emotional and psychological state of the Almajiri. The Almajiri has degenerated in
status as many Arabic teachers have since had the boys they have sit to learn and
live with them abused such as to do one singular thing, beg after their lessons.
This is not to imply that the primary aim of teaching Qur’an has been defeated, but
xxvi
right after the lessons they also engage in various acts that have been destructive to
the society and themselves.
The Almajiri resort to begging for money, food and clothing for their
upkeep and make a monetary return of twenty naira, once every Thursday. They
also resort to touting at motor parks, pimping in university hostels and engaging in
sexual activities, washing clothes in brothels, hotels and carrying luggage in
market places. Sometimes, the Almajirai are used during religious riots to engage
in beating of people and burning of churches.
In a typical Quranic school, a Mallam has between thirty to as many as
eighty boys studying under him, which he mostly cannot cater for as a result of the
bad economy. The boys also live in the Mallam’s house. They sleep on mats that
soon age into tatters and end up sleeping on the bare ground. The ventilation in the
shelter is either poor or the door is blocked by a woven straw mat used as a
curtain. This allows mosquitoes and the cold harmattan wind to breeze in. When it
rains, flooding occasionally keeps them away from sleeping on the floors, which is
borne out of the lack of drainage system in front of these houses.
It is pertinent to note that the boys seen in such schools and on the streets
are children that come from as far as Bauchi, Borno, Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto and
the other northern states bordering Kaduna. A boy is told of the importance of
quranic education with stories of great prophets that have left their marks on
Islam’s sand of time. After this short enlightenment, the boy is either taken to or
handed over to a man who will then take the boy to his destination. His luggage
xxvii
usually little, comprises of about three to four changes of clothes and on rare
occasions, money.
Departures are usually emotionally laden with mixed feelings, which are
evident on the mother. Some times there is physical resistance from the boy that is
about to be led away to his fate, as he struggles to wrench himself free from his
father or guardian. On the child’s arrival to his destination, he is packed with more
words of endearment to have him prepared to become a disciple, an Almajiri, until
a time when he can proficiently recite any chosen portion of the Qur’an. It is
pertinent to note at this juncture that there is no gender discrimination as it pertains
to the evident absence of the girls from the traditional Quranic schools. The
researcher was made to know that the girls stood a high risk of rape and
prostitution, for which she is not allowed till today to go beyond the
neighbourhood to learn the Qur’an.
Artistic commentaries on the social misnomer and vises affecting the
Almajiri, has been the self – chosen subject of a handful of artists. Artists at most
time choose to depict the Almajiri in the figurative abstract style of painting. To a
large extent, the Almajiri’s poor state of living which has gone from bad to worse
has been turned into a mere fictitious tale of woe, but is very real. Paintings have
not being made in picturesque representation of many of the aspects of their life.
Many of the paintings only hinge their works on the display of one artistic
dexterity or the other.
xxviii
According to Jegede (1996), he stated that “for the visual artist, mastery of
techniques and materials cannot and should not be substituted for message and thrust,
otherwise he is a rambler who refuses to advance a thought through his art.” In this, he
means that an artist should be carried away by skill use and displays of styles. This he
posits to make artists in Nigeria to direct their artistic energies on sociological studies of
man. On this, according to Gardner (1980), she explained that Gustave Courbet (1819-
77) stated that “to be able to translate the customs, ideas, and appearances of my time as I
see them-in a word, to create a living art-this has been my aim.” Against the backdrop of
this, the researcher has therefore undergone the study to prick the consciousness of artists
to join in the call to effect a positive change in the life of the Almajiri, and other types of
social misnomer.
1.2 Statement of the problem
The conduct that guides the Traditional Quranic Schools has made the boys
to be abused by various social miscreants. The Mallams, who take more boys than
they can cater for, which in time leads them to touting, pimping, selling petrol at
the “black market”, is reason enough for great concern. They are also denied of
years of constant emotional and physical contact with their families, which affect
them psychological leaving them at the mercy of the negative minds of the society.
Many of the paintings produced do not depict the mood, emotional depressed
states and challenging throes of life of the Almajiri. There is also the lack of
paintings depicting picturesque aspects of the Almajiri’s life in the
representational art form, which is easily understood, against the backdrop of the
poor level of art appreciation in Nigeria. It is hoped that the constant exhibitions of
xxix
paintings on the Almajiri will on the long run alleviate the problem the Almajiri is
going through.
This study is centered on the reversion to the primary ideals of the
Traditional Quranic School in which children are made to study only within the
perimeters of their parents’ houses and under such conditions, the Almajirai is
efficiently catered for which will lead to achieving of the goals set for the
Almajirai.
1.3 Objectives of the study
The objectives of this study are to:
I. Depict selected aspects of the negative life events in the lives of the
Almajiri in painting which includes their sleeping and living conditions,
the beggarly life they live and the things they do to earn a living
II. Using the works produced to raise awareness among Muslims on the
poor state of the boys who learn under the Mallams that subject the
Almajiri to abuse with the hope that the Muslims can contribute in cash
and kind, and also regulate a population the Mallams can cater for, and
III. Evoke artistically the consciousness of public, government, policy
makers, stakeholders and the society as a whole through the exhibition
of the paintings produced.
1.4 Significance of the study
I. This study hopes to make artists understand the role they can play in
raising awareness on the present state of the Almajiri to the society.
II. This study also hopes to cause the Muslims and Islamic
organizations to organise a plan of action to guide the conduct of the
xxx
Traditional Quranic School.
III. This study is also expected to encourage policy makers in both the
federal and state governments to seriously look into the destitute
state of the Almajiri through the exhibition of the works produced.
1.5 Delimitation
The Traditional Quranic School exists in many of the northern states of
Nigeria. The peculiarity in the stated problems, therefore, has made the scope of
the study to be in Samaru and Zaria City.
1.6 Justification of the Study
Specific attention has been given to the various aspects of the Almajiri life
in paintings. The efforts made by many artists give a shallow description of the
sordid aspect of Almajiri lives with the use of various painting forms. The study
has however, contributed to knowledge, the proper use of the word Almajiri, and
the attendant hardships they go through, the abuse they suffer and the problems
they pose to the society through the paintings produced in the representational art
style.
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Almuhajjir: Arabic word for emigrant
Almajirai: Plural of Almajiri
Almajiranci: State of being a student
Almajirci: the same as above
Almajiri: It is a compound word in this study, and is an emigrant
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Asr: Prayer said around 3:30 – 4:00 p.m.
Bara: Hausa word for begging
Dalibi: Self dependant scholars (traders) at the time of the
Prophet Mohammed (PBH)
Hafiz One that displays excellence in the knowledge of the
Qur’an
Islamiyya Islamic school
Kwadago: Hausa word for labour
Magrib: Prayer said around 6:30-730p.m. (Sunset)
Makarantan Allo: Slate School
Mallam: Teacher
Muslim Umma: Muslim community/ Muslim members
Sahaba: Scholars that depended on alms at the time of the
Prophet Mohammed (PBH)
Subh: Prayer said at 5-5:30a.m. (Sunrise)
“PZ”: Paterson Zochonis; the name of a Company and
is also a name used for an area in Zaria
Purdah State of seclusion for married Muslim women
Talla: Hausa word for hawking
Tafsir: Translations and commentary of the Holy Qur’an
Zaure: Ante room of a typical Hausa type of house
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