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Contributions of Islam to education

JAMB Islamic Studies topic guide with 2 practice questions.

What to revise

  • aims and objectives of Islamic education
  • the Glorious Qur'ān and Hadīth on education (Q.96:1-5; Q.39:9) and sayings on seeking knowledge (Ibn Majah; Tirmidhi)
  • intellectual activities of Islam in West Africa: development of written history in Arabic and the establishment of Sankore University
  • intellectual activities of Ahmad Baba of Timbuktu, Sheikh al-Maghili, Sheikh Usman Danfodio, Sultan Muhammad Bello and Ibn Battuta
  • Islamic education institutions: House of Wisdom in Baghdad, al-Azhar University in Cairo and Nizamiyyah University in Baghdad
  • lives and contributions of Ibn Sina, al-Ghazali, Ibn Rushd, ar-Razi and Ibn Khaldun to education

You should be able to

  • explain the aims and objectives of Islamic education
  • assess the position of the Glorious Qur'ān and Hadīth in education
  • examine the importance of seeking knowledge in Islam
  • analyse the intellectual activities of Islam in West Africa
  • assess the contributions of Sheikh al-Maghili, Sheikh Uthman Dan Fodio, Sultan Muhammad Bello and Ibn Battuta to education
  • account for the development of intellectual centres in Baghdad and Cairo
  • examine the contributions of Ibn Sina to the development of medicine
  • assess al-Ghazali's contribution to Islamic education
  • analyse Ibn Rushd's contribution to philosophy and fiqh
  • assess ar-Razi's contribution to philosophy
  • analyse Ibn Khaldun's contribution to modern sociology and method of writing history

From JAMB's Islamic Studies syllabus official. Full syllabus →

eZine's published bank has 10 questions on this topic (counted 29 October 2026).

Practice questions

Question 1 · Contributions of Islam to education

Ahmad Baba of Timbuktu was taken to Morocco after the Moroccan invasion of 1591. He is best known as

Show answer and explanation

Answer: D. a jurist and biographer with a large library

Ahmad Baba (d. 1627) wrote biographical dictionaries of Maliki scholars and fatwas. Sokoto was founded by Muhammad Bello; the Rihla is Ibn Battuta's; the Nizamiyyah was founded by Nizam al-Mulk.

eZine practice question (original, teacher-reviewed)

Question 2 · Contributions of Islam to education

Muhammad al-Maghili wrote a treatise on the obligations of rulers for

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Answer: B. Muhammad Rumfa of Kano

Al-Maghili visited Kano in the reign of Rumfa (late fifteenth century) and wrote for him on Islamic government; he also answered Askia Muhammad's questions. Mansa Musa and Bello lived at other times; Sunni ʿAli was not his correspondent.

eZine practice question (original, teacher-reviewed)

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